RFK Rankings · Sydney
Best Rooftop Restaurants in Sydney 2026
Rooftop & top-floor rooms · Sydney · 6 rooftops ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published May 26, 2026 · Updated June 21, 2026
Cafe Sydney has watched the ferries cross from the top of Customs House since 1999, and it still sets the bar for a Sydney rooftop dinner: a real kitchen, a real harbour view, and a terrace open to the sky. The city is thick with rooftop bars, but the ones that cook to match the outlook are fewer, from a revolving room 47 floors over Australia Square to an ex-Noma chef's wood fire above Surry Hills. Six rooftops, ranked on the view, the kitchen and the cocktail program rather than the height alone.
1.Cafe Sydney
The 5th-floor Customs House terrace with a front-row harbour view and a real kitchen, going since 1999. Book the terrace for the best rooftop dinner in the city.
Cafe Sydney sits on the fifth and top floor of Customs House at Circular Quay, an open rooftop terrace looking straight out at the Harbour Bridge and the ferries, and it has anchored the city's rooftop dining since 1999, marking 25 years in 2024. Executive chef Sarahjane Brown runs a modern Australian menu whose tandoori-roasted salmon is the long-standing signature, with mains around 48 to 65 dollars. This is the booking for a rooftop where the kitchen matches the view rather than coasting on it, the pick for a celebration lunch or a sunset dinner. Reserve the terrace ahead and aim for clear weather and a Sunday afternoon.
Book through cafesydney.com; ask for a terrace table at sunset.
2.O Bar and Dining
The revolving fine-dining room 47 floors over the CBD, a full turn every 105 minutes. Book it for a 360-degree harbour view with the meal.
O Bar and Dining is the revolving restaurant on Level 47 of Australia Square at 264 George Street, turning a full circle roughly every 105 minutes so the harbour, the bridge and the city pass the window through dinner. Chef and owner Michael Moore, with head chef Jason Dean, runs a contemporary fine-dining menu whose seared scallops with calamari and freekeh are a set piece, with event and set menus from around 220 dollars a head. This is the booking for the widest view on this list, a special-occasion dinner where the whole city is the backdrop. Reserve ahead and ask for a window-edge table to ride the rotation.
Book through obardining.com.au; take the set menu and a window seat.
3.Kiln
The Ace Hotel's 18th-floor rooftop, now run by ex-Noma chef Beau Clugston. Book it for wood-fired seafood and a Surry Hills skyline.
Kiln is the rooftop restaurant on the 18th floor of the Ace Hotel Sydney in Surry Hills, built into the brickwork of the old Tyne House kiln, with retractable terraces over the city. It reopened in 2025 under chef-partner Beau Clugston, who spent two decades abroad and owns Iluka in Copenhagen after years at Noma, with a coastal, wood-fired menu that has dropped pasta in favour of seafood off the fire. This is the booking for a rooftop dinner that takes the kitchen as seriously as the view, in the city's most design-led hotel. Reserve ahead and ask for a terrace table when the roof is open.
Book through acehotel.com; ask for a terrace seat and order off the fire.
4.The Glenmore
The Rocks pub rooftop with a 180-degree Opera House and bridge view, in a 1921 building. Book it for a relaxed harbour view over a pint and a plate.
The Glenmore is a three-level pub on Cumberland Street in The Rocks, its top floor a rooftop beer garden with a 180-degree sweep of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, in a building reconstructed in 1921 over 1840s origins. The kitchen is modern-pub rather than fine dining, but the rooftop is one of the most generous free harbour views in the city, and it runs through Vivid and New Year. This is the booking for a relaxed, unstuffy rooftop afternoon where the outlook does the heavy lifting. Reserve a rooftop table ahead for a weekend or an event night, as the top floor fills fast.
Book through theglenmore.com.au; ask for the rooftop, not the public bar.
5.Bar Ombre
A Ligurian aperitivo rooftop above Circular Quay with bridge glimpses. Book it for spritz-and-snack dining rather than a full meal.
Bar Ombre is the rooftop bar-dining terrace on Level 3 of the Gateway building at Circular Quay, from the Salt Meats Cheese owners Edoardo Perlo and Stefano De Biasi, an open-air Ligurian aperitivo room with glimpses of the bridge and the Opera House. The format is San Daniele prosciutto, burrata and calamari over spritz carafes rather than a sit-down dinner, with a happy hour from late afternoon. This is the booking for a pre-dinner rooftop hour or a light grazing evening in the sun, lighter in the kitchen than the rooms above it. Walk in early or reserve a terrace table for after-work hours.
Book through barombre.com.au; come for aperitivo before a dinner nearby.
6.Cafe del Mar
A Darling Harbour rooftop terrace with DJs and a Mediterranean menu. Book it for a party-leaning rooftop afternoon, not a quiet dinner.
Cafe del Mar occupies a rooftop terrace at Cockle Bay Wharf in Darling Harbour, a DJ-driven, beach-club-style room with a Mediterranean menu and a long spritz list, open Wednesday to Sunday, with dinner Wednesday to Saturday. The view is the western harbour and the city skyline, and the mood is closer to a day club than a dining room, which makes it the most social and least serious pick on this list. This is the booking for a celebratory, music-led rooftop afternoon with food on the side rather than a kitchen-first dinner. Reserve a daybed or terrace table ahead for a weekend session.
Book through cafedelmar.com.au; come for a weekend afternoon session.
Not for everyone
Anyone who wants the kitchen to lead, not the view. Bar Ombre and Cafe del Mar are bar-and-terrace rooms where the cooking sits behind the setting. For a rooftop where the food carries its own weight, book Cafe Sydney, O Bar or Kiln; keep the other two for drinks and a graze.
Diners after a quiet, fine-dining hush. Cafe del Mar runs DJs and The Glenmore is a busy pub rooftop, so neither suits a still, candle-lit dinner. If calm is the point, the harbour rooms in our best Sydney view restaurants are the better booking.
Bad-weather plans. Most of these terraces are open to the sky, so a wet Sydney evening can move you indoors or cancel the rooftop entirely. Check the forecast, and for a guaranteed indoor harbour view book a windowed room rather than an open rooftop.
How to book a Sydney rooftop dinner
The harbour rooms are the marquee bookings. Reserve Cafe Sydney's fifth-floor Customs House terrace ahead and aim for sunset, and book O Bar on Level 47 of Australia Square for the widest view, asking for a window-edge table to ride the 105-minute rotation. Both reward a clear evening and an early-week table over a packed Saturday.
For a kitchen-first rooftop away from Circular Quay, Kiln at the Ace Hotel is the pick, an 18th-floor terrace in Surry Hills under ex-Noma chef Beau Clugston; ask for a terrace seat when the retractable roof is open. The Glenmore in The Rocks is the relaxed, free-view alternative for a pub rooftop afternoon.
Keep Bar Ombre and Cafe del Mar for the lighter end of the night, aperitivo and a graze at Bar Ombre above Circular Quay, a DJ-led session at Cafe del Mar in Darling Harbour. Browse the wider Sydney dining guide and compare the best rooftop restaurants worldwide before you book.
Frequently asked
What is the best rooftop restaurant in Sydney?
Cafe Sydney, on the fifth and top floor of Customs House at Circular Quay. It pairs an open rooftop terrace with a front-row Harbour Bridge view and a serious modern Australian kitchen under chef Sarahjane Brown, and it has run since 1999. For a rooftop where the food matches the outlook rather than coasting on it, book the terrace ahead and aim for sunset.
Which Sydney rooftop has the best view?
O Bar and Dining on Level 47 of Australia Square has the widest, a revolving fine-dining room that turns a full circle roughly every 105 minutes so the harbour, the bridge and the city all pass the window through dinner. Cafe Sydney has the better front-row harbour outlook at Circular Quay, but for a sweeping 360-degree view with the meal, O Bar is the pick.
Who is the chef at Kiln in Sydney?
Kiln, the rooftop restaurant on the 18th floor of the Ace Hotel in Surry Hills, reopened in 2025 under chef-partner Beau Clugston, who returned to Australia after about two decades abroad, including years at Noma and ownership of Iluka in Copenhagen. The founding chef Mitch Orr has departed. Clugston's menu is coastal and wood-fired, built around seafood off the fire rather than pasta.
Are Sydney rooftop bars good for dinner?
Some are, some are not. Cafe Sydney, O Bar and Kiln cook a full, serious dinner with the view; Bar Ombre above Circular Quay and Cafe del Mar in Darling Harbour are bar-and-terrace rooms better for aperitivo, a graze or a DJ-led session than a kitchen-first meal. Match the booking to the night: a real dinner upstairs, or drinks and snacks with a skyline.
How much does a Sydney rooftop dinner cost?
Plan on around 220 dollars a head for the set menu at O Bar, the premium pick, and roughly 48 to 65 dollars a main at Cafe Sydney. Kiln sits in the mid-to-upper fine-dining band, while The Glenmore, Bar Ombre and Cafe del Mar are pub and bar prices, where a graze and a few drinks land far lower. A window table and a good bottle push any of them higher.
Which Sydney rooftop is best for a relaxed afternoon?
The Glenmore in The Rocks for a free, 180-degree Opera House and bridge view over a pub lunch, or Cafe del Mar at Cockle Bay for a music-led, beach-club afternoon in Darling Harbour. Both are unstuffy and social rather than fine dining; book a rooftop table ahead for a weekend, as the top floors fill fast on clear days and event nights.
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