The Roosevelt

Hidden glem amazing great cocktails, good beers and classy mix of old track music. Thanks guys.

Amazing drinks is a pretty cool and old fashioned vibe. Try the back Betty cocktail! They love their liquid nitrogen.

The drinks at this place are pieces of art. For one, they are delicious — you can taste the alcohol but it does not overwhelm. But more distinctively, each cocktail comes as its own piece of artwork. My friend’s drink came in a picnic-​like jar with plaid cover and whipped cream and a cherry on top (see photo). My scotch-​based drink came in a gun-​shaped object, and the liquid was then poured over ice. The drinks are more of a show than simply drinks. It’s fun.
Don’t expect to pay anything less than about $ 20 for a cocktail, but that’s what I expected for an upscale place like this.
My one complaint was that service was slow. It took a while for the drinks to come, and more annoyingly, once we wanted to pay the bill it took us a bit of time and effort to flag down a staff member.

The menu looked so good we ordered the whole thing. Don’t fill up on cocktails because you want to leave as much room for food as possible. Dim lighting and inventive cocktails make it a great date spot!

I found this place to be painfully trendy. Like really really painfully cool.
Like I should have had a password or known someone who knew someone to even get in there.
We were seated around 11:15pm and handed an overwhelming large cocktail menu. We were approached within a minute for our orders, we asked for another minute and was then asked for our orders precisely 60 seconds later. I still hadn’t glanced over probably ¾ of the menu.
Too many options for this little one.
I ended up asking for the waiter to just make me something without pineapple juice in it (I’m allergic to the demon fruit!) because I just couldn’t muster the energy to speed read the remainder of menu let alone then make a decision.
The drinks are very showy (one of the guys at our table was poured his drink from hollow glass gun, there was fire and smoke and all sorts going on) with a pricetag to match.
It became apparent why we had been pressed to order so quickly — the staff wanted to go home! House lights came up a few minutes after our drinks arrived and it got very «so we should ask for the bill yeah?» very quickly. We rapidly sunk our beverages and got outta there.
This place is for a particular crowd and I don’t think that I am part of it.

The service here is by far the poorest Ive ever experienced. ever…anywhere.
On a recent Friday night, we went with another couple to grab drinks while we waited for our table at Apollo. There were probably about 12 people in the bar max, so not busy. We were seated and given drinks menus from a very blazé server/​hostess. We quickly decided on our fancy and delicious-​sounding $ 22 drinks. We waited for the girl to acknowledge us although she stood only a table away at the door podium. We waited and waited. And waited. She hurredly walked past us several times as we motioned for her. We finally managed to get her attention and told her we’d like to order drinks, please. She told us «just a moment». In the mean time, a person from one of the tables got up and made himself a drink. She continued to blatantly avoid us, so we gave up and left… and went and had really yummy cocktails, dinner and excellent service at Apollo.

Look I have been to the Roosevelt a number of time since moving to the bubble of Potts Point. Every time I settle into the amazing décor and ambiance and peruse the amazing cocktail list I am less than impressed by the service.
Read through my reviews I give extra points for amazing food, amazing ambiance and amazing service in alignment.
It is disappointing because the service at the dear old Roosevelt has declined each and every time I have come.
On the upside their specials look amazing together with the creativity in the kitchen and at the bar.

We had the private room for a girlfriends birthday. It was a great room re space, décor, seating and a view straight into the kitchen. The downside was the heat from the kitchen on an ready warm night and a dimly lit room. We had a group of 24 and one waiter who was not as familiar with the menu as we needed. He did a great job considering he’s not worked there before, but if we’d been an executive group instead of a bunch of friends I wouldn’t be expecting return business. The food was amazing and we priced, the cocktails were great and specialised and a work of art on their own. I highly recommend the chicken & waffles but it’s not enough on its own so get an appetiser or a dessert as well. The calamari was great! Skip the ‘Roosevelt Fizz’ cocktail if you’re a gin lover as it just tastes like a marshmallow sparkling wine. Still nice, but not a gin tasting drink.

