THE SMOKING PANDA - SYDNEY CBD

The Smoking Panda
5-7 Park St (above Coronation Hotel)
Sydney CBD

The Smoking Panda is a sultry place upstairs on the first floor above the Coronation Hotel that has a kind of East meets Las Vegas style to it.

Think coloured fluoro lights mixed with Asian lanterns.

Yes - it's eclectic but it ends up with a nice feel to it and the place is certainly memorable! The seating, the booths, the whole decor is true to theme.

This space has undergone quite a transformation from its former life and it's now a small bar that has a mysterious feel to it.


It's a place that is a little bit hard to find because it's upstairs off Park Street but it's worth finding. Venture up the stairs and you'll discover another world there.

It's been open a while but recent changes gave them a great opportunity to show what they'd done through a media launch - and boy was it popular.

It's such a prime location, right in the heart of the CBD, but being upstairs makes it also a bit more private.

Ever had a donut martini? Neither had we but the idea sounds so deliciously good doesn't it! Well the end product here, a signature drink of The Smoking Panda, is worth the visit alone! We had one each, then another one each later on - it's a drink you'll try for fun and revisit for taste.

There's plenty of eclectic things to look at here, with posters, cards and lighting around the place that catches the eye and tweaks your curiosity. The fluoro jellyfish in a two sided round tank was one prime example. It was hard to stop looking at them - show offs!

While gazing at them we devoured some Bang Bang Salad - a tasty mix to get the appetite going at the start of a big evening!

Then it was on to some delicious pork soup dumplings. Don't you just love this concept - a dumpling filled with meat AND soup.

Yes you have to be careful eating them - but it's so worth it!

These were great - having a good mix of meat and soup inside and great flavours.

We're both very partial to duck so we were eager to try the duck spring rolls.

They were nicely crisp on the outside and packed with plenty of rich duck meat and very tasty and the tangy plum dipping sauce was a great accompaniment.

The pork pot stickers that arrived next were just as good and kept to the East meets West theme. 

Aussie lamb is a staple, but the fusion concept continued again here with lamb ribs with peanut and coconut sauce. For Sir this was the dish of the night with great flavours covering tender meat.

Seafood was also represented on the choices too. The delicate prawns with chilli honey soy was a lot more subtle than expected allowing the flavours to combine well. 

Having hand made cocktails on tap - literally - was a great idea too.

It meant you didn't have to wait long to get your next drink! The range available was great too.

Of course there are also plenty of "made to order" cocktails available too - for the more complex mixes or for your special requests.

The Smoking Panda certainly lives up to its East meets West vision. The areas are authentically themed and the food and drinks give you plenty to try and plenty to stay for as well.

It's a place people will drop in and end up there for the whole night.

Sir and Mlady were guests of The Smoking Panda. Special thanks also to Aleisha from Wasamedia for inviting us.