Hard Rock Cafe Sydney

We’d popped in for cocktails late on a Thursday evening and it was pretty quiet. Staff seemed bored, not too bothered about taking drinks orders, having loud conversations with each other and throwing empty glass bottles across the bar at the bin. I guess they couldn’t wait for the shift to finish (we’ve all been there!) but kinda off-​putting. Best experienced at weekends when it’s busier I guess.

Oh so dissapointed. Big meals but all reheated in the microwave, and mot vey well
Buffalo wings were half cold — literally. They clearly not been deep fried on order but pre-​packed, frozen, microwaved then dipped in warm sauce.
Nachos were big but…
Big blob of greasy sourcream, $ 3 guacamole wad about ¼ of an avacado… i get it, there expensive but at least make guacamole not just smashed avo.
Beans i could count on one hand snd the beef brisket on top was dry and reheated too. Simply poor.
On the positives… coke was cold and the service from Vickie and another Spanish speaking guy were outstanding.
Overpriced truckstop dinner

This was a quick and easy lunch option for us today and it was nice to sit down after waking around for ages this morning!
This is American style food with loads of options to choose from. 1 person in our party had steak, another nachos and I had the grilled chicken fajitas.
The fajitas were yummy, however the serve of food that came out could have been shared between two people. Sane as the nachos. Decent food but it barely looked like we’d made a dent in the food when we had finished. The cocktails were good but inconsistently made. Our first Long Island iced tea was one Of the best I’d ever tried, however the second had no remnants of a tea taste and had so much lemon juice in it that it made your cheeks pinch when you took a sip.
All in all, not a terrible place to dine, but I certainly wouldn’t go out of my way to eat here!

I’ve been to a couple Hard Rock Cafes around the world but this was my first experience in at HRC Sydney. I was pretty excited to see they were serving a Thanksgiving meal on Thanksgiving day so I booked table for 6 friends including myself.
I made the booking for 8pm. I got a call earlier in the day to confirm we were still coming because they were really busy and probably running behind. This was 6 hours before we showed up. Upon arrival they said there was still a 40 minute wait for priority seating. Ok seriously? If you knew it was gonna be that packed for Thanksgiving dinner you shouldn’t have accepted that many bookings! We went to the bar and had a couple drinks (cocktails way too sweet; beer super overpriced… $ 11 for a pint of beer?!) and finally got seated.
Service was pretty good. It took a long time for the food to come out but our waiter was friendly and in good spirits. There was a set menu with a couple options
Choice of Main:
–Traditional Roast Turkey with chestnut stuffing, giblet gravy, green beans and sweet potato rosette with cranberry sauce.
–Virginian Leg HamSlow-​roasted Madeira honey-​glazed leg ham with braised red cabbage, cilantro and garlic mash with blood orange sauce.
I went with the turkey. It wasn’t even real turkey. It was thick sliced turkey deli meat. No. The stuffing was a tiny lump of mush — don’t even know what it was. Vegetables and sweet potato mash were normal. I’d give it a ¹⁄₅ for totally failing what a traditional Thanksgiving meal should be and also small portion size.
A few others got the ham. It was pretty good. Especially the garlic mash — really really good. ³⁄₅ because serving size small.
Choice of Dessert:
–Traditional Pumpkin Pie served with whip cream & ice cream.
–Apple Cobbler served warm with vanilla ice cream, topped with walnuts & caramel sauce.
I went with the pumpkin pie. It was more like individually baked pumpkin tarts with no spice added, and some crappy vanilla ice cream. ²⁄₅
I tried the apple cobbler which was super cold and tasted like they just got it out of some freezer. It was nothing like apple cobbler. ¹⁄₅
The portion sizes were disappointing so they could have at least brought some bread rolls to go along with the mains. The only good dish was the ham. I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt that the other non-​Thanksgiving food they serve here regularly is pretty good but based on this experience unfortunately I have to give it a below-​average score. I really wasn’t looking for anything comparable to a home cooked meal, but something average/​decent would have been nice!
Don’t advertise a Thanksgiving meal unless you can make something decent! You’ve just ripped people off $ 40.