This place is as good a place as any to grab a drink in Potts Point. Reasonably priced, and the service is excellent.

I’ve been here once before for a couple of cocktails, but last night we went out our valentines day dinner.
They had a 3 course option which was accompanied by cocktails, including an appetizer, an entrée to share, and a dessert to share.
The first drink was gin based, infused with cucumber and elderflower essence, and a three bite seafood tasting. The first was an oyster. Normally I do t love oysters, but the sauce on them was delicious. I’m even inclined to check this place out on a Thursday when they do $ 1 oysters. The second was a piece of trout with some type of salad. I don’t normally like trout, but it wasn’t too fishy and was nicely complemented by the salad. The last was my favorite, which I believe was a crab cake with a cheese sauce and topped with ginger. All were really good.
Next, we had a house cocktail, the Roosevelt Rouge, which came in a wine glass and was almost like a Christmas mulled wine with a lot more liquor. It had a number of spices and was really smooth. This was accompanied by a prawn and wagyu filet. Wowwwww this was the best filet I’ve ever had. Perfectly cooked, nice and pink in the middle, and the steak was so smooth. It wasn’t tough at all and I wish I had another serving. This came with a side of polenta which was pressed into a brick with rosemary. Overall really really good!
For dessert, we had a tequila based cocktail with strawberries and a rose petal. It was good and matched nicely with the alcohol soaked berries that came on the dessert. The main dessert was a thin slide of chocolate cake topped with a cream sauce, alcohol berries, and a caramel popcorn that was really good.
Definitely keen to go back here again and try some other things on the menu. I also highly recommend this place even just for the cocktails. Someone next to me ordered a drink that came with marshmallow fluff and a sprig of rosemary. They came and lit in on fire, giving it a great rosemary smell and toasting the marshmallow fluff. Yummmmm

Came here for a birthday dinner in the Marilyn Room, and I have to say this place has an awesome art deco vibe going on… could definitely see some Gatsby up in this B. Great date place and a place for group dinners.
The staff is very pleasant, extremely friendly and they know their shit.
They offer a vegetarian menu as well as gluten free so if you’re into that… have no fear!
We got the set menu, and It’s too bad the chefs take FOREVER… I mean, don’t get me wrong the food is pretty tasty but for a group of 10 it took ages for everything to come out. This would not have been a big deal if the place was packed to the rafters but it wasn’t that crowded when we went. The wagyu and tuna were pretty delicious.
Cocktails were alright, but not outstanding.
I’d come back again but with a smaller group of people.

Love the décor and the 1950’s vibe at the Roosevelt. It’s a nice place to go for a laid back after work drink. The espresso martini was really good and equally rich but I found the signature cocktail disappointing as it tasted like punch I could ave knocked up in a minute at home. We had the Wednesday night $ 20 wagu beef and chips meal and it was a let down. It ay have even better but both our steaks were more cooked than we requested, so we both found it chewy and lacking in flavour. The chips were a standard frozen shoe string McDonald’s type deal. Predictable and nice enough without being exciting.
I would definitely go back to the Roosevelt for after work drinks, but next time I would go elsewhere for dinner..

Came on a Saturday night for a party in the back room. There were party guests… but the front room was dead. o_​o
The atmosphere at the Roosevelt is amazing. The deco vibe and the dim lighting are done so beautifully. But sadly the cocktails don’t live up to the hype. We were hoping for some of the theatre that other reviews promised but apparently the staff weren’t in the mood. No shakes, no nitro, no love. So without the made-​at-​your-​table option we were served up a few cocktails… really average. We tried The one in the hip flask, the one with the meringue, the expensive one, and the old fashioned ones. All were disappointing.
I didn’t try the food. But I’m guessing the lacklustre cocktails are why there weren’t many punters. Cocktails in Sydney are becoming an art, and with places like Grandma’s out there, the Roosevelt needs to pick up their game to get the people back!
I give 3 stars for the décor and the hope that they were just having a rough night (based on other reviews it must be better next time I visit… right?)

