Here at Time Out, we’re in the business of recommendations – specifically, ones that get you off the couch, outta your house and experiencing the best of the city. We recommend everything from the best hikes to the best affordable eats – and, of course, the best bars in the city for when you’re feeling thirsty. Now, Time Out has just dropped its 2025 round-up of the best bars in the world – curated by Time Out’s international network of parched writers and editors – and one Sydney bar made the cut. That calls for a celebration.
Pleasure Club – a purple-hued, disco ball-lit basement bar where hedonism is not only welcome but encouraged – landed in 16th place on the world’s best bars list. Having opened in 2024, this late-night live-music bar was the first Newtown venue to be granted a 4am licence in more than 100 years – so if you wanna party late into the night, you can do that here. The drinks are excellent and tinged with nostalgia, there’s free live entertainment on every night of the week, and if you come at pleasure hour (5-7pm), you can score $12 Martinis and $2 oysters. In fact, we love Pleasure Club so much it won Time Out Sydney’s Bar of the Year Award 2025. Head down and see why it lives up to the name.
Elsewhere on the list, you’ll find everything from a classy little wine place in Madrid to a speakeasy in Manila, a sultry cocktail joint in Edinburgh and a no-fuss institution in London. And our good friends in Melbourne did well too, with sexy cocktail bar Apollo Inn landing in 11th place.
Check out Time Out’s guide to the world’s best bars here.
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