Suburb profiles - BresicWhitney Estate Agents, Sydney Australia

Darlinghurst
Eastern Suburbs

View: Suburb profile Map Cafes & restaurants Bars & clubs Arts & culture Kids & family

Image gallery

Next Previous

We love a front row seat to everything chic

Once the home of working class families, Darlinghurst is now one of Sydney’s most sought-after addresses, the choice of professionals, students and creative types. The eastern suburbs vibe of Darlinghurst is best reflected by Oxford Street, which connects to the city to the beach. Known as the heart of Sydney's gay community, Darlinghurst’s Oxford Street also hosts the annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

A great place to do some celebrity spotting, Darlinghurst is also a handy for eating out, with a tempting selection of restaurants, and an eclectic mix of cafes dotting its back streets. It is also the home of Tropfest, the famous short film festival that originated in Victoria Street’s Tropicana Café.

Architecturally, Darlinghurst is mostly a mix of single and double story Victorian terraces. The skyline is dominated by ‘The Horizon’ – one of Harry Seidler’s controversial artistic creations.

View current listings in Darlinghurst

View properties that have sold in Darlinghurst

View recent sales

Interested in Darlinghurst?

Join BresicWhitney and receive up-to-date emails and mobile property information in Darlinghurst

Join BresicWhitney

If you love Darlinghurst you may like

Bars & Clubs

1. The Bentley

320 Crown St
One of the greatest collaborations in Sydneys ever-evolving restaurant scene is that of sommelier Nick Hildebrandt and chef Brent Savage. Each on their own a force to be reckoned with, but together, theyre unstoppable. For almost five years, the Bentleys progressive food, inimitable wine list and excellent floor staff made it the darling of Sydney food freaks. But the rooms always been less than ideal. Not any more, though. The old dining room, which looked like a Play...
Visit Time Out to read the full article
2. Low 302

302 Crown St
Heres a bar that knows what its doing. It gets the drinks right, it gets the music right and even if the food is kind of ordinary, it doesnt matter – the vibe is right. Lush red velvet drapes line one end of the dark, wooden-panelled space that is scattered with high tables and has a big outdoor front section that spills onto the street. The big blackboard up the front of the bar is filled with interesting cocktail specials including a Sloe Car (just like a Sidecar, only made with sloe gin...
Visit Time Out to read the full article
3. The Local Taphouse

122 Flinders St
If youve been lamenting the lack of really good bars in Sydney, your time has come. Head down to the corner of Flinders and South Dowling - the old Palace has gone to that big public house in the sky and taken Pubboy with it. Its been replaced with a most exciting offering, the Local Taphouse. Owners Guy Greenstone, Jeff Bennett, Steve Jeffars and Derek Schaefer have done nothing to muck with the basic pub DNA of the building, only enhance it with a very nice fit-out. The two-level bar...
Visit Time Out to read the full article
4. The Beresford Hotel

354 Bourke St
The Beresford, back in the day, was what you might call an all-night venue with benefits. Were talking blacked-out windows, beers at 7am and wall-mounted lube on tap. Or something like that, anyway. At any rate, it was a very different Beresford to the one youll find today and nowhere near as nice smelling. Over the past year or so, owner Gerry Nass has been working like a Trojan getting this majestic old hotel respectable. In fact, you may not even recognise it from the original seed den of...
Visit Time Out to read the full article
5. Time to Vino

66 Stanley St
Gourmet toasties you say? Yeah, thats right. Duck liver pate, terrine, slabs of slow-cooked meat - sure its the kitchen offal but its bloody good, especially later in the night when the booze has kicked in. Youre at Time to Vino, famous for the Melbourne-style charm, the intimacy, the picture frames hanging at jaunty angles and the infamous cork embedded into the wall. But there is more here than a pastiche of eccentricities. The joint is run by the Hillery brothers, who really know great wine,...
Visit Time Out to read the full article
6. Sticky Bar

Level 2, 182 Campbell St
Sticky Bar is Michael Fantuzs idea. Hes the guy behind popular local restaurant Table for 20 which lies downstairs and where the philosophy is communal eating - a big shared dinner party where everything gets passed around. Here you find big platters of roast meat, potatoes, vegetables, hunks of parmesan and a giant slab of tiramisu that Fantuz and his mum take turns making. Sticky takes that...
Visit Time Out to read the full article
7. Hotel Clarendon

156 Devonshire St
Like many of Surry Hills watering holes, the bar formerly known as the Clarendon Hotel has endured many incarnations. What matters most in this case is the new Hotel Clarendon has emerged as the kind of place where they know your name... and if they dont, they soon will. Situated on a corner of Devonshire Street, parallel to the Belvoir St Theatre, up from a swingers club and down from bars the Shakespeare and Trinity, the Clarendon has been a Surry Hills stalwart since 1876. ...
Visit Time Out to read the full article
8. Brighton Up Bar

