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    Pontoon Bar

    3.1 (36 reviews)
    Closed 11:00 am - 11:00 pm

    Pontoon Bar Photos

    PONTOON BAR ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Loud
    DJ
    Casual
    Outdoor seating

    Recommended Reviews - Pontoon Bar

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    Reviews With Photos

    Jennifer H.

    In January 2020, we were staying at the Meriton Sussex. Decided to go for pizza in our room one night. Around the corner along Darling Harbour, we saw Pontoon's sign for $10 pizza. DELICIOUS! The crust was fresh and anti-cardboard lol. The toppings also very fresh! I guess I'm used to American pizza chains with processed toppings :( so glad this was nothing like that!! We went back a 2nd time during our 2 week trip. YUM!

    A beer in the sun
    Sue L.

    Saturday lunch with four adults and two kids...no problem. Plenty of seating with a view of Darling Harbour suited us. Whilst the advertising indicated specials for under $10, they weren't really specials as they are always under $10. There were a few to pick from and there were other more expensive meals. The kids were able to eat the pizza and our adults had chicken schnitzel burgers, chicken salad and BLAT. All good. We also tried the bar with specialty beers and cocktails. The cocktails were a cut above too. Service was fast and courteous. You do have to watch the seagulls as they will dive bomb if you have been unlucky enough to have had customers before you feeding them. The staff are pretty quick to clear your table as soon as you leave as the seagulls go crazy knocking over glasses to get to any uneaten morsels. If you want to eat by the water then you just need to be prepared.

    Lamb kebabs and a local beer
    Ann L.

    This seems to be a tricky part of Sydney to find good food, and other places in the area seemed to have really inflated prices compared to elsewhere in Sydney...so we opted for a more economical place that looked like it would be OK and had some decent reviews in lieu of places that were much pricier and had very lukewarm to bad reviews... The beer selection was quite good, with a lot of local options on tap, and the bartenders were friendly and good with recommendations! The food was what we expected; it was fine, but nothing memorable. I had the lamb kabobs which came with salad and chips; the lamb was a little tough, but the flavor was good and the salad and chips were totally decent. We were warned that there could be up to a 45 minute wait for food at around 1PM on a sunny Saturday, but the food did come out in about 25 minutes; the kitchen is open and the staff were clearly working very hard and as fast as they could! They could probably use another 1-2 people!. The view of the harbor from our table was quite nice! Bottom line, this is a good option for an economical bite and brew if you are in the Darling Harbor area, but there is much more interesting food in other parts of Sydney!

    Lamb Kebab Skewers.
    Logan T.

    Stopped here for lunch yesterday (Monday) with the family on a walk around Sydney and we quite enjoyed the place and it's nice position to the water. We really liked the quality of the food for the price. The atmosphere in the bar was pretty great, not to overcrowded, not to lifeless. The only thing I have to say bad about the place is the men's toilet is appalling and in desperate need of a renovation, and have some better lighting added as it had the vibe of a creepy dungeon and the worst part was there was at least 2 cockroaches crawling about! In the bathroom.. yuck! So overall i rate this place a 2 out of 5.

    Hannah J.

    Pontoon Bar has great presentation. The outside is beautiful, as is the inside. It's the kind of place that just invites you to go right in. Best of all, no entry fee! The food and drinks can get a little pricey, but if you're all about the ambience of a place, it's probably worth it. It also boasts great views of the harbour while you sit down and have a few drinks. The ambience is quite mellow and relaxed for most of the night, with the music being unintrusive and up-to-date. Later in the night, when the clubbers start arriving, the music gets a little louder and becomes more fast-paced, and the atmosphere changes from a nice place to sit and relax, to a more clubby, dancy vibe. Depending on your taste in music (they play a lot of RnB), you might want to stay there, or move on to a more suitable venue.

    Danielle L.

