With potted palm trees, wooden screens, gilded, regal armchairs and classic British Raj décor, Victoria Room was one of the first Sydney bars to jump on the high-tea train, serving afternoon cucumber sandwiches and pots of Darjeeling on weekends to groups of tittering females. At night, this sultry bar adjusts its hat to ply punters with stiff drinks from a brilliant cocktail menu – try Charlie’s Caribbean Tipple (aged Appleton rum with Drambuie, almond syrup and orange bitters), or if you’re in a group, the Victoria Room Punch Bowl serves four. The bar’s colonial atmosphere and moody lighting lends itself to intimate evening chinwagging with friends – either by the bar or in one of the more intimate crannies of chaise lounges and regal armchairs. There’s entertainment in the form of DJs or a live muso tinkling the ivories of the piano, especially during the Sunday evening Performance Carnival, a bohemian hoot of roving mime artists, burlesque beauties, sultry tango dancers and even acrobats. At the time of writing, owners were discussing installing a trapeze swing high up in the rafters.