Thankyou Tres Velasquez for being our waiter and making my birthday lunch so enjoyable and a memorable experience.
I have been to Hard Rock Cafes all around the world, including Sydney’s original Hard Rock when it was located in Crown Street.
We were seated outside on the balcony, overlooking the boats and wandering weekend crowds. A perfect view for lunchtime dining.
The food is American diner fare — Rockin’ Buffalo Wings, Balsamic Tomato Bruschetta, Nachos and Chicken Tenders for Entrees.
For main dishes, the choices are endless. Famous Fajitas, Herb Grilled Chicken, Grilled Tasmanian Salmon, Prime Cuts of Lamb, Steak and Australian Angus Ribeye and succulent Cajun shrimp for a «Surf and Turf». I’ve never tried the smoke house combinations, so the Hickory-​Smoked Barbecue Combo was on the list!
Burgers and more burgers! You can choose a 6oz or 10oz beef burger under names such as «Legendary Aussie Burger», Classic Bacon Cheeseburger, Tango Burger, Hickory Barbecue Bacon Cheeseburger, Fiesta Burger and the Mushroom & Swiss Burger.
I was going to order one of the delicious deserts but was presented with a surprise birthday sundae! This unexpected surprise added to my wonderful dining my dining experience. We loved the extra fruity punch (Tres Special Sangria) and it was the start of a great party night!
We will definitely be returning again for more great food, drinks and your attentive and friendly service from all the wait staff at Hark Rock Café Darling Harbour.

Great location at the Harbor, great food but a bit pricey. I had the lamb cutlets which was delicious but was a smaller portion. I then ordered the chocolate brownie with ice cream which was amazing! I’m only giving four stars since the meals are so expensive and because once you walk into the restaurant you have to search for the help desk so that someone can help you get seated.

Ambience is good but food and service is poor, plenty of better choices in Darling Harbour

Not really a fan. The service is slow, the food is over priced and honestly not that great. I do think that the views are great. The decorations are gorgeous. I love the atmosphere and the look inside.

Overpriced and poor service. I am a Hard Rock Café VIP member (used to be but when they changed the loyalty program I refused to buy into another program after I bought into the first program for no benefits) and I have been to many Hard Rock Cafés in the world. This one had piss poor table service, sitting us infront of the bar where the servers would get drinks; I was hit, my daughter was hit, and my mother was hit several times by several servers. There were tons of open tables. The wifi was horrible. And to make matters worse, you are charged 10% for dining with them on Sunday or holiday. Their overpriced hamburgers are even more money on a Sunday. It was not of quality of the other Hard Rock Cafés I have enjoyed. I was very disappointed by this location.

Very standard HardRock food you would expect. Going on a Saturday evening is also a good idea to see the Harbour Fireworks (makes for a real good night). Tip: you cannot pre book a table so be prepare to wait for an hour for a table.

We did Christmas Day lunch @ Hard Rock & the staff were nothing but delightful.
Food was of normal hard rock standard — American deliciousness.
We sat on the balcony enjoyed the darling harbour people watching and received personalised, friendly and accommodating service.
Will be back.

The Hard Rock Café is pretty standard no matter what country you are in. This one is in a really cool location over looking darling harbour which normally would be lovely but sadly it’s all a massive construction site at the moment so the view is a bit crap. I went for brunch and tried the omelette and jumbo combo. The jumbo combo was pretty average and the bruschetta was gross but the rest was alright. Wait staff were super keen, we had 3 different people come to the table within the first five minutes of sitting down and ask if we wanted any drinks. In typical hard rock style it is a bit pricey but you do get a lot of food.

