The Doss House — Restaurant in Sydney

I have been to Doss House for two times and what’s good? Good band and nice whiskeys, they do have many good collections and I would definitely give the guy who helps the whisky selection a 5 star review, he has been outstanding and always can recommend the drinks on my appetite, I ended up tried 5-6 different collections from him and nothing disappointed

However, I would say I won’t visit this place one more time, and I hope my comments can be noticed by the manager of this bar

The front of house manager, she is an Asian lady(I am Asian as well so there has no discrimination towards her)with tattoos she is absolutely rudeness

The first time when we visited we came in as group of four and made a reservation, she has led us to a very tiny corner with a small table, we asked her if we can sit in a bigger place coz I am a big size guy and the other table was not been used, she told us the other table was reserved by a group of 6 ppl, which was fair and we asked if there was any other spots we can sit at and her attitude was telling me you need to seat in here or you can leave now. If I was coming alone or only with my Mrs we would definitely leave with no hesitate toward her attitude, since we got other friends with us so we decided to stay, in the end, the table reserved by “group of 6” ended up sitting with 3ppl, we ordered some fine whiskies and talked to the guy recommend whiskies about our experience, he helped us to find another table with bigger size

The second time I came in after my Mrs and her friend, since they were already arrived, so I was going to bar and looking for them. That front desk manager stopped me and staring at me, asked me to standing there and wait, so I explained to her, my friends already in the bar and I am going to see them, she seems doesn’t want to listen so I repeat myself, then she still asked me to wait in there, she said the group of ppl in front of me they got reservation, does this relevant????? I’m not asking you to find me a table. After she left the security came to me and asked me if my friends are in the bar and I said yes, he asked me to go in straight away

After I sat down and the wine steward came to me, honestly I wasn’t going to order anything because her behave but the steward he has done a great job so I was listening to his recommendation and going to get a whisky, during this time, that lady came up again and talking to the steward grabbing him to serve another table, so I argued with her and told her this is very rude, he is talking to me and recommend a bottle for me how comes you just came and interrupt us, this is absolutely rude and low service level, she ended up apologizing to me but I cant feel she gives a damn

After that, at least 3 or 4 times I saw her was staring at me which made me feel really uncomfortable, I finished my drink quickly and left

Overall, it is a good bar but if the front desk manager keeps her behave I can assure The doss house will lose more and more returning customers. As a customer, we are not just pay for the drinks and we pay for the service as well, I seldom has argument with the bar staff and this was the worst experience I had...

I know this is an iconic bar in Sydney. And I love the concept of it, but there were several hiccups when we visited. Read on for some tips and the pros and cons of our visit. Here are some of the challenges. Like a lot of the bars and restaurants in the Rocks, this is multi-leveled. There’s indoors and outdoors and patios and upper patios and lower patios and courtyards. If you are in the upper courtyard and somebody decides to smoke near the bar entrance, you really have a smoky situation happening. We went to the lower courtyard, ordered our drinks, only to realize that the people walking on top of us were dropping little bits into our drinks when they walked, so we asked to be moved one table over inside. The table was empty, and we literally moved one table over. The server had us close our check, meet us at the next table, order another drink, and open another tab. We found this really odd. It was the same server, and it was one…… Table… over. Why did we have to close out our tab? To move one table? If we were getting a different server, we would totally understand it, but it was the same server.

Second issue happened when the manager or assistant manager, or someone kept coming over to the servers and giving them advice. I understand with a full house that she needs to talk to them about where people are sitting and other logistics, but she was really hovering and it was creating a bit of a negative situation watching her talk to them the way that she did. Her urgency and energy was really negative, and she always seemed to be in the room we were in, talking to the servers and Criticizing them. She was also loud. It was really really quite uncomfortable. We could hear everything she was saying. And it wasn’t positive.

The whiskeys we wanted were not available. And the server didn’t quite seem to know what to recommend that was equivalent.

On the positive side: Once we were inside, it was wonderful to be able to peek in and watch the bartenders mix the drinks. I often like to sit at the bar and just watch the bartender shake the drinks. It’s almost like a dance.

This bar has lots of different vibes, so surely you’ll find what you want at some point. Whether it’s the cozy inside or one of the courtyards or a breezier top portion. Lots of nooks and crannies to sit in.

Extremely good whiskey list.

They pour a great pint of Guinness

Tips: My advice on seating would be to make a reservation if you are a larger party. We saw one larger party of eight or nine people, and they had reserved a table and it seemed much easier that way. Other groups that were larger than did not have reservations were really struggling. As a couple or smaller group, go early, before everyone gets off work and snag a seat!

it’s an old bar. And so be sure to watch your head when you are going through some of the doorways. There’s a photo here of me showing that I fit through the doorway, because I’m only about...

I visited Doss House on a recent night out with my partner. We were looking forward to trying the native platter, which featured kangaroo prosciutto, something we hadn't tried before. However, we were disappointed to find out that they had run out of kangaroo prosciutto, and instead of offering us a substitute, they just gave us two portions of the wild boar salami. This seemed strange, considering it was not very late in the evening and the platter was one of their signature dishes. All up, the native platter was not very impressive, especially considering the price VS portion size.

We were seated outside, which turned out to be a noisy spot, as the sound from inside and outside the bar converged in the small space ... the place was packed!! There was live music playing later in the night, which was a nice touch, but it was hard to enjoy it as the people around us were talking loudly over the music so not the best place to have a conversation over a weekend.

The history of the location was interesting, though. The bar is located in a heritage sandstone building that has been an opium den, a bootmaker, and a boarding house in the past. The interior space has a cosy and vintage vibe, with leather sofas, wooden shelves, and old books. The walls are adorned with historical photos and memorabilia, which add to the charm of the place. It is clear that the owners have put a lot of effort into preserving and showcasing the history of the building.

The main attraction of Doss House is its whisky collection, which boasts an extensive number of options from around the world. If you are a whisky lover, you will be spoiled for choice here, as they have everything from Scotch to Japanese to Indian whisky. They also offer whisky flights, which allow you to sample different varieties and learn more about them. They have a few other drinks on the menu, such as wine, beer, and cocktails, but they are limited. This is definitely a place for whisky enthusiasts, and not for those who are looking for a diverse and creative drink selection.

I would like to visit Doss House again, but on a quieter night, with less people and more options for seating. I think it would be a better experience if I could enjoy the whisky and the history in a more peaceful and comfortable setting. I would also skip the native platter and order something else from their food menu. Doss House has a lot of potential, but it needs to improve on some aspects, such as food selection and...