Gardels Bar

Great selection of cocktails, vast wine list and a very impressive Charcuterie board. Love the music, fit out & style of this place. Cozy, loungy and comfortable. The service is friendly and efficient!
No doubt, my favourite bar in Sydney!

Olde world and elegant, great service, great drinks. The blood orange cocktail was a favourite. The staff are ultra hip, but super attentive, knowledgable and friendly.
This is a great place for a drink and a chat, especially if you like fancy cocktails and dressing up a bit, the swank factor here is high, but pretense is thankfully LOW. I really enjoyed everything about it.

When you cross the doorway of Portenos, upstairs is a small bar called Gardels. I sat at the bar since it was an early evening drink. The bar staff are fantastic, attentive without being overwhelming. It’s a very relaxed atmosphere which makes you want to stick around and spend more but the staff know when to leave you to your own devices as well. I was quite surprised by this because its a rare staff that get this balance right. On the other hand, you are paying for this privilege as cocktails are very expensive (around $ 22), so you may not want to stick around for more than one. It’s a great place to wait for a table at Portenos and I’d highly recommend stopping in just for a drink as long as you can afford it.

Cocktails are very well-​made, and they have the hipster retro speakeasy thing down to a tee. Friendly service, albeit a little slow. Weird problems with the music the night I went (there was a function in the main space, the bar kept intermittently cranking up the music to earsplitting volumes, and there was also some disorienting static). But guessing that’s a one off.

This bar is begging for one of Unilocal’s most overused clichés, and who am I to deny it of that honour, really? So here goes…
I shouldn’t Unilocal about this but I just can’t help myself — I just adore this cosy Argentinian alcohol alcove. It’s dark, warm and sultry and that increases exponentially when the booze and tiny plates of meat in ball form arrive.
It happened by mistake — I, like everyone else in Sydney, was dying to try Porteño, but I couldn’t bare wait the two hours for a table. When I learned that a tapas menu was available upstairs, I practically pushed over the host in eager anticipation and scampered up the stairs like any classy lady does when it’s after 6pm and she’s not yet had a drink. And I was well rewarded — not only with chilli dogs and chicken wings (Yes. Those two things are both on the menu. I know, right?) but with some seriously divinely made cocktails by attractive men adorned in suspenders. I guess it helps that these guys truly care about what they’re pouring and were quick to pour out knowledge about each and every beer, wine and spirit they served (many of which they had a hand in making in one way or another).
Let’s be honest, who doesn’t love the idea of a sneaky drink in the attic before dinner? I say don’t miss it. Or do. Your seat won’t go to waste, that’s for sure.

I was told, over and over, that I needed to get to Porteno quick smart. So, on a recent flying visit to Sydney I made my way there and crossed all my fingers and toes that I’d be able to get a table.
Turns out I couldn’t, but the stunning maitre d’ suggested I may like to go upstairs to the bar for drinks and tapas. Go upstairs for drinks and tapas? Umm, it was obvious that this lady had never met me before. Most people know that when I say «dinner» what I really mean is «drinks and lots and lots of little things to eat». Three courses is so passé. So it wasn’t Porteno that I actually checked-​in to, but Gardels Bar.
I climbed up the stairs and quite frankly I wasn’t sure which way to look — to the left, a very well stocked bar with painfully cool bartenders behind — to the right, a large window looking down to the restaurant below.
I felt like I was on the movie set of Zorro. Maybe the version with Catherine Zeta-​Jones… my dining companion and sat at the bar and waited with baited breath. A masked man or a seriously good cocktail — either one was going to suffice. Luckily for us, the cocktails here are super foxy. They even go to the lengths of smoking their own maple syrup and vermouth in the house smoker — amazing!
I went with a stunning interpretation of the classic G&T. With savoury 50% proof ‘cutlass’ gin from The West Winds, celery salt and cucumber this was delicious — like drinking a savoury summer salad. Then on to pulled pork sliders, smoked kingfish tartare — served generously on five finger long crackers, and the octopus, chorizo and potato, skewered and served with a paprika spiked sauce so delicious I wished I wasn’t presenting to be Catherine Zeta-​Jones so I could be unladylike and lick the plate clean.
Yes kids, this place is hot and now I, too, will implore you to get yourself to Porteno quick smart so you too can be told it’s too busy and have to go to its little (but in no way less spectacular) sister upstairs.

OK folks, this is the real McCoy — the dog’s bollocks of Argentinian restaurants and bars. The décor… fantastico! South american kitsch extrordinaire! Smokey atmosphere aromas of barbecued meats, I have died and gone to heaven.
We were astonished that although the place was heaving we managed to get a table in the bar above the popular Porteño within 15 minutes — a miracle! However no show with a couch, as mentioned by another reviewer, only larger groups get the cowhide covered luxury. We were not so pout out, the table we had was all good.
The restaurant downstairs however, not a chance, madre dios! Waiting lists to get on the waiting list! It seems to secure a table there requires a presence at 6pm and no later.
Anyhow, Gardel’s Bar, good drinks, the tapas list of share plates was great, although the health conscious be warned, everything is meaty and fatty, but in a good way!
Pork skewers, meatballs, all was heaven for me, although she was not so impressed. O well.
Porteño, we will get in there yet!

Do up your pin curls, strap on your Argentine tango shoes and head on over to Gardels Bar. Located upstairs of the popular Porteño restaurant in Surry Hills, Gardels has all of the cool without so much of the hype.
I came in off the street on a rainy Wednesday and was escorted up the stairs. I was meeting just one friend up there, so the seating options were limited (they don’t seat small parties on the couches, in case you were wondering). With an assortment of leather and wood in different styles and heights, the dimly lit lounge gave off that speakeasy feel with a little sudamericano twist.
We sat up at the bar and watched the bearded and suspender-​clad bartenders hard at work. It’s no wonder that the dark bar is cluttered with bottles, syrups, herbs and jars of ambiguous pickled items. Their cocktail menu reads like a book, with pages of elaborate and creative creations available by the cup. I was ever-​so-​tempted by the banana old fashioned (with banana infused Jack Daniels and sweet syrup), but instead chose to stick with wine. I tried three different glasses and far and away the best one was the Alma Negra Pinot Nior. If I could bathe in a bathtub of that wine, I surly would.
We ordered a couple shared plates and both were well done. The cold meats selection was nothing mind blowing, but was definitely gourmet. With three kinds of thinly cut meats and small toasty bread, it was the perfect compliment to my wine. Secondly, we got the kingfish tartar. The five little bit-​sized pieces seemed to have a hint of avocado, mint and lemon in the mix. It was definitely a standout. Next time I would order a couple more things to nibble on, but with the amount of drinks we got, my credit card was glad I didn’t. Gardels isn’t cheap, but definitely worth the experience.