This place wasn’t bad. Perhaps I set my expectations too high. My second love in life is food. But my first love are cocktails. So a place that offered matching cocktails with my degustation menu — well throw on me a feather boa and point me in that direction!!!
Unfortunately, the matching cocktails weren’t all that tasty. The food was good. Better than good actually. But billed as a cocktail specialists, I was disappointed. They did do some cool things with it like pour dry ice out of mugs, and setting fire to things but all of these impressive gimmicks mean nothing if the cocktails didn’t taste good. And sadly they weren’t the best :(

As promised we had the degustation menu last night — and what a night!
My two buddies and I had the place to ourselves in the Private Dining Room as they were changing menus and not supposed to be open — but as we had booked some time ago and couldn’t easily change the date, we were the guinea pigs for the new Autumn menu. Big ups to them for accommodating us.
The menu was really interesting — A Walk In The Woods, is how it is described, and the first course was a BLT gazpacho with orange cordial cocktail. Sounds weird, and it was, but yummy! And so were all the courses, 4 savoury and one desert plus petit fours.
So from the picnic in the field, we come to a stream — cocktail has river stones in the bottom and parsley fragrance, food is trout confit (I thikn) with puffed rice and wheat and other yummy bits.
From the stream to the forest floor — a large shared platter with ‘earth’ crumbs (tasted lie marmite to me!!) and micro veggies — tiniest little zucchini you ever did see! Almost a crime to eat! matched with a cocktail of honey three ways — perfect sweet counterpoint to the savoury crumbs.
From the forest floor to the hunt — duck breast with smoked grapes and almond peanut butter — stunning duck, and I an really fussy about duck! Matching cocktail — by now I forget, sorry, but it was really nice, don’t think it had a name (tipping point, my buddy said, and it was — noise level went up a big notch about here).
Then to desert — well, some real theatre here — first a glass coffee maker, with cassia bark and vanilla pods and all sorts that is heated and made before your eyes, then some spirit is lit and poured between two steel jugs (the campfire) in a very spectacular and theatrical way — loved it! Added to the coffee in a flask and poured over some frozen confection of maple syrup and ice cream or something in the cup — fan-​bloody-​tastic! Quite a show, reminded me of Vue de Monde in Melbourne. This was not desert, merely the matching cocktail — desert was a chocolate and hazelnut log on a bed of chocolate crumbs with beetroot essence dripped around — sounds odd but it worked.
Finally some petit fours — by now i am pretty well done, brain is soggy with cocktails, and stomach is bulging — but folks it is all for a good cause, to bring yo the best reviews I can!
Seriously, very innovative and enjoyable, One of my buddies was at Tetsuyas the week before and reckoned he enjoyed it more than that — so that is a big tick my friends, as the three of us are indeed The Hard Table.
A rare and precious five stars — although the wait for a drink beforehand nearly cost them I have to say, but all is forgiven in the overall experience.

It appears I’m the first to review the degustation portion of this place — woo hoo!
I recently went with five friends and we were lucky enough to be the only ones partaking that evening. You start off with a few drinks in the main bar (but don’t go too nuts, you have a lot ahead of you!). Soak in the ultra-​cool, retro vibe. The barkeeps are super helpful, eager to find you a drink that suits your specific tastebuds.
Next up, you’ll be escorted behind some closed doors you previously didn’t notice and you have the absolute feeling you’re officially in a speak-​easy. The room is private and you have full view of the kitchen. The servers are affable and really make the meal come alive. They’ll be rotating the menu seasonally, and while the food was good, it probably isn’t as fantastic as other degustations in this city. That said, $ 150 for a 5 course dinner with paired cocktails is an absolute bargain; you could spend that on cocktails alone in this city!
Pace yourself on the drinks… all of us had some headaches at work the next day — but the absolute pleasure was well worth the pain. :)
I’ll definitely be back.

