Palisade Hotel back in business in Millers Point

The Palisade Hotel at Millers Point has quietly reopened, seven years after it closed its doors to create one of mysteries of the Sydney hospitality boom.

The ground floor bar is up and running, while construction work continues on the upper floors where a penthouse bar-eatery – with large modern glass windows and views over Barangaroo – is expected to open in September with a seafood theme.

Richard Sapsford​ snapped up the pub late last year for around $20 million, businessman Greg Walker was charged with overseeing it and designers were drafted in to give it a Soho House feel.

With boutique hotel rooms part of the mix, the ground floor bar offers an appetiser for the Palisade's new pitch. Modern fittings, dimly lit nooks and the food offerings are all a far cry from the port worker clientele the Palisade pitched at when it opened a century ago.

Not sure what the customers of yesteryear would have made of a salad of lentils, beets, feta, parsley pesto and hazelnuts. They might've opted instead for the bar menu's sizeable section devoted to soup and toasties.