Hotel Sweeney's

Excellent rooftop with craft beers on tap. Downstairs doesn't have craft but does have traditional cask, hand-pumped beers. Unfrotunately the rooftop is not dog-friendly despite being an outdoor space (as per NSW regs it probably could be).

A random pick for lunch for us. Ordered the cashew chicken rice set and curry curry rice set. Both were fairly decent and flavorful. Only thing missing was that chilli kick. You can always ask them to probably increase the spice level probably. Worth a stop if you are looking for good Thai food. The place is called the The Thai Chimney. Also drinks have to be ordered from the bar below or the rooftop bar.

When you are stuck in the city for a day out with relatives from overseas to showcase Sydney and it's bucketing down, look know further than the Sweeny Hotel in Clarence Street. Drenched, cold, chilled to the bone* it wasn't long before we were enjoying a chilled Resch's and a pleasurably chilled Pinot Gris. The pub was warm and inviting filled with memorabilia from past times. For those who fancied their luck on the poker machine or the "Poker's" as my partner and I like to call them... Lol! There was a separate room for that activity but we enjoyed the atmosphere, chat with our friends in the bar. *Only in Australia lol

Disclaimer: This review is strictly about the food and not the hotel. I was expecting your typical pub menu (which they do have), but was surprised to see Asian cuisine options. I went for a thai laksa, and surprisingly for a pub, it was very good. Rich in flavour, generous serving and very affordable at $16-$18. Maybe slightly lacking in meat but acceptable enough. Came back to try their full moon seafood platter, which had battered fish, prawns and calamari. More premium price at $25, but worth it for the size and value. Keen to come back to try more things! Side note: The staff remembered my order from over a fortnight ago. Talk about exceptionally good memory!

What an experience. The food took 45 minutes to be ready and upon the first bite seemed to taste very good, but then I noticed that I could not taste any meat. Upon further inspection I found the barest remnant of meat in the very centre. I thought maybe it was a mistake but upon checking the other 3 burgers at our table they were all like this. It was like they had taken one normal serve of meat and distributed it among our 4 burgers. My friends who got the duck salad and the fried rice on the other hand were very satisfied.