When tossing up where to dine in Sydney, who said your taste buds should have all the fun? Invite your eardrums to the party and make your night out a multi-sensory experience with our favourite Sydney restaurants serving smooth sounds as a side dish.
Live jazz is the perfect soundtrack for a French feast, and a mariachi band adds Mexican flare to your margarita. And in 2023, it seems more and more Sydney restaurants are adding live music to the menu. Whatever your pleasure, get ready to dial up your date night game at these restaurants that combine mouth-watering menus and toe-tapping tunes. That’s music to our ears!
Armorica
Surry Hills | Friday Nights, 10pm
Since opening earlier this year, Armorica has fast become the Parisian darling of Crown Street. Think Australian seafood, but make it French. The custom-built grill puts much of the onus on wood fire cooking, and of course, one can’t go past a classic steak frites for the last word in sophisticated French fare. The menu features rich flavours, house-made pasta and a dessert selection that will make you weep tears of joy. Complement your meal with one (ou deux?) of the luscious house cocktails, like the Petit Loulou, with Glenmorangie, lime sherbet, cherry, bitters and absinthe. To top off your Francophile fantasy, Armorica has introduced live jazz from 10pm—meaning you officially have the perfect excuse to linger a little longer after dessert.
NOMAD
Surry Hills | Sundays, 1pm-5pm
With chef Jacqui Challinor at the helm, NOMAD is a firm favourite in the Sydney restaurant scene. The produce-driven menu, charcoal grill, house charcuterie, and impressive wine list have kept fans coming back for more over the years. Once you've tried the woodfired flatbread, burrata with fennel jam, the house-cured duck mortadella, and the olive-oil ice-cream sandwich, you'll no doubt be a NOMAD fan too. From June 2023, the team has added live music to the warehouse-style venue, with DJ's, guitarists, and blues singers all on the lineup each week.
Menzies Bar At Shell House
CBD | Tuesdays, 7pm
The Menzies Bar at Shelll House is a glamorous ground floor cocktail bar and bistro which, in spite of the very European brief, feels very Wall Street. Try financier-inspired cocktails like the "In-Cider Trading", made with scotch, coffee, fig, cider caramel, and smoked honey. For something fresher, there's the Sicilian margarita, made with tequila, limoncello, Sichuan, and fresh lemon. To eat, the Menzies lobster roll is a smash hit, alongside pastas, and Italo-style snacks. From 7pm on Tuesdays, it's jazz time with the Menzies Jazz Trio completing the mid-week NYC aesthetic.
Esteban
CBD | First Saturday of Every Month, 5pm-9pm
Over one month of travelling through Mexico, the director and bar manager of Esteban caught feelings for its flavours. Bringing these back to their second joint venture has resulted in an expressive menu with the fullness of Mexican traditional tastes and a modern Australian twist. Food and music serve as inseparable elements of cultural expression, so it stands to reason that the two would work hand-in-hand for the fullest experience of this contemporary combustion. Tantalise your taste buds with fresh takes on authentic classics, and excite your ears with a live mariachi band performing in the laneway and occasionally roaming the restaurant on the first Saturday of every month, satisfying heart, soul, and stomach!
Restaurant Hubert
CBD | Daily
Feel like an Australian in Paris with a trip to Restaurant Hubert, Sydney’s petite Montmartre in the heart of the city. A love letter to the most romantic city in the world, you’re likely to strike up a romance with the classic French menu and impressive wine list. Oysters, caviar, and steak tartare are just some of the luxe staples of this hospitality hub, which encompasses three bars, private and communal dining rooms and a cinema. Despite a sprawling set-up, there’s still a cosy and intimate feel. Whether you’ve been to Restaurant Hubert before, or if this is your first tango in Paris, the live jazz in the Beatrix dining room plays seven days a week and will make you love Paris in the winter, when it drizzles.
ESQ
CBD | Thursdays and Fridays, 5.30pm
In the historic QVB, tucked behind a hidden entrance and beyond plush velvet curtains, you'll find ESQ. The prohibition-era, NY-style speakeasy is part bar, part dining room. Expect to be transported back to the Roaring 20s with smooth jazz tunes, swing bands, old-world cocktails, and decadent bistro dishes. Yep, this place may as well be ripped straight from the set of The Great Gatsby. Sip whiskies from all over the world, plus classic cocktails and an extensive wine list of A-class and rare drops from Bordeaux to the Barossa. Live jazz and swing bands take over on Thursdays and Fridays, showing off some of Sydney's best local talent with new artists performing every week.
Mama Saan
Bondi | Sundays 5pm-8pm
Delight your senses at Bondi institution, Mama Saan. Cherry blossoms hang loftily overhead and the scarlet glow of the nighttime trade will seduce you inside for a Japanese fusion feast. Small and large sharing menus are the first clue that this world is best explored with a group of your favourite people. The walls are heavy with neon-accented art and statement pieces, and everything from the decor to the menu has a touch of old meets new. The Yuzu Mojito and Nagano Wasabi Cosmo are inspired additions to the extensive cocktail menu—when paired with the live jazz of a Sunday evening, you’ll either be ending—or starting—your week right. Whichever way you look at it, at Mama Saan, we think the glass is always half full.
Bad Mama
Surry Hills | Thursdays, 7.30pm
Bad Mama describes itself as “where Taiwan meets Japan on the set of Blade Runner”. The menu is brimming with fan favourites: dumplings (served steamed or in a spicy broth—your choice!), delectable duck pancakes, spicy sliders, and wondrous wings. The drinks menu is chock-full of fabulous cocktails (Lychee Sau Wau, anyone?) and heaps of both Asian and Western-style whiskeys. Flavour sensations meet good vibrations, with a rotating roster of live jazz, blues and funk every Thursday from 7.30pm. You can be sure of a robust musical offering each week as the bands are curated by Jonathan Zwartz, ARIA award-winning jazz musician, composer, arranger producer and songwriter extraordinaire.
Babylon
CBD | Fridays and Saturdays, 6pm-8pm
Babylon pays homage to the Middle Eastern tradition of celebrating good food in good company. Set tasting menus for four or more provide the perfect sampling of Levantine cuisine, including house-made Turkish breads with za’atar smoked butter, babaganoush with fennel pollen and pomegranate, and slow-cooked lamb shoulder. And good news for vegetarians, the venue has an extensive and filling "Flora" menu. A perfect complement to the luscious food and signature cocktails is the live music playing on Fridays and Saturdays from 6pm. It’s first in, best dressed if you want to snag a spot in the rooftop courtyard, so we recommend booking early to languish in the chill vibes from the best seat in the house.
Mulan Music Restaurant And Bar
Haymarket | Daily from 5.30pm
Mulan Music Restaurant and Bar blends Cantonese and Sichuan traditional flavours with contemporary flare and spicy notes—but even spicier are the notes you’ll hear from the restaurant stage. From the neon-lit ceiling to the Saturday Night Fever-style light-up floor, the stage is the playground for a variety of musical acts, from singers to saxophonists, four-piece funk outfits and swooning soloists. Share the signature Watermelon Tower Cocktail (yes, it’s served in an actual watermelon) with friends, and dig into the deep-fried spicy chicken, garlic open-side shrimp or Sichuan hot pot menu. The symphony of flavours takes things up an octave with a backdrop of musical talents, serving party vibes from plate to stage.
Now, check out Sydney's best live music venues.
Image credit: Restaurant Hubert, Armorica, NOMAD, Shell House, Esteban, Restaurant Hubert, ESQ, Mama Saan, Bad Mama, Babylon, Mulan Music Restaurant and Bar