Being a huge chain restaurant that is famous for what we all know as «American» style food, it would have been easy for them to charge exorbitant prices and serve up mediocre food, but I was extremely happy that this wasn’t the case. Yes the prices are steep and they are aiming at the tourist market, but they haven’t rested on this and chosen to serve bland food, the food is really good. (I want to try the mac & cheese and the nachos next)
After deliberating over the menu for a while I decided on the club sandwich and it was worth every cent. So much so, it was too big and I was defeated after only half.
The walls are scattered with Rock n Roll memorabilia and the music is pumping. The waiters are very attentive and are always asking if everything is ok, o if you need anything.
My only complaint would be the price of the drinks. I would’ve loved to have a cocktail but there was no option to have one without the Hard Rock glass you get to keep. This put me off as I didn’t want to pay $ 25 for a drink and a glass I didn’t want.
I’ll go back, this time with a bigger appetite and wallet.

It was a nice meeting with a
LEGENDARY 10 OZ. BURGER
Famous the world over: topped with seasoned bacon, two slices of Cheddar cheese, a crisp fried onion ring, lettuce, tomato, and pickles.
I love it, and I have only had one bad unsuccessful experience, and that was in HRC Stockholm where they only serve it well done.

Listen. I do not expect to have the greatest service of my life when I come to Hard Rock. I know it is not a 3 Michelin Star restaurant. However, when I have our original server bail on us without a hand off and a15 plus minutes wait to get two ice creams for my girls (when it is not busy) is beyond the pale. Come on guys get it together.
If I could leave no stars tonight I would.

I think people are being a little harsh on Hard Rock Café Sydney. I think if you go there with the expectation that it’s not going to be fine dining, but just overpriced American diner type food served in a touristy type restaurant (in an equally touristy location), you won’t be disappointed.
The only real difference I noticed with this Hard Rock Café and the others I’ve been to is that the one at Darling Harbour is massive. It was a Monday night when we visited and there were at least two large rooms which were curtained off, presumably to be opened at weekends and busier times. There was a live band playing, and the area we were sitting in was full with a mix of groups of locals and smaller tables of tourists.
The service was fine — probably wasn’t as good as you’d find in some of the other Hard Rock locations, but that’s because it’s Australia and the waiters aren’t expecting to get the American sized tips their colleagues in other countries receive.

Yeah, a Hard Rock Café in Sydney! Nice location at the Darling Harbour with a great view to the Harbour. The restaurant is quite big, you may not have a good view to a screen showing music clips. Due to the massive glass front, it’s not as «dark» as it usually is in the HRCs.
Food was good, loved the intense taste of the bacon on the burger! Service was friendly and very good, easygoing.
The shop has nice shirts, but c’mon, 50 bucks for a shirt is simply too expensive!

It wasn’t a good place to eat.
Very touristy, over priced and the cocktails were not even that strong like they should. Couldn’t even taste the alcohol.
Food was very average.

Kinda hoped that the Sydney Hard Rock Café would be of the same standard as around the world. Doesn’t take long to know that it is waaaayyyy below it.
From the hostess who felt like it was a chore to walk you to your table, to the waiter who clearly hates his job and thinks its below him, this place was barely mediocre.
The cocktails were meh. The food was meh. The staff were meh. We left feeling meh.

Vor zwei Tagen waren wir an unserem letzten Abend in Sydney im Hard Rock Café, das herrlich im neuen Viertel des Darling Harbours liegt.
Am Sonntag Abend kam man (im Gegensatz zum Samstag) locker rein. Ein Drink an der Bar und schon wurde ein Tisch frei. Freundliches Geplänkel mit dem Einweiser, die Bedienung war ebenfalls nett wie alle.
Essen war saulecker, Bier ebenso.
Anschließender Einkauf im Rock Shop.
Gerne wieder!!!

Worth a visit once or for a special occasion as the prices aren’t made for regular patronage.
You can also buy the cocktail glasses which make great collectors items and memorabilia (it’s subtlety different in each city you go to).
Speaking of cocktails, try the hurricane! It’s a really nice drink