Hunters Hill Hotel

The Hunters Hill Hotel has stood on this heritage-listed corner since 1940, built on the footprint of the Fig Tree Hotel (1880), whose name traced back to Mary Reibey's Figtree Farm. The Gallagher family — Patrick, Angela and their three children — has run the pub for about a decade, and a recent ten-million-dollar refurbishment by Squillace Architects kept the art deco bones and lifted the venue to an 800-patron footprint. The kitchen runs Wagyu burgers, tempura flathead with house-made tartare, grilled regional lamb chops, and a parilla lava-rock grill that turns out whole lemon sole and whole roast chook. An eight-metre LED screen anchors the sports bar; the cocktail lounge upstairs opens Thursday to Sunday only.

Dogs are welcome in the partly covered beer garden. The Hunters Hill French Village runs heritage-protected across 1,200-plus listed elements, and this hotel sits as its working local.