Level 1, 77 Oxford St

Visit Time Out to read the full article
9. The Bat And Ball Hotel

495 Cleveland St

Visit Time Out to read the full article
10. Bar Reggio

135 Crown St

Visit Time Out to read the full article

Timeout Sydney Brought to you by

Cafes & Restaurants

1. Marque

355 Crown St
Molecular gastronomy doesnt capture the food at Marque. Prog-French, perhaps? "The reason I enjoy cooking so much is because I have a thorough understanding of classic French cuisine and that keeps me grounded," says owner/chef Mark Best of his new wave cooking. "Im a bit of a magpie in that I take these bright and shiny things and integrate them into my food without letting them dominate." Freshly renovated and reinvigorated since reopening on July 4 (after a...
Visit Time Out to read the full article
2. The Bentley

320 Crown St
One of the greatest collaborations in Sydneys ever-evolving restaurant scene is that of sommelier Nick Hildebrandt and chef Brent Savage. Each on their own a force to be reckoned with, but together, theyre unstoppable. For almost five years, the Bentleys progressive food, inimitable wine list and excellent floor staff made it the darling of Sydney food freaks. But the rooms always been less than ideal. Not any more, though. The old dining room, which looked like a Play...
Visit Time Out to read the full article
3. Bodega Tapas Restaurant & Bar

Shop 1/216 Commonwealth St
The bar is only available to patrons who intend to dine in Bodega next door, which makes it more of a restaurant warm-up area than a stand-alone bar. Thats a very small setback though, as the tapas on offer on the other side of the wall is the best in Sydney. Their beef empanadas (spicy pumpkin and fetta for the less carnivorous) and garlic toast with kingfish sashimi ("fish fingers") are worth the trip alone. The walls of Bodega Bar are adorned with a tripped out graffiti-cum-pop art mural of...
Visit Time Out to read the full article
4. Lucio Pizzeria

248 Palmer St
The Lucio is the pizzerias crowning glory, and its answer to the much-loathed (by pizza chefs) half n half. You really need to see it to believe it, but its half a Margherita (tomato, mozzarella, baby basil) and half a calzone (just like a pizza only folded), filled with fluffy ricotta and strips of ham. Oh, mama! Best for A casual, easygoing evening with none of the crazy queuing or attitude of a lot of pizzerias around town. You get friendly service, informed advice...
Visit Time Out to read the full article
5. The Beresford Hotel

354 Bourke St
The Beresford, back in the day, was what you might call an all-night venue with benefits. Were talking blacked-out windows, beers at 7am and wall-mounted lube on tap. Or something like that, anyway. At any rate, it was a very different Beresford to the one youll find today and nowhere near as nice smelling. Over the past year or so, owner Gerry Nass has been working like a Trojan getting this majestic old hotel respectable. In fact, you may not even recognise it from the original seed den of...
Visit Time Out to read the full article
6. Time to Vino

66 Stanley St
Gourmet toasties you say? Yeah, thats right. Duck liver pate, terrine, slabs of slow-cooked meat - sure its the kitchen offal but its bloody good, especially later in the night when the booze has kicked in. Youre at Time to Vino, famous for the Melbourne-style charm, the intimacy, the picture frames hanging at jaunty angles and the infamous cork embedded into the wall. But there is more here than a pastiche of eccentricities. The joint is run by the Hillery brothers, who really know great wine,...
Visit Time Out to read the full article
7. Tastevin

1/292-294 Victoria St
This sweet little bistro combines classic French in the kitchen and a casual Aussie attitude on the floor thanks to husband-and-wife team Alex (a French chef) and Natasha (an Aussie floor manager) Bourdon. The service makes this restaurant. Natasha has excellent wine knowledge, a friendly, witty manner and she knows the menu inside out. Head through the restaurant straight out to the bar out back for an aperitif - theres Gosset by the glass - or have a cocktail. They do Martinis and...
Visit Time Out to read the full article
8. Spice I am - The Restaurant

296-300 Victoria St
The original little hole-in-the-wall Spice I Am on Wentworth Avenue has been trading like crazy since 2004. You cant book, and getting a table can take longer than two schooners in a nearby pub - but the wait is never less than worth it (theyll take your number and call you back when your table is ready). Now theres a fancier branch on Victoria Street under co-owner and chef Sujet Saenkham, where you can book...
Visit Time Out to read the full article
9. Monkey Magic