It’s no secret, one of my favourite Sydney cocktail bars is Eau de Vie, incidentally recently awarded the title of ‘World’s best new cocktail bar’ at the annual Spirited Awards in New Orleans — hoorah! So, you can understand my excitement, when I heard of the arrival of their shiny new sibling — The Roosevelt.
Unlike Eau de Vie, the Roosevelt’s cocktail nirvana is not hidden behind dark glass doors in a little known hotel foyer. The Roosevelt, in all its glory, has full street access. Enter the Roosevelt, and you will be transformed smack bang back to the glamorous 1940s. It’s a Mad Men vibe, and it’s my kind of place.
Mr S and I enter The Roosevelt and are instantly greeted by the friendly bar manager. He seats us and brings us glasses of water and cocktail menu’s. The cocktail menu reads like a good novel and I giggle as I read through the descriptions of the various concoctions. Our friend proceeds to explain to us the concept of The Roosevelt. I ask him what he expects their most famous cocktails to be. He answers ‘cocktails on wheels’ and points to a very 1940s looking cocktail trolley on wheels.
He then proceeds to tell us this is perhaps the worlds first ‘liquid nitrogen cocktail trolley’. I’m sold. As soon as I hear he has just enough ‘liquid nitrogen’ for one more drink tonight — I quickly order a ‘Martini of Tomorrow’, described on the menu as ‘Dr Emmet Brown and our very own Dr Phil went for a joyful ride in the famous DeLorean and brought back this concoction from the future. Ketel One, Tanqueray, dry Vermouth, grapefruit, citrus and pomegranate thrown and mixed with liquid nitrogen for a cryogenic cocktail experience’.
Mr S orders ‘The Graduate’, described as ‘For the bachelors of the Harvard, the Graduate will separate the men from the boys. Served in an absinthe flamed balloon, this is a smokey, yet sweet and delicious number, combining Cognac, lapsoong infused Vermouth and herbaceous liqueurs’. Now, that’s what I call a drink!
First, it’s time for my drink. the cocktail trolley is wheeled over to our table and we sit back and enjoy the show. Showmanship and theatrics are an important part of The Roosevelt expereince, and we are not dissapointed. My martini is made, with swirlings of liquid nitrogen and accompanied by an entertaining commentry. I almost feel the need to applaud when I receive my delicously pink drink.
Next, it’s time for Mr S’ drink. Cognac is poured, Absinthe is flamed, and the end result is served in a gorgeous silver balloon, suspended in it’s very own holder. Very cool indeed.
But, don’t be fooled into thinking the Roosevelt is just another classy drinking establishment. In the back room, they will be offering a five course degustation menu, complete with matching cocktails. Though this is not open yet, the owner graciously shows us through the dining room. It’s impressive. In true Roosevelt fashion, dining here will be a theatrical experience. Sittings will commence at 7.30pm, and you will not be late for the show. After all, you wouldn’t be late to the Theatre, would you? We are also let in on a little secret, which I will not reveal, but will keep up my sleeve, until the time is right.
Everyone loves a bar with history, and this story is right up my alley. Did you know, a nightclub of the same name existed in the same location in the 1940s? And, that Frank Sinatra actually performed there? Well, you do now.
This is definitely one new kid on the block worth checking out. The Roosevelt is set to become one of my new favourite cocktails bars, if it isn’t already.

Get in now while you can — surely this Potts Point hot spot won’t say a secret for long… especially considering that these are certainly the most exquisitely crafted bespoke cocktails I’ve had in Sydney. Perhaps in all of Australia. Ah… I’ve finally found my 69 Colebrooke Row.
I won’t spoil all of the surprises, but let’s just say that a nitrogenized cocktail trolley may or may be involved.
And for the ice purists among us, don’t fret — ice balls abound, whether yours is a mint ice ball, a pink-​grapefruit and chamomile ice ball, or as in my case, an apricot ice ball (which arrived in a cocktail described as strong, sweet and sexy — much like the bartenders who made it).
The Roosevelt is brand spanking new and definitely still growing into its big shoes (made even bigger by the fact that its accomplished big sister is Eau de Vie), but don’t let the initial ‘hotel lounge’ vibe throw you off. You’re here for the cocktails. And you’re about to be reminded of that in the best possible way. Furthermore, our affable host Haley whispered that a degustation menu with matching cocktails is in the works.
Get there.