Customs House Bar

So the only reason I gave it 3 stars is because; the staff were nice, the Parmesan fries are amazing, and it’s in a great area. I got the Cesar salad and was disappointed; the grilled chicken was good but I was not a fan of the iceberg lettuce and the not so crispy bacon! My husband got a chicken dish which he liked and his co worker hog a pizza which he liked. It’s possible that I swung and missed on what I ordered but I wouldn’t think to go back here.

Stopped by for dinner and drinks during Vivid Sydney. It was a Saturday night and they were packed because of teh event, so warned us that it would be a 45 minute wait for food. We weren’t in a hurry and figured every restaurant in the area would be the same, so didn’t mind. My husband had the fish and chips and I had the pork tacos — both were great. We sat outside and the heaters were perfect — didn’t even notice the cold!

This is a great place to stop by for lunch or after work drinks as it’s close to Circular Quay and public transport. A friend and I dropped for lunch and we had the chicken Caesar salad and chicken bbq salad. Both chicken were cooked perfectly. The greens were nice although I wasn’t a huge fan of the dressing. Mid range prices and good beers. The plus is that you get to sit outside and with Sydney summer what else could you want?

What a great wasted opportunity. Have been in Sydney for business and when the place is not overwhelmed its actually not so bad. Service is attentive and friendly food isnt all that bad, kinda high end but delicious.
Now, make it 6p and add a hundred or more folks getting off work and the place just goes right off the rails. service goes right into the crapper, forget about having someone come out and check on if you need anything, forget about food actually arriving hot let alone luke warm. Forget about standing at the bar and getting any type of service, the line is 6 deep.
What a loss, great place, fantastic location, good people. just absolute horrible staffing during their busiest times makes for a very frustrating experience.
UPDATE:
Well I took a leave to the hotel bar (Marriott) that’s connected to the Customs house apparently the two are like cousins. well.
Not only has the manager come by but the staff as well to make sure that all is really ok.
Again, they just got overwhelmed by a slew of business folks at one time but having them actually take the time to stop by and check in really shows the quality of the staff and how much they care about their customers…

Get ur see-​saw pants on and strap yourself in for this review. It’s gonna be a bumpy old rollercoaster!
Friday arvo I was jetting past the CHB at around 2 and the place was buzzing. Outdoors, sunny aspect, trendy umbrellas. Yup u get the pictionary. You might even say it had a vibe. You know what I am saying right?
Ooh stop the press!
Pump it up a little more, Girl I gotta let you know that u got that vibe. You got it. Vibe. Baby. Vibe. Girl. you. got. that.
Joann’s got it
Leonice has got it
Theresa’s got it
Tonia’s got it
I tell ya CHB’s got it…
Woah, sorry just reminiscing some. CHB’s vibe was looking like scoring them 4-​stars.
So my first drink was $ 7 for a half pint, my second $ 9.50 for a full. Now I am not that good on ye olde arithmetic but if you join the dots on that one it aint a giraffe!
This review was rapidly heading towards 3-​stars, but wait there’s facebook more! If you share/​like on FB after u order a half pint they’ll upgrade u to a fully for free! Digital marketing FTW! And we are back to 4.
Then uh-​oh-​spaghetti-​o the bouncer slapped on the douche cologne and turned into a funstopper and told one of the girls in our crew she was done for the night cos she accidentally knocked over a chair. I pondered on blow-​torching CHB with a 1, then. Vibe! Vibe! You got that! And it was back to 2.
Suddenly, as if granting all my christmas wishes at once, 17 super-​sized surly santas descended upon the joint like a cavalcade of chrimbo cheer (literally) — and our wee problem was solved. We were able to get at least 4 more rounds in as the bouncer was distractedly drowning in a sea of red and white rowdiness.
I’ve also been here during a weekday and had lunch. Service on that occasion was good without being great, food was good without being great. Prices were fairly expensive @ $ 25 for a burger and a half pint.
The burger was a big boy and it certainly had me full for the rest of the day.
So in the end, I decided on a 3 for CHB (lunch or drink). Come here & have ur after work drinks and have a good night out. Just be very aware of the ultra douche bouncer. If you get flagged for spillage ur entire table is toast — unless you wish upon a star…

Customs Bar has a great outdoor space, decent drink prices, but the food was blah.
I saw ads for this place in the Marriott and thought I’d give it a try. On arrival, there was a good after work crowd outside. Surprising given that they didn’t have any happy hour specials. I ordered a burger and beer.
Plenty happy with the James Squire Golden Ale and quick food service, but the burger and chips were rubbish. The burger was a typical freezer burned patty and the chips were seasoned. Possibly the worst I’ve had in Oz.
Go for the drinks or scene, skip the burger.

This is a nice indoor and outdoor bar near Circular Quay. Seems to be busy towards the end of the week and definitely targets an after work crowd. The outdoor area has lots of tables and it wasn’t too difficult to get a drink. The wait staff was fairly friendly. I didn’t try any of the food.
Cons: A bat shit in my drink. This is true. There is a lot of tree cover above and it literally landed in my drink. Luckily I saw it.
Pros: They gave me a free drink. I guess this wasn’t the first time it happened.