Uncle Ming’s Bar

Sydney, Australia

4.2

Open now

20 reviews

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+61 438 202 272
Website:
www.unclemings.com.au
Address:
55 York St, Sydney, New South Wales, 2000
Sydney
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
280 ftClarence Street
460 ftWynyard
530 ftWynyard Stand M
Categories:
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
No
Accepts Apple Pay
No
Accepted Cards
Credit, Debit
Parking
Garage, Street
Wheelchair Accessible
No
Good for Kids
No
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Hipster
Noise Level
Loud
Good For Dancing
No
Alcohol
Full Bar
Best Nights
Wed, Thu, Fri
Coat Check
No
Smoking
Outdoor Area/ Patio Only
Outdoor Seating
No
Has TV
No
Dogs Allowed
No
Has Pool Table
Yes

Today

Today 12:00 pm – 12:00 am
Open now
Local time (Sydney) 17:06 Friday, 30 May 2025

Business hours

Monday 12:00 pm – 12:00 am
Tuesday 12:00 pm – 12:00 am
Wednesday 12:00 pm – 12:00 am
Thursday 12:00 pm – 12:00 am
Friday 12:00 pm – 12:00 am
Saturday 5:00 pm – 12:00 am
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

An opium den inspired cocktail, whisky and dumpling bar! A celebration of Asia.

Cocktails

The cocktail list is an extensive mix of classics and Asian styled drinks sure to leave a luscious experience in taste. Holding true to Asian flavours & dedication to quality, the list is always updated with fresh & innovative cocktails.

Whisky

Our collection of Whisky is one of the most extensive in Australia. Specialising in rare and unique Japanese Whisky our experts are sure to find a taste to suit your palate.

Beer

From rice lagers to Sri Lankan Stouts the beer list has been carefully selected to showcase the best of Asian brewing.

Food

Inspired by the northern and southern style Chinese dumplings, Uncle Mings, has an extensive menu offering delectable dumplings for a light snack or full meal. Meal packages available for group bookings. Our dumpling and chilli sauces are sure to leave you wanting more!

Bookings

Bookings of up to 50 people can be arranged on our website.

History

Established in 1920.

The roots of Uncle Ming’s dates back very old. One of free-​wheeling, Shanghai’s most notorious figures was Uncle Ming, a former sweet patato vendor who started a life of crime as a policeman collecting protection money from local opium traders.

Meet the Manager

Flynn M.

Manager

Big badass booze slinger.

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20 reviews of Uncle Ming’s Bar

No registration required
Place rating: 5
Neutral Bay, Australia
Blink, and you’ll walk straight past the secret entrance!
From the moment you enter, this place is impressive. It kinda reminds me a little of mojo bar a few doors down. The atmosphere is kinda sexy in a way. We went in during a week night, and it was easy grab a table and converse between dumplings and beers.
Speaking of, get one of everything. Seriously. The dumplings are beautifully crafted and steamed. They’re full of awesome flavours and go down well with a tsing tao or three.
Beers are a little more exxy here than your typical bar, but service is rapid and on point.
I’ll be back to try the selection of whiskey on offer.
Place rating: 4
Sydney, Australia
Love it. The first time I went there I got lost but once in your greeted with an Asian themed atmosphere with lovely furniture and a chilled atmosphere to unwind. The cocktails are delicious here and I highly recommend the crab claws.
Place rating: 5
Sydney, Australia
Came here for a drink after an awful experience at stitch next door.
Door service, acknowledged by several by members of staff great start.
We got a round of drinks and melt in your mouth prawn dumplings… commin in hot baby love these things yummo.
Service is dialed in and super friendly staff and the ambience is cool but not pretentious in any way.
I’ve been here before and not much has changed and will be back again…
Nice work team keep up the good work
Place rating: 4
Singapore, Singapore
I was taken and they were closed despite it being 11ish PM on a Tuesday night. We begged for one drink and they obliged.
You have to walk down a flight of stairs to the basement. The interior here is bathed in red light, giving it a dirty Chinese feel, which I kinda like. I didn’t want to flip through a menu so I requested for a bespoke cocktail, in which my companion asked for the same. I got exactly what I wanted — gin, fruity, sweet, with an egg white foam; just my favorite!
Green pea snacks were provided FOC, and since the bar was closing, they played nice 90s music which they assured me was not on the regular playlist. We sang along and left after our drinks. The toilets here are clean and also play a tape where you learn Mandarin as you do your business. Very kitschy.
Place rating: 3
Sydney, Australia
A hidden gem that’s well worth the discovery. It’s extremely cosy and the staff are so lovely. I’d be keen to try out the food here next time.
Place rating: 4
Sydney, Australia
Loved this place, I went here on a date, it’s just like walking into the Scarlett hotel Singapore! I love tequila so I ordered a ‘Blushing Dragon’ & we ordered some steamed pork & prawn dumplings! So good, great ambience, cute bar tenders! What more could a girl want!
Place rating: 4
Sydney, Australia
I went here after work with a couple of friends for some dumplings and was not disappointed. They were delicious, and they also had probably the best edamame I’ve had. The plum wine was great too!
Very cool, cosy and dark interior. The staff were all very friendly, the young girl looking after us was fantastic. I wish I caught her name. She was very attentive, friendly and helpful.
I’ll definitely be coming back here!
Place rating: 4
Los Angeles, CA
Transporting space. Beautiful inside. When I was told about this place, I imagined it to be gimmicky, but it’s really not.
Two of the three bartenders were super cool. One was kind of cold and made me feel uncomfortable… Can’t describe him, ‘case he looks kinda similar to one of the really nice guys. Went up to order a drink and he wouldn’t come up to me, just stayed at the other end of the bar and looked at me waiting for me to order. I couldn’t get closer to him since there were a bunch of people at the bar. So I was kind of forced to yell but felt weird doing that, so just didn’t. It was awkward. The other bartenders were great though.
Cocktails were fine, but not as fantastic as other cocktails I’ve had in the area.
I’d come back here because I enjoyed the atmosphere and ‘theme’ so much… and the lighting and seating and just everything about the design of this place. I like how it feels to be in here. But I’d probably drink beer or straight spirits.
Place rating: 4
Melbourne, Australia
Oh Uncle. Uncle Ming. Thanks for being stumbling distance from Sydney hotel.
On a rainy Saturday night, a few of use headed here for cocktails and dumplings. It was a darkly lit space, but I managed not to fall over on the steps.
Table service is smooth and slick and the cocktail list extensive. I enjoyed a number of Asahis and also ordered all the dumplings — the pork and vegetable ones are the best. An excellent way to spend a few hours with good friends and conversation.
I will be back, Uncle. I will be back.
Place rating: 4
Sydney, Australia
You never forget your first. Asahi Black that is. I pushed my way through the beaded curtains and stumbled (literally, watch that first step) into the dimly lit underground bar that is Uncle Mings and found a seat at an empty table in the corner.
Jay handed me a menu and I took a few minutes to soak it all in. I forget what my first drink was. Some form of cocktail that I found far too sweet for my liking. Something that left my taste buds screaming for a carbonated beverage to cleanse my pallet. I knew I found Asahi to be an acceptable brew, so I figured I’d try Asahi black.
And so began another small obsession of mine. I chased that extra-​cold super dry across Japan, and have hunted it down on tap, in pubs, and at bottle-o’s throughout Sydney.
My need for the black dragon has led me back to Uncle Mings a few times. Jay and the staff are always friendly and attentive and supply me with plenty of dried pea things to wash down with my ABs. Sadly, the dumplings fall flat, but there’s a great vibe and some wonderful service that will keep me coming back (and the Asahi Black. Did I mention Asahi Black?).
At my age, there’s not many «firsts» left. Thanks for making this one special, Uncle Mings.
Place rating: 5
Sydney, Australia
Take a step back in time as you enter an old Chinese tea house that has a wide range of Asian beers and themed cocktails.
Another hidden bar in central Sydney that you’re likely to walk past without knowing what you’re missing.
Plenty of dark corners to hide about while you enjoy a drink or some dumplings. The staff are very welcoming and friendly.
Try the apple whiskey!
Place rating: 4
Singapore, Singapore
It was my first, and last, Tinder date.
Enter Uncle Ming brandishing a teapot and a fury of fire-​inspired ginger beer. The samurai of suds served up a trio of Sapporo before my potential paramour arrived and we partook of the seemingly bottomless contents of said pot.
It was clear that halfway through the liquid haze we dug each other. A lot. And if that wasn’t clear enough then the «you two should get a room» yielding PDA should’ve been the blinking neon sign of acuity.
Somewhere towards the bottom of the pot, two more sapporos and a duo of semi-​sav the magic somehow wore off.
As fun as it was to find a spark and connect, it was equally un-​fun for that to unplug and extinguish — all within the space of a few hours.
As a venue to meet single serving friends, Uncle Ming’s is possibly the city’s most idyllic location. However, if you have designs on rounding second base you might wanna try somewhere less intense (or perhaps just steer clear of the ginger beer cocktail).
Place rating: 4
Sydney, Australia
Uncle Mings is definitely one of those Small Bars that are impossible to see/​find from the street. Look for the suit shop stairs and you’re there!
As soon as you walk through the doors, you are wowed by everything from the dark antique looking furniture and wall fixtures, to the Bird Cage and Wok Lights above the bar. Heavily themed but not over-​the-​top.
We loved the quirky English in the menu introduction, and the laminated menu covers took us back to the dodgy Chinese Restaurants 2we used to frequent. The menu is pretty good, with a great selection of beers from China, and even one from the Philippines. Good list of wines from around Australia too. However it was the Sake and the rarely found Sochu that grabbed our attention!
Place rating: 5
Sydney, Australia
Uncle Ming ya crazy old coot! Now that Pervy Uncle Kieran is in Long Bay, you’re our new favourite uncy.
There’s big schtuff afoot at this little joint, like a brand new food & drinks menu coming in September, and the party’s already started with a brand spankin’ house brew called The Great Uncle Ming, a 7-​point-​something-​% porter that’s dark and bolshy but without the heaviness of other porters, meaning you can drink a whole buncha them and not feel like a depressed old Irish boozehound with a gambling problem.
Pro tip #1: when doing the York St Bar Crawl, this should be your first stop. Or, hell, go for some midweek madness and do the York St to Clarence St Tour Of Duty. There’s lik 8 bars or something in that sucker though so, y’know.
Pro tip #2: The owner Justin and GM Jay are friendlier than labradors, if you see ‘em around — and they’re always around — say g’day and challenge them to an arm wrestle.
Place rating: 4
Sydney, Australia
Luckily my friend knew how to get into this place because, as the other reviewers have pointed out, the sign outside is tiny and the entrance is down a set of stairs.
We shared a selection of dumplings (the crab and spinach dim sims were our favourite) and a Hot in Saigon cocktail teapot. When we ordered the teapot the barman told us that it was spicy and asked whether we were sure we wanted it. I like a bit of spice so i said why not… but later came to regret the decision — the spicy-​ness is caused by the inclusion of ‘sriracha’ — which is a hot sauce (i know this now — but at the time when i saw it on the menu i figured it was some sort of spicy, exotic Asian spirit!). And it certainly made the rest of the drink taste like hot sauce, which was a bit much paired with the dumplings and more hot sauce.
The atmosphere is dark and den like — the intended effect no doubt. I’ll be back for another visit, but will stick to hot sauce-​free cocktails!
Place rating: 4
Sydney, Australia
I would’ve just walked past this place, not knowing at all there was a bar hidden away somewhere.
Thanks to the Unilocal Event, got to try this cool little spot! First and foremost, the décor is amaaazing. And I mean really amazing. Feels like I stepped into China a couple decades ago… which isn’t saying much considering I’ve never been to China and I probably wasn’t alive when that décor was in. But it’s very kitschy, very time-​travel-​zone-​y.
Chairs were super comfortable, definitely a great place to hang out and chat with friends. Didn’t have food except edamame (and it was damn good edamame) and the free beer was yum :)
I’d probably go there during a weekday, can’t imagine squeezing in here on a Friday or Saturday night. Just doesn’t seem like a place I’d comfortably get squished in, but rather a place that’s a lot better when there’s more elbow room.
Place rating: 4
中環, Hong Kong
Very hard to find bar (I guess it adds to the exclusivity of it), but has some amazing decorations and even a unique scent of incense (something you don’t get at a bar).
Love that you can try a lot of Asian beers that you can’t find anywhere, the umeshu (plum wine), the edamame beans, and last but not least no min spend on a tab which makes this a good place to hang out even during the week.
Place rating: 4
Halifax, Canada
Hyper-​kitsch Chinese bar. Every interior surface of this dark, red-​light basement room is covered with ‘60s Hong Kong glamour photos or Bruce Lee posters or something like it. There’s a Chinese juke box. They have several interesting Asian beers, and Asian-​themed cocktails
Oddly, the music seemed to mostly be ‘80s western pop. Never mind.
It was fun and laid-​back, with lots of loungey old chairs and sofas (some nearly giving way in their old lounginess). It’s a grest place to meet for drinks with a few friends who don’t take themselves too seriously.
Place rating: 4
Sydney, Sydney, Australia
A great locale for some unusual and hard to find Asian beers. Cool location downstairs and low lighting. I’m not crazy about incense but walking in does feel like another world. Friends have had a lot of the different beers and the wines are decent as well. They have some expensive cocktails and my take is the exotic beers hit the spot.
Some devotees like the dumplings. I think the most inventive aspect of the bar is when you go to the men’s room and they have mandarin lessons playing. It totally freaked me out the first time — imagine a sudden NI HAO when you think you are alone in the bathroom.
I think this place is cool and worthy of a stop on any small bar ‘crawl’. Good to see more of these bars in Sydney!
Place rating: 4
Sydney, Australia
I’ve wanted to try this place for ages, so I suggested coming here, but I kept calling it Uncle Wongs, so much confusion! I was like, why can’t I find this Uncle Wong’s place in google? FARK!!!
The bartender was highly amused with my photo taking, but they all turned out crap. Sorry Unilocal.
I had the «Peanut Chong»… which at $ 17 a pop, I decided to nurse that sucker and sip it down slooowwwly. It was described tome as a «spicy Asian margarita»… that’s about right. Lucky I love super spicy things because this had some serious bite. At the end, I took a big sip and coughed and sputtered all over the place because I got a huge gulp of unexpected chilli in my throat. Which, in spite of the coughing and sputtering, I like spicy, so that was cool. Your mileage may vary!
I also sipped some of the Asian beers and they were GREAT!
We got an order of dumplings too — chicken and coriander — WINNER! Pork… unremarkable, tasteless… «meh».