The Arrival
Nothing at street level gives this place away. Mr G and I arrive on a Friday night. From reception I take the lift to the top of Vibe Hotel Sydney Darling Harbour, and step out onto a rooftop garden oasis. A few hotel guests are lapping up the last of the spring sunshine from their loungers by the pool, I head along the corridor and the bar opens up. What a find!
The Venue and Vibe
The rooftop is all pinks and bright colours, with purple orb lights over the bar and a neon light ‘319’ Just in case you didn’t know where you are. The seating is mixed. There are high tables for a standing-room-style catch-up’s and high chairs, soft banquette sofas (which we took) and my favourite, a row of fun perching spots lined up by the window. Except there are no windows. Nothing sits between us and the skyline, which is exactly the point.
The skyline is the headline, but the great thing about this bar is the cover. There’s plenty of roof, so even in a downpour I’d get the views without the soggy hair. Considering it’s hidden vibe, the colour, the cocktails and the sunset, and this is a very sneaky hideaway for a date. The staff are super friendly and its buzzy with a mix of couples and friends hanging out.
The Happy-est of Hours
The 3:19pm start is the whole joke, and it comes with a deal to match. Every Friday from 9 October 2026 through to March 2027, happy hour runs from 3:19pm to 6:19pm. It’s aimed squarely at the early-finish-Friday crowd. The Weekend Warm-Up is three things for $19.
The first is a cocktail: a margarita, an espresso martini or a Let’s Get Tropical mocktail. The second is a slider, with a choice of beef, chicken or halloumi. The third is a mini cheesecake in vanilla, raspberry or passionfruit. A drink, a savoury and a dessert for $19, with the skyline included.
There’s also a long standing happy hour from Wednesday to Friday, 4.30pm to 6.30pm. Cocktails are $15, and wines and beers are $10. The cocktails are Let’s Get Tropical (Tanqueray gin, pineapple and thyme soda, citric acid and a coconut foam), Rhubi Garabaldi (a Rhubi mistelle with fresh pink grapefruit juice), Gumbi (Ketel One vodka, Florente elderflower liqueur and Gumbi Gumbi soda) and Smoke & Mangos (Johnnie Walker Double Black with mango, citrus and an emulsion). There’s a zero-alcohol Kir Royal too, made with a house raspberry shrub and Lyre’s 0% sparkling wine. The wines are a Sauvignon Blanc, a Shiraz and a Brut Cuvée, and the beers are Mountain Goat Pale Ale and Asahi.
The Drinks
I am thirsty and kick off with an Asahi. But it’s not long till I hit the cocktail list. It riffs on Greek mythology and takes me us on a journey of Olympus “Behind the gates lies the summit itself” They offer a dangerous stamp or loyalty system – you get a stamp on a card with every cocktail, and when all eight are collected, the ninth is poured. Eight in one evening is a big ask, so this ‘is ‘Olympic task’ is best tackled with friends and across a few visits.
I start with the Labyrinth: jalapeño-infused tequila, Cointreau, fresh pineapple, lime, white miso and a chilli rim. Sweet, spicy and a little savoury, and delicious. Mr G orders the Prometheus which steals the show. It’s a brown butter bourbon with peach sherry and maple bitters, it’s smoked at the bar and has a little cover which is taken off at the table. Fire-bringer, fittingly theatrical, and my favourite of the night.
The Food
The menu is built around native Australian ingredients, and it’s a lot crowd pleasing rooftop fare.
We kick off with Toasted Turkish Bread ($14) arrives with a chickpea, tahini and olive oil dip, which is hummus by another name. The Popcorn Cauliflower Florets ($18) come with a river mint labneh and a kutjera salsa. Kutjera is the desert bush tomato, so the salsa has a tangy, slightly savoury edge. They’re a nice enough, but the Fried Hawkesbury River Calamari ($20) and the Karaage Chicken ($20) are the two show stoppers. The calamari is seasoned with lemon myrtle and sichuan pepper salt, its dark and moody, so there’s citrus and a little tingle in every bite, with a fermented chilli aioli on the side. The karaage comes with pickled guindillas and sriracha mayo, which adds up to a lot of heat, tang and creamy richness in one bowl.
Mains lean heavily on red meat, which makes life tricky for anyone who avoids it. The only option is octopus of a cheese platter (which I don’t consider a main…). Mr G is a in red meat heaven and orders Native Pepper Braised Tajima Beef Cheek ($25) this is amazing value. It arrives with onion marmalade, chives, a creamy mash underneath and a hilbilby mustard sauce, and the native pepper gives the braise a gentle spice. I opt for the Grilled Fremantle Octopus ($24) sits on whipped white fava beans with a kutjera vinaigrette, and the octopus itself is soft and unctuous. It’s a much smaller portion that the generous beef cheek so I order my second calamari.
The Verdict
What are we Addicted to? This is fun bar, hidden away and has great skyline views. Prometheus is our fav cocktail and of course a cracking happy hour. At $25 for a main the beef cheek is quite frankly a bargain. A rooftop that keeps its views even when the weather doesn’t cooperate, What do we need to be more Addicted? The mains are very red meat-heavy, so there is a lot of room for improvement – it would be great to see much more choices other then beef or lamb which dominate the main menu.
Above 319, Vibe Hotel Sydney Darling Harbour 319-325 Sussex Street, Sydney NSW 2000 Wed and Thu 4.30pm to 9pm, Fri 4.30pm to 11pm, Sat 1pm to 11pm, Sun 1pm to 8pm, closed Mon and Tue Happy Hour: 3.19pm to 6.19pm every Friday, 9 October 2026 to March 2027 https://vibehotels.com/book-accommodation/sydney/hotel-sydney-darling-harbour/above-319/