Shop 3, 406 Crown St
Japanese hits lower Crown Street with mixed results.Before we get started, insert all the Monkey, Pigsy, Sandy and Tripitaka jokes here. Done? Right. Boasting chilled beats, dark wood, and Japanese food, this new addition has tongues wagging. Some people are calling it the Japanese Longrain (nice all-wood fit out including a strange mini-forest at the entrance downstairs, an open kitchen, big tables, a separate cocktail bar and lots of friendly waitstaff) but really,...
Visit Time Out to read the full article
10. Yok Yor

Shop 3, 241 Crown St
Yok Yor might not be the most lyrical pair of syllables to ever adorn a lintel, but at least theyve spared us the usual Thairiffic, Thais-that-Bind, Thai-Me-Up-Thai-Me-Down Thaitles that send more sensitive members of the dining community into convulsions. Wed love to see the Thai words for chilli and crab (prik and poo, respectively) used more often in Sydney Thai restaurant names, meanwhile, but we might be waiting a while. A newish establishment, Yok Yors point of difference is that its...
Visit Time Out to read the full article

Timeout Sydney Brought to you by

Arts & Culture

1. The Blake Prize - Exploring the Religious and Spiritual in Art

03 Sep 10 - 02 Oct 10
National Art School
Cnr Forbes & Burton Sts
The Blake Prize, first awarded in 1951, is a national annual exhibition dedicated to stimulating an interaction of ideas and spiritual thought in contemporary Australian art. This open submission exhibition selected by three independent judges generates a multi-faceted presentation in which myriad styles, ideas and values sit parallel....
Visit Time Out to read the full article
2. The Diary of a Madman

04 Dec 10 - 06 Feb 11
Belvoir St Theatre
25 Belvoir St
In a revival of their 1989 collaboration, Neil Armfield directs Geoffrey Rush as Poprishin, one of millions of clerks in St Petersburg in the time of the Czar, who is convinced he is on his way to the top....
Visit Time Out to read the full article
3. Namatjira

25 Sep 10 - 07 Nov 10
Belvoir St Theatre
25 Belvoir St
A retelling of the life of Aboriginal watercolour painter Albert Namatjira....
Visit Time Out to read the full article
4. Culture and Continuity: Journey through Judaism

10 Nov 08
Sydney Jewish Museum
148 Darlinghurst Rd
The exhibition explores Jewish history from its ?Biblical origin in the Ancient Near East? to the thriving Jewish community here in Australia. While tracing the significant events that have determined Jewish experience, it offers insight into Judaism?s central beliefs, its sacred texts and way of life. It shows the creative responses by which Jewish culture has continued to adapt to changing circumstances, maintaining contemporary relevance while retaining its traditional essence....
Visit Time Out to read the full article
5. Arampini: Artists from the Tiwi Islands

08 Jul 10 - 11 Aug 10
National Art School
Cnr Forbes & Burton Sts
Arampini, meaning ?relations?, is a group exhibition incorporating works from a selection of Indigenous artists from the Tiwi Islands who are connected either through familial or artistic ties. Splendid colours, geometric designs, and figurative depictions along with a site-specific wall painting draw on the traditions within Tiwi culture....
Visit Time Out to read the full article
6. Yiloga! Tiwi Footy

15 May 10 - 14 Nov 10
Australian Museum
6 College St
Through a series of photographs take a peek into the fascinating world of the Tiwi islands and the integral role AFL, Yiloga in Tiwi language, plays in the small aboriginal community....
Visit Time Out to read the full article
7. Gwen in Purgatory

31 Jul 10 - 19 Sep 10
Belvoir St Theatre
25 Belvoir St
From the writer of Holding the Man comes an existential comedy about an African missionary trying to navigate Australian suburbia....
Visit Time Out to read the full article
8. Iconic Whiteley

12 Sep 09 - 22 Aug 10
Brett Whiteley Studio
2 Raper St
This collection of paintings, sculptures and drawings at the Whiteley Studio represents many facets of Brett Whiteley?s career. Several works are well-known favourites from his early success in Europe and Australia, from his late teens and early twenties, including the Abstraction, Christie and Zoo series, through to his popular Lavender Bay, Paris and Bird series....
Visit Time Out to read the full article
9. For a Better World

05 Jan 11 - 29 Jan 11
SBW Stables Theatre - Griffin Theatre Company
10 Nimrod St
Set in an isolated jungle, sometime in the future, this play intricately explores the concepts of war, gender, aggression and power, while maintaining a modern relevance....
Visit Time Out to read the full article
10. The Pigeons

06 Oct 10 - 30 Oct 10
SBW Stables Theatre - Griffin Theatre Company
10 Nimrod St
The Pigeons is a neurotic puzzle that will challenge how you view the society youre in. A fierce black comedy written to entertain and make you think....
Visit Time Out to read the full article