The Clock Hotel

The Clock has been a Surry Hills pub since 1863, when it opened as The Exchange; the clock tower that gave it its current name went up in 1969. The building spreads across multiple levels — a ground-floor street bar under potted greenery, a wraparound verandah for midweek beers, an upstairs cocktail lounge leaning hard on gin, a dedicated Whisky Room holding more than a hundred bottles, and a sunken interior courtyard. Happy hour runs 4pm to 6pm weekdays, with weeknight specials ($25 burger-and-beer, $25 steak, $20 mussels) that carry a decent portion of the local trade.

Dogs are welcome in every area except the Balcony Level and should be kept on-lead. It's one of the inner city's most recognisable pubs, and over the course of a long afternoon it will run through every demographic Surry Hills currently has.