The Good Food Guide Awards 2017: Bar of the Year Finalists

Sydney has the best bars, pubs and clubs in Australia. Fact. Show your support by propping an elbow and tilting a glass and asking for another.

And the finalists for Bar of the Year are...

Bulletin Place
While other bars occasionally misfire with their single-plum-floating-in-perfume creations, BP knocks everything out of the park with its limited, daily changing selection of fresh ingredient-driven cocktails. The staff can whip up anything you care to mention off-menu too. Shoebox-sized but never cramped thanks to its limited occupancy, there's never been a better example of quality over quantity. Level 1, 10-14 Bulletin Place, Circular Quay; bulletinplace.com

Continental Deli
Instagram the Martinnie once if you will, drink it, forget about it, and put yourself in the hands of mixmaster Mikey Nicolian​ whose skills extend way beyond making tins of gin. The room (Katz's Deli meets Margaret Fulton's mind palace) exists in its own space-time continuum, and sure, it gets cramped, and that delicious house-canned seafood can be darn expensive, but where there's Wilco and wurst, we're happy campers. 210 Australia Street, Newtown; 02 8624 3131

Love Tilly Devine
A summer seat by the window with a glass of young grape juice and a new-season peach dessert from chef Aren Edye​ is one way to do LTD. Or you could grab a bottle of red from Gabrielle Webster and Matt Swieboda's rabbit-hole drinks list in winter and take it to a corner with someone you fancy and something slow-cooked. The place is a national treasure all year round. 91 Crown Lane, Darlinghurst; 02 9326 9297; lovetillydevine.com

The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide award night, presented by Citi and Vittoria, is on September 5. The Guide will be on sale in newsagents and bookstores from September 6, with all book purchases receiving free access to the new Good Food app.