Lowenbrau is a bit pricey (about $16 - $18 for a stein) but the beer is good, and the kitchen churns out an excellent selection of Bavarian style food. Tiny on the outside (about 15 tables), walking in the door reveals a cavernous beer hall. The same thing goes if you are in need of a Stein of German / Austrian Beer. If guys in small leather shorts and girls in “heidi” outfits is your thing, then Lowenbrau is definitely worth a look. The pub kitchen does brilliant lamb shanks and mash. Live music is provided during the weekend afternoons by a “ragtime – jazz” quartet, with a combined age hovering somewhere around 300 years. Traditionally quiet in the afternoons, The Hero is usually ‘standing room only’ at night. In winter, the open hearth fire at the far end of the bar is a great position from which to nurse a pint of Guinness. The low slung timber ceiling and smoke stained hand cut sandstone walls give the bar an excellent sense of age. The Hero of Waterloo first opened for business in 1845, making it one of the oldest bars in Sydney. Again, from George Street head up Argyle Street, past the stairs and go through the cut, then turn right into Lower Fort Street past the Garrison Church. The Hero is hidden away at the top of Lower Fort Street. Call ahead to book a table if you are planning on going with a group in the evening. The Australian has nearly 100 different beers available and serves pints (as opposed to a number of bars that only serve draft beers in schooners) which means you don’t have to head back to the bar as often. A “traditional Aussie Pub” that does fantastic gourmet pizzas for about $16 (try the Moroccan lamb), the Australian has indoor “parlour” style seating, or you can sit outside under the wide veranda. From George Street (the main thoroughfare through the rocks) head up Argyle Street and take the Argyle stairs just before the cut. The Australian Heritage Hotel has a laid back “couple of beers after work” atmosphere and is located at the top of the rocks. For those not familiar with Australian Bars, a schooner is a 330mL glass of beer. There are undoubtedly many, many more that deserve to be here and if I didn’t have a day job they probably would be. The following list is my personal “best of” Sydney bars. Many are overpriced, staffed by pratts, dirty, serve crap beer or are just plain dodgy (any bar in a train station, or that has sawdust on the floor is probably best avoided). However not all bars in Sydney were created equal. In a country where the then Prime Minister Bob Hawke set the world speed drinking record for downing 2.5 pints in 11 seconds (1955), and the drinking binges of the national cricket team (in particular Merv Hughes) returning from tours of England are stuff of national legend, it is hardly surprising that there appears to be more bars than food shops in Sydney. Visiting every bar in Sydney is an admirable, yet seemingly impossible task. Matt Kemp's monthly column on life in Sydney