Built for a staggering £32,000 in 1893 as part of the Adams Hotel on Pitt St, this ornate underground bar is one of the best places in town for putting on the Ritz (even if this is the Hilton). The over-the-top late-Victorian decor is staggering, and the atmosphere is great. Musos play anything from jazz to funk, Thursday to Saturday.
When the Adams was demolished in 1968, every marble slab, wood carving and bronze capital was dismantled, restored, then reassembled here.