MG Garage 490 Crown St, Surry Hills Price: $$$
Awarded the Sydney restaurant of the year for 1999 and still one of the top eateries in Sydney, MG Garage combines a car showroom with fine dining serving modern Australian cuisine with a Greek twist. You can buy an MG sports car off the menu. Definitely book in advance. Otherwise try the attached cafe - FUEL - the food is from the same kitchen, moderately priced, and is popular with the Surry Hills queens.

Thai Pothong 298 King St, Newtown Price: $+
One of the best (and most popular) Thai restaurants in Sydney. Some dishes can be "ripping" hot...try the Tom Yum Goong (hot & sour prawn soup). Avoid Fridays & Saturdays when there are too many group tables and too much noise.

Prasit Thai Take Away 395 Crown St, Surry Hills Price: $
Innovative Thai food in a cafe/take-out atmosphere (you can sit in the tiny downstairs close to the frantic open kitchen, or in the very cosy upstairs area). Come here for the great food, not the surroundings.

Kam Fook Level 3, Market City, Hay St, Haymarket Price: $
For something different, visit the Kam Fook for Yum Char (dim sum) brunch/lunch. Seating 800, the largest Chinese restaurant in Australia also serves the best yum char. Stuff yourself silly for around A$10-$15 per person. Yum Char is 7 days a week, mid-week arrive by midday for a table, on weekends it's absolute chaos, so arrive by 10am (it's worth it). Note it's cash only - no credit cards and no reservations.

Sydney has to be the gay party capital of the world. Although most clubs open at 10pm, they don't really get busy until after midnight as most are open until 5 or 6am. Prime time in the gay bars is usually 11pm onwards, staying open until 2 or 3am. The gay scene (ie. bars and clubs) is in a constant state of change that can be hard to keep up with - check the local gay papers for the latest.  Main events in the Sydney gay calendar are: February (all month) - early March: MARDI GRAS festival, finishing with the parade (600,000 + spectators/participants) and party (25,000), followed by numerous all day/night recovery parties. May: INQUISITION party - where we lovers of dead cow hide come out to play for a Leather Pride week, culminating in the party (about 3,000 horny, hot leather men). Wicked, primarily gay party. October: SLEAZE BALL held on the Labour weekend holiday is the fund-raiser for the following year's Mardi Gras festival. With more emphasis on costumes and the Sleaze theme than Mardi Gras. December: PRIDE New Year's Eve party.

Mme Wanda's Tips: It's rare to be carded at clubs & bars in Sydney, but carry ID anyway. Sydney clubs don't usually offer cheaper entry early in the evening, but be prepared for a line especially at the currently "in" clubs. Mardi Gras parade

ARQ 16 Flinders Street, Darlinghurst
ARQ is still the darling of the Sydney gay boys. Comprising a downstairs "VORTEX" cocktail bar and an upstairs main room with a mezzanine level overlooking the dancefloor, the club is a bit pokey compared to HOME (also see below). But as the latest designer club to open in Sydney, the guys are packing it out on Saturday nights and for Sunday evening cocktails and dancing. Watch out for the revolving doors - we are waiting on reports of dizzy queers getting caught in them.

Midnight Shift 85 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst
"The Shift" as it's referred to locally, has been around for years and in it's prime it was THE club, well known for the hot sweaty shirtless boys and mirror balls of the dance floor. The upstairs club was refurbished in 2001. Downstairs there is a very busy video bar (playing some excruciatingly camp handbag music) and a pool room known as "The Locker Room".

HOME Cockle Bay Wharf, Cityside of Darling Harbour The first of the new wave of gay designer clubs to open in recent years, it's rumoured that A$15 million was spent to build HOME (which should give you some idea of the style). On multiple levels with 4 bars (2 cocktail bars), chillout areas, and outdoor terraces with views of Darling Harbour, this is by far the most glamorous and best located club in Sydney. Our favourites are the mid-level "SILVER ROOM" so named because of it's cool silver padded walls, and the downstairs men's rest room - the urinal is a wall-length mirror with inset television monitors. The gay Sunday night cocktails & club no longer run, but if you don't mind the fairly young & straight crowd, HOME is still a good place to check out on a Friday or Saturday. A few times a year, it is the venue for the QUEER NATION dance parties.

Oxford Hotel / Gilligan's cnr Oxford St / Bourke St, Darlinghurst
A long-time favourite of Sydney queers, the downstairs bar (The Oxford) was  back in favour but with a change of ownership in July 2000, it's out of favour again. The "rough-trade" boys that made the bar so popular are staying away. Upstairs at Gilligan's is a great place for cocktails (we recommend the Long Island Iced Tea or Oxford Smash), with a more upscale feel and crowd...Friday and Saturday nights are crazy, with Sunday early evenings fairly quiet. The third level is "Gingers" cocktail bar with private drinking rooms and a pulic cocktail area that takes the overflow from Gilligans.

Lord Roberts Hotel cnr Stanley & Riley Sts, East Sydney
On Sundays, this Aussie pub hosts "Better Homes and Beer Gardens" with DJ's spinning the discs and a regular gathering of gay boys for the Sunday afternoon weekend wind-down / party.

Green Park Hotel Victoria St, Darlinghurst
For some reason, every Sunday afternoon from 5pm onwards, this Aussie pub is packed to the gills with partying gay boys winding up the weekend. Large front bar and a pool room at the back. Looks like the place to be in 2002! 

Newtown Hotel 174 King Street, Newtown
Our local gay pub. Downstairs there's a pub bar along with a dancefloor & DJ, and most nights there are drag shows around 11pm. Upstairs is a cocktail bar with garish decor, and a pool room. When it closes at midnight, the boys all make a beeline for the Imperial Hotel (35 Erskineville Rd), within walking distance, where the partying continues with bars, a cabaret room (drag shows) and the downstairs CELLAR BAR which has a dancefloor and DJ (very busy on Saturday nights)...no cover charge.

Caesar's Nightclub Parramatta Road, Camperdown
This inner-West nightclub has become a very popular suburban venue. It's a bit like going to a gay RSL (Returned Services club). Very relaxed, often cruisey atmosphere, sometimes a bit camp but at least an attitude-free zone! A large dancefloor, often with special theme nights (Madonna, Kylie, etc), and drag shows. There's also a large pool-room and outdoor "beer garden". Well worth a visit on a Friday or Saturday night - it's busy by 11pm, and best of all there's no cover and the drinks are at pub prices.

BARRACKS Bar Enter from Patterson Lane, at the rear of the Taylor Square Hotel, Taylor Square, Darlinghurst  Publicised as Sydney's premier leather bar (well sadly, Sydney's only leather bar), The Barracks has a basement bar and a pool room bar. No strict dress code is enforced.

When you're tired of sightseeing and clubbing, it must be time to hit one of Sydney's famous beaches or the gym

GYMS

City Gym 107-113 Crown St, Darlinghurst Sydney's most popular primarily gay gym (competing with Gold's), due to it's proximity to Oxford St. Pretty boys and serious muscle marys mix it in the main gym. There's also an aerobics studio and the men's locker room also has a steam room with a reputation. Open 24 hrs. Ultimate Fitness Level 2, 328-338 King St, Newtown Madam Wanda & FarmBoy's local gym where you can find FarmBoy working out most days. Friendly no-attitude members and staff. Open 24 hrs. Gold's Gym Pelican Street, Darlinghurst The world famous gym franchise opened in Sydney in August 2000, just off Oxford St, one block behind Burger King (how convenient). Not as big as the massive Gold's Gyms in the USA, but still with lots of new high-tech "Hammer Strength" & similar equipment, and becoming the most popular gay gym in town.

GAY (friendly) BEACHES

Tamarama Beach, between Bondi and Bronte beaches map ref. 5 aka "Glamarama" due to the high number of gym boys, pretty boys and gay porn stars that hang out on the sand. Although this is also a mixed beach, the straight guys are often better looking than the gay ones! Even though the beach is often closed to swimming due to the rough surf conditions, this is a great beach as there is lots of sand no matter what the tide level. A cafe on the beach serves good sandwiches, coffee, etc. A very high "perve" factor, and a place to be seen. Overseas visitors can check out the real live Aussie surf lifesavers. A lot of the "scene queens" and circuit boys that used to frequent Tamarama have now moved to NORTH BONDI Beach.

Tamarama Beach

Lady Bay Beach, Watsons Bay map ref. 4
aka "Lady Jane beach", this is an official nude beach in the inner harbour. The swimming is good, but check the tides first - at high tide there is very little sand on the beach itself. The rocks that extend from the beach all the way around to the lighthouse and around South Head are very popular nude sunbathing spots with the guys and can be very cruisy in summer. There is also a small shop for sandwiches, etc. back at Camp Cove before you get to the track for the beach, and there is a mobile "water snacks speed boat" ice cream & cold drink service that comes into the beach every few hours on summer weekends. Recent upgrading of the walking path out to the lighthouse and cutting back of the shrubbery above Lady Jane has meant a lot more tourists look down on the beach for "perving" and photos...not much privacy at all!

Obelisk Beach, Middle Head map ref. 3 Also a nude beach within a Sydney Harbour National Park,  with fantastic views of the harbour and city. Walk through the bush tracks from the carpark to get to the beach or sunbake on the many rock ledges. The "nature walk" through the bush is very busy on weekends from 3pm. More private and secluded than Lady Jane, but there is no public transport to the beach and also no shop for food or drinks, so come prepared.

surf-lifesaving comps at Bondi Beach

CRUISE CLUBS / "THE TUBS"

Ken's at Kensington 83 Anzac Parade, Kensington
A worthwhile short bus or cab ride south from Oxford is Ken's at Kensington (aka KKK, Ken's Karate Klasses, Ken's Kontinental Kake Kitchen, or simply "The Cake Shop"). On three levels, this large bath house has a great Roman-styled steam room, new dry sauna, jacuzzi, video room, TV lounge, coffee lounge, play rooms and private rooms. The staff are very friendly. Sunday evenings from 5pm are always popular, with the rest of the week being sedate.

Bodyline Spa 10 Taylor Street, Darlinghurst
aka The Bodybag. This small, somewhat pokey bathhouse is also very dark in places. Its one redemption is that it's close to Taylor Square and the gay strip of Oxford Street.

Sydney City Steam 1357 Sussex St (near cnr Sussex & Liverpool Sts) Sydney CBD
aka The Ckicken Rice shop. This is Sydney's newest gay sauna, smack in the centre of the CBD and within Chinatown. It has the best steam room of all the saunas, a large jacuzzi, dry sauna and 2 floors of cruising areas with a 3rd floor due to open by the end of 2002. Monday night is Buddy Night - 2 for the price of 1 entry. Recommended.

Ginseng Bath House The Crest Hotel, 1st floor, 111 Darlinghurst Rd, Kings Cross
This is a fairly authentic Korean bath house, located in a Kings Cross hotel, with separate facilities for men & women. Although it's not gay, on a Sunday afternoon the majority of the guys there are gay. During the week, late afternoons thru early evenings can be busy. You can get a body scrub or body massage (where the Korean guy will literally stand on your back), and there's good Shiatsu massage. Facilities include a very hot steam sauna, dry sauna, and 4 pools ranging from a cold plunge to a scalding hot mini-bath. There's also a bubbling brown-green coloured ginseng spa pool. In typical Korean tradition, there is no modesty and towels are not worn (the towels supplied are the size of tea towels and are for washing with). Worth a visit and let it all hang out!!

Headquarters 273 Crown St, Darlinghurst
aka HQ. A leather-oriented cruise club set on 4 levels with a video and coffee lounge at street level with 2 levels down below with sling rooms, dungeon rooms (some can be hired) and private rooms. The new upstairs floor has a full watersports area, open/dark cruise room and more private sling rooms for hire. Busiest on Friday and Saturday nights after midnight. They hold "theme" parties on most Sundays.

Signal cnr Riley St & Arnold Place, Darlinghurst
aka The Chicken Shop. A small, single level cruise club which has a number of private rooms and sling rooms, all at no extra charge. Often attracts a mixed and younger gay crowd than the more "rough n ready masculine" guys at Headquarters.

SYDNEY may not be the best or cheapest shopping destination in the world for retail therapy, but there are some great places to spend: DAVID JONES (men's store, cnr Market & Castlereagh Sts, City) is an upscale department store with excellent food hall in the basement which has cafe counters and an Oyster Bar. QVB (Queen Victoria Building, George St, City) lists itself as the most beautiful shopping centre in the world, with prices and products to match. On the gay strip of OXFORD ST, check out URBAN EDGE (street wear), MORRISSEY (Aussie designer wear), CENTRAL STATION RECORDS (dance music and street wear), AUSSIE BOYS (gay party clothing), OYSTER (mid-price stylish menswear, including Lonsdale) and GOWINGS (down-to-earth practical men's clothing & furnishings). CASTLEREAGH STREET, KING STREET and MARTIN PLACE in the city are home to many upscale stores to workout your Gold Amex: Prada, Emporio Armani, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co, Hugo Boss, Armani Exchange, Tag Heuer, to name a few.

"Quick sweetie...let's go shopping while our boyfriends are otherwise distracted"

At the top end (i.e. East) of Oxford St is PADDINGTON . Worth checking out for clothing, cafes, and people watching. Very hip and very busy on Saturday when the weekly market/bazaar with craft & clothing stalls is held.   Our local neighbourhood, centered on KING ST, NEWTOWN is full of good cafes, clothing stores (upscale & retro), and home furnishing/interiors stores. FETISH STUFF: For leather and S&M equipment, we recommend SAX LEATHER (Oxford St) for high quality ready-made, and RADICAL LEATHER (basement, 20 Hutchinson St, Surry Hills) for both off the rack and made-to measure.

If you really feel the urge to do the tourist thing, then Mme Wanda recommends these top sights:

MCA / The Rocks
The Museum of Contemporary Art on the western side of Circular Quay often hosts gay-themed exhibitions. The streets of The Rocks area host a lot of small stores and quaint pubs - the original settlement area of Sydney.

Sydney Opera House
A visit to Sydney wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Sydney Opera House. Now used as the location for the annual Mardi Gras launch night. There are concert hall & backstage tours worth taking.

Harbour Bridge
Visit the "coathanger" either by walking over it from The Rocks and climbing up inside the Bridge Pylon museum, or climb up it on the new BridgeClimb experience.

Harbour cruise
Take a couple of hours off on a Harbour cruise (we recommend Captain Cook Cruises as they have some hot guys working for them), and see how the other half lives in the fab-u-lous eastern suburb bays, and get a look at nude sunbathing Lady Jane Beach.

For further info on Sydney, journey agent recommends these sources:

this page was last updated on 22/10/2002