DRINK > Bar Tilda, Sydney (15/20)

Sydney has finally rediscovered the hotel bar, and Bar Tilda makes a persuasive case for why it matters. Just off Phillip Street, on the ground floor of the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth, it is a burgundy-walled, marble-topped, whisky-lined room that trades on 1960s jet-set nostalgia, a tableside Martini and one of the most serious Australian whisky collections you will find anywhere. It is a grown-up bar in the best sense: unhurried, polished and quietly confident.

AMBIENCE >

You can come in off the street or wander across the lobby from reception, and either way the city noise falls away quickly. Fender Katsalidis, the architects and designers behind the hotel’s recent overhaul, have given the room deep burgundy plaster walls, dramatic stone finishes, custom bar stools, soft lighting and little table lamps that pool warm light over each table. The bar itself, in Calacatta Viola and Hugo marble, is big, handsome and very much made for sitting at.

The room’s centrepiece is the Whisky Armoire, a glowing golden timber cabinet that holds the bar’s Australian whisky library and catches the eye the moment you walk in. The design was shortlisted in the Hotel category of the 2025 Restaurant & Bar Design Awards for its sophisticated yet nostalgic feel, and it earns it. Plush textures and warm tones make it feel like a 1966 cocktail lounge reimagined, never a theme park.

At around 90 guests it is intimate rather than cavernous. Early in the evening it is CBD suits, hotel guests and a few couples on a date; on Thursday and Friday from 4pm there are live DJs, and the tempo lifts without drowning out conversation.

SNACK >

Bar Tilda shares a kitchen sensibility with Tilda, its one-hatted sister restaurant next door, and the bar menu runs from lunch until late. The approach is elevated hotel-bar fare: things to graze on over a Martini, and something more substantial if the evening runs on.

When it opened, the line-up included cacio e pepe popcorn, oysters dressed with champagne or whisky, fries with 24-month aged parmesan and bacon aioli, and raw tuna with green tomato and whipped cod roe. For something more serious there was the signature Tilda cheeseburger with fries, a house chopped salad you could crown with half a lobster, and a Rangers Valley Black Onyx rump cap with peppercorn sauce.

DRINK >

This is the reason to come. The bar’s whole idea is old-fashioned drinking rituals given an Australian accent, and nothing shows it better than the Martini. Bar Tilda has teamed up with Archie Rose on a tableside trolley service: the cart rolls to your table, you choose your spirit and your style, and the bartender builds it in front of you. The house Tilda Martini, as published by its creators, blends Archie Rose lemon-scented gum gin, Unico Zelo Pomelo vermouth, a touch of Ferrand Dry Curaçao and Pundi ‘Leaves’ bitters, finished with grapefruit. It is served in a glass made just for the bar, inspired by 1966 glassware, with vertical cut lines that echo the pattern on the hotel’s façade. That is the level of detail you are dealing with.

The cocktail list at launch drew on 1960s Australia for its stories. The Yellowbelly Martini combined Ester Dry Gin, cucumber vermouth, Yellow Chartreuse and a dash of chicken salt (yes, really, and it works). Ringo Loves a Blueberry tipped its hat to The Beatles’ 1964 tour, and The Presidential Visit was a Michter’s Bourbon and Lagavulin Old Fashioned marking Lyndon Johnson’s 1966 visit to Sydney.

Then there is the whisky. The armoire holds more than 100 Australian whiskies, from current releases to rare bottlings from the 1990s and 2000s and prized first editions, including Sullivans Cove’s 1995 First Release and hard-to-find Smith’s Angaston bottlings from South Australia. Flights arrive on Sydney Blue Gum tasting boards, and Australian whisky makes up about a quarter of everything the bar pours. The bar is also home to the Australian Whisky Embassy, a membership club with monthly tastings that bring in the distillers themselves.

Wine drinkers are not forgotten: the list opened with around 30 wines by the glass, focused on both up-and-coming and established Australian makers. And if you are after value, the late-afternoon happy hour with $12 Martinis, Negronis and spritzes is one of the better deals in the CBD.

CONCLUSION >

Bar Tilda understands what a great hotel bar is for. It is a little pocket of escape in the middle of the working city: a room with a sense of occasion, staff who know how to make a proper Martini, and a back bar that rewards curiosity. The 1960s storytelling could easily have felt like a gimmick; here it feels more like respect for a building that has watched more than half a century of Sydney’s high life go by.

Come for the trolley Martini, stay for a whisky flight you will not find anywhere else, and do not be surprised if a quick drink after work turns into a long evening. For anyone exploring the Australian whisky scene, or just after a civilised drink in the CBD, it belongs high on the list.

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Image Credit | ALMANAK

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