Li’l Darlin

Excellent happy hour between 5−7pm? $ 5 house wine and $ 10 cocktails … can’t go wrong!
Love the atmosphere, local bar, not pretentious or too divey.
Haven’t had their food other than chips, so I’ll have to update this review once I do.

I come here a lot for dinner and drinks before seeing a show at Belvoir nearby with whichever friend I am with and always have a nice time. Usually can’t resist the Peking duck pizza, arancini balls and fairy floss cocktail. Lil Darlin is best for a few drinks and light meal. Nice wines by the glass too.

I went here several years ago, a café in a previous life.
It looks totally different now. Went here for a coworker’s celebration before she got married. It looks a bit smaller than it does in photos, maybe because it was full of people when we were there?
Drinks were good, the food was surprisingly good, too. We ordered a bunch of finger food to share:
— crispy chicken buffalo wings
— salt & pepper calamari
— arancini balls
— grilled chorizo
— garlic and cheese flatbread
— classic margherita pizza
— crispy peking duck pizza
And usually with these types of places, since they’re after-​work hangout places you expect the food to be meh. I’m proud to report that the food was not meh, it was actually really good. The arancini balls were amazeballs (sorry, I’m lame), the calamari was soft and tasty, even the crispy peking duck pizza was surprisingly good.
It gets a bit loud though, so it became the kind of venue where you have to shout at someone across the table. It was super busy when we first arrived (around 6ish) but it cleared out around 9.

We walked into Lil’ Darling and got the sense that it is a cool place to be. The styling is sweet as sugar.
The room was filled with friendly people dressed in trendy clothes. There was a couple on an awkward first date; tourists on drink breaks; and business men grabbing a beer and networking after work. Basically the clientele were people who were after a few drinks. A few other diners but mostly drinkers.
They have food and drink specials each day of the week so check out the blackboard for what the go-​to special is that evening. There is a full drinks and food menu on offer too.
Monday night is $ 15 barramundi & chips. I decided to try the special. The barramundi was cooked to perfection. The chips were crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Yum. The salad I won’t write home about but the chilli capsicum oil was a delightful addition on the side. A zing of flavour to dunk in a crispy chip or drizzle over the fish.
On this occasion the barman also served as a waiter. He tried to sway us towards the speciality cocktails which were $ 10 (between 5 & 7pm on Mondays) or offered us a house special of wine or beer for $ 5 (also only between 5 & 7pm). We had our eyes on the Surry Hills Pilsner which was quite bitter but went down nicely.
I would like to go back with the girls for cocktails. We definitely enjoyed our meal and the barramundi special exceeded our expectations. Based on my experience it is a solid four stars from moi.

This place has a pretty cool design and the cocktails are excellent. Price is a little steep, and I would have loved some slightly less sweet options, but the service was so excellent I don’t feel I can complain.
After an early dinner, my partner and I tried to get a drink on a Friday night without a reservation. The staff were more than happy to accommodate us on a reserved table as long as we were happy to get out before the booking. Not a lot of Sydney bars will do that theses days.

This place is normal — nothing special. Down Devonshire St there are so many better bars than this place.

This little bar and restaurant is seriously cute! I came here for a farewell dinner with a group of my friends and was pleasantly surprised to find such a nice little place at this end of Surry Hills.
Firstly I have to say I adore the cocktail list and the bartender was only too happy to provide insights on all the drinks there and recommend something to you based on your personal tastes. The blood orange margarita is a must have if you like something a little sour.
All the food on the menu looked divine, I ended up going for the healthy option of grilled barramundi which was cooked perfectly (damn being on a healthy eating plan because the burger and the pizzas looked amazing!!!) I was also much remiss as I didn’t have any dessert (again this is where being on an eating plan is not the best when you want to go out with friends) but if you’re not like me eat a dessert! By the looks of it you won’t regret it!!!

A humorous mix-​up where half of the group went to the Li’l Darlin on Victoria street and half ended up on Elizabeth meant we missed out on the Sunday night pizza special, but alas a good time was still had by all.
Although there are three Li’l Darlins, the bar tender let us know that they all operate independently. Honestly there are much better specials at the other locations, but the food is much better than you’ll find in a typical pub here.
We opted to share the grilled chorizo pizza and a veggie pizza and both were fantastic– optimal cheese to topping ratio and a nice chewy crust.
It’s a bit more upscale than your typical pub, but not quite a cocktail bar– so if you’re looking for a great casual spot this is a great option.

Was there today for a few drinks with friends and was pleasantly surprised to find out they have happy hour from 5 to 7 pm, even on Fridays! Regular drinks are $ 5 and their cocktails are $ 10 — you want to pay $ 10 for the cocktails, cause they’re really nice (plus you usually don’t get cocktails for less than $ 15 in Sydney — gotta take advantage of these precious moments).
We had 4 cocktails each and left the place quite tipsy. Nice atmosphere, good service, decent appies (small portions though, if you’re hungry just order a regular meal).
Highly recommend the fairy floss and the white chocolate passionfruit martinis.

Nothing wrong with the food or drink at Li’l Darlin, but I just couldn’t get past the bouquet-​on-​bouquet of tacky, cheap fake flowers.

I came here for my work Christmas lunch. We had a set menu consisting of an entrée of crispy chilli chicken drummers with mayo and salt and pepper calamari, followed by pizza which seemed endless and drool worthy oven-​baked chocolate brownie swirls for dessert.
The atmosphere in this place is subdued and elegant. I work in Government, in an organisation with a no booze policy, but luckily our boss gave us the afternoon off work so we could indulge in the delectable cocktails on offer.
Don’t miss the Fairy Floss Martini — the fairy floss drapes over the side of the glass looking a little like a punk rockers wispy dyed hair — but it tastes divine and not at all hair-​like!

I can’t say I’m down the ‘devo’ end of elizabeth street very often, but since when has this not been a pie shop! People shouldn’t change pastry outlets without notice! Anyway, I am happy with this new installment. We went here as we wait for a table at a restaurant nearby.
it was cool overall, very busy, almost hard to get in. But thats a saturday night in suzza hills I guess. As others have said, its cute, fairy lights, lots of communal tables and a generally small space, which a kind of loud volume, but it works.
Initially I’m concerned when I see slushy machines in a bar, but as I was going to mexican I tried one called ‘watermellon’ served in a jam jar (thin ice hipsters) which was delicious.
During our time we saw a great staff member deal with a drunk and had a conversation which went from him playing the spoons, to clutching his bottle of corona, and then eventually the staff member got him to walk outside, no escorting, no force, just well and maturely handled. That is impressive in Sydney, no security guards itching to use force. This same staff member came over and talked to us about the slushies, and informed us there has been flavour competitions and got us all a shot of the winning entry, which was delicious. This was after we had paid so it was a nice end, we’ll be back!

I had walked passed the brand spanker new Li’l Darlin a month ago and was excited to see its mark in Surry Hills after having such positives with the LD in Darlinghurst.
In agreeance with Mr Wolowitz, this place cannot be described as anything else but super cute.
Their door archway and window sills are filled with bright red flowers, a white picket fence creates the outdoor area with wrought iron chairs and tables, and the bar and seating inside just oozes intimacy and lounge — the décor makes this LD restaurant pop on Elizabeth Street. Its just… so damn pretty!
We opted for the lunch special, the li’l cheesburger, and the lamb salad for myself. That with a few beers were about $ 35, which was value for good food and a place to people watch. The presentation was lovely — the burgers came out on little wooden boards with thick roasted potato chips. The char-​grilled lamb salad was colourful in presentation with lettuce, radish, chickpeas and onion jam.
Now, I am definately NOT saying the salad was bad, but I would suggest you go for the cheeseburger or you may have a similar experience as mine:
Cue looking around and finding you are the only one eating grass.
Cue pressure to try the burger. And you do.
Cue pupils dilating and wanting more.
Cue your company refusing to share with you because he/​she made the right decision in the first place and should not forfeit their awesome food for you.
Cue realisation that you cant make friends with salad.
Right now dinner specials are on at their Surry Hills location with tapas pizzas for $ 5.50 between 5−6pm daily, so be sure to take advantage of the special and enjoy it with an after work cocktail (or two).