    There are two different Pontoons - Pontoon by day and Pontoon by night. Some of the other reviews let you know all about the crazy night life, so I';; fill you in on my daylight/ midnight/ midweek experience. I headed to Pontoon on a warm spring Wednesday afternoon. It was maybe 40% full with people sitting outside enjoying their lunches, whilst boats sailed by.... Unlike the night crowd, the day patrons were mainly older men and women - some business people and tourists - very chilled and aesthetically gorgeous place to eat.... Unfortunately the good review ends here because whilst it may be beautiful its food is fairly bland and the wait staff match.... I had the veggie salad sandwhich ($10) and chips ($3).... it was so boring and tasteless and that i had to drown it in salt just to remind my taste buds that there was meant to be flavour.... I guess Pontoon wants you to focus more on the bar and less on the food....

    Cheers to friendship
    Nikita D.

    Three of us visited this place on Friday. My Mojito was well done ! The bartenders didn't seem to be in a good mood and had a smug look on their face. I always find friendly folks and hence this was a first ! My mates ordered for a beer. There wasn't room to sit as they were prepping for an event. My avid drinker friends say that one shouldn't really aim to devour food in a bar or pub. But heck I am not one of them! We ordered Potato wedges and a burger. While the quantity was good, the taste was just OK ! Our first round of order (3 Beers, a Mojito and Potato wedges cost 45 AUD) I wouldn't go here unless there is some kick ass party happening and yes, I will have just a drink .

    A picture of my meal from pontoon bar and restaurant on Cockle Bay in Sydney.

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    Review Highlights - Pontoon Bar

    Fantastic view, fantastic food, fantastic prices, fantastic staff and I love the QR codes on the table for ease in ordering!

    Mentioned in 2 reviews

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    PJ Gallagher's Sports Bar & Bistro - Front of the hotel

    PJ Gallagher's Sports Bar & Bistro

    2.8(9 reviews)
    0.5 kmSydney
    $$

    The Criterion, post PJs renos, is a standard faux-Irish pub slap bang in the middle of the city…read more(close to Town Hall). Being close to where I used to work, I'd frequent this place quite a bit, and before it was a PJs it was a mates fave city pub so we'd catch up over a few here from time to time. There's a pretty good mix of people in the street-level bar, and PJs have converted it into more of a sports bar so there are plenty of screens for the sports nuts to check out their favourite teams prospects. PJs typically have pretty good fare. In winter they have two absolute cracking dishes. The Guiness Pie with mushy peas, and their signature lamb shanks which is totally unctuous. Why such a modest score? Price kills the place. It's not one of the cheaper places to get a beer as someone incorrectly states in their tips, it's easily one of the most expensive places to get a beer. You're paying over the top prices for domestic tap beer. A cheap beer is $5 for a Coopers Pale Ale, which you can get on the same street about 200m up the road... Also... As much as I enjoy a good pokie section, this one ain't good. And by that I mean the clientelle. It brings in the undesireable types, and sours what is otherwise a sweet pub. The snug, the downstairs den, has a great looking bar, and "snug" seating, but it's kinda pointless down there. It doesn't feel snug, it feels stuffy and claustrophobic - and the bar has never been manned when I've been down there. Now, if they moved the pokies to the snug, and then opened up the entire bar at the street-level to include the room vacated by the pokie section, you'd have something. But why would they do that when they can get by with what they have.

    I went for lunch here not too long ago and it was a great Irish pub. Rich Mahogany wood and a wide…read moreselection of beer on tap, with food selections that you'd find in most other Irish pubs. Being in the city, it can get quite busy very quickly and is a decently sized basement multi-storied pub. TV screens are usually are usually playing Fox sports or something similar. I order the Parmy, just to be on the the safe side. I wasn't too game to try the Pie which is supposed to be one of the best (as judged by Irish people I work with) around. The food is carefully prepared and you can tell the produce is quality and they've cooked it properly which some pubs sometimes struggle to do consistently... The chips were the standout side, crisp and crunchy! Definitely will be trying the stew or pie, that is if I'm brave enough to.

    Photos
    PJ Gallagher's Sports Bar & Bistro - Guinness stew pie thing. SO MUCH YUM!

    Guinness stew pie thing. SO MUCH YUM!

    PJ Gallagher's Sports Bar & Bistro

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    Pontoon Bar - danceclubs - Updated May 2026

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