Rooms and whole venues to take over

Riva takes the whole floor above Rose Bay Marina — 120 seated or 140 standing — with the harbour along one side and the coastal Italian fit-out handling the rest. It works for a long lunch that runs into the evening as easily as for a set-piece dinner.

The private dining room seats 40 or holds 80 standing. Same linen, rattan and washed-out colour, same view over the marina, fewer people in it.

Sails can be taken whole — 92 seated, 120 for a cocktail party — on the Lavender Bay foreshore, with the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge across the water. Seasonal Australian menus, and a considered wine list.

One side of the restaurant can be reserved on its own for 35, which keeps the main room's buzz next door. The private dining room is smaller again: 20 seated, 30 standing, with the water still in view.

The whole of Akti holds 220 seated or 300 standing, which makes it one of the largest rooms in the group and the natural choice for a party that needs room.

Half the venue can be taken instead, for 100 seated or 120 standing. The private dining room seats 28 under high ceilings, with ceramic work across the walls.

Exclusive hire at Chowder Bay takes 100 seated or 200 standing, in the old marine depot at Clifton Gardens with the harbour a few metres off the deck.

The AquaMine Room seats 50 or holds 100 and keeps its heritage bones on show. The White Room seats 12 — small, private, and full of the building's character.

The Gallery sits on the first floor of the 1880s boat store, seating 50 or holding 60 standing, with the current exhibition on the sandstone walls and a view that runs from Barangaroo across to the Harbour Bridge.

The light moves across the stone through the afternoon, a good reason to start early.

Ventuno takes 100 seated or 130 standing across the terrace and the dining room, right on Walsh Bay. Share-style Italian menus, wine that keeps arriving, and the harbour a few steps away.

The private dining room is next door at 8/21 Hickson Road: 60 seated or 90 standing, with playful artwork and a mural across a full wall.

Ripples Watsons Bay opens in early 2027 inside the heritage-listed Dunbar House, and is taking event enquiries ahead of that. The whole top floor can be hired exclusively, with a balcony running along the harbour side.

Capacities are 110 seated, 150 for a cocktail party, 80 theatre-style or 40 in a U-shape.

Exclusive hire at Little Manly takes 60 seated or 70 standing, on the sand with the harbour in front of you. It is about as close to barefoot as an event gets in Sydney.

A section can be reserved on its own for 20, which suits a smaller group that still wants the beach.

The whole of Ripples Rose Bay takes 90 seated or 100 standing on the