Adelaide's Top Rooftop Bars
- Hennessy Lounge – Mayfair Hotel
Adelaide’s Mayfair Hotel has shaken up the city’s five-star scene with its gleaming interiors and eager service. Journey up to the Hennessy Lounge and the city has a relatively new stylish little haven in the sky.
Step out of the lift and you’re in an exclusive sanctuary tinged with mystery. James Bond would be comfortable sinking into one of the lounges under the chandeliers in the luxurious loft space. Outside you’re on a narrow rampart located behind sandstone battlements and admiring the art deco gargoyles. To the side, a larger patio affords an inner-city view back over Peel and Leigh Streets while inside attentive staff serve up local wine, boutique beers and mix cocktails at the marble topped bar.
Glance out and beyond and there are views over the cityscape and the Rundle Street Mall. It’s not a spectacularly beautiful vista but an absorbing glance over the rooftops of a city and its denizens readying itself for a night ahead.
- 2KW
It’s the rooftop restaurant and bar - with extraordinary views - that Adelaide was crying out for.
2KW, perched on Level 8 of an historic former bank building on the city centre’s northern edge, offers a panorama that stretches from the ocean to the Adelaide Hills.
Refocus on what’s closer to hand and you’ll spot landmarks such as Government House grounds, Adelaide Oval, the River Torrens and the spires of St Peter’s Cathedral that are illuminated at night.
The spacious outdoor deck includes comfy cushioned benches. Others prefer to sit inside in the restaurant where they can tussle over small, medium and large share plates cradling the likes of Streaky Bay oysters, roasted heirloom carrot salad, crispy spiced duck and kangaroo shank tagine with fig, prunes, pumpkin, honey, onions and couscous.
The bar pours four South Australian wines made exclusively for the venue; there’s also an intriguing selection of craft beers, including locals such as Prancing Pony Double Red Ale and Brew Boys Hoppapotamus IPA.
- The Gallery
Head down to Waymouth Street and The Gallery is a rooftop bar with a difference. Downstairs you’re wandering through an art gallery before hitting the rooftop and a space melding rooftop garden and city architecture.
The lush green wall softens the space while you glance out onto some of the city’s newer office spaces winding down for the night across the road. There’s a pretty solid bar menu and more substantial fare available as well.
Popular with the after work crowd it’s a chance to eavesdrop or ideal for a night out with someone relatively special.
- Rocket Rooftop Bar on Crippen Place
Close to the nightclub district this one’s for a crowd that’s well and truly ready to let its hair down. Music venue Rocket Bar sits downstairs but the rooftop space mixes vintage garden furniture with a big palm tree in the centre to give it a real 1970s backyard feel. Get there in the summer when they’re screening movies on the back wall such as Cocktail or Richard Linklater’s masterful Dazed and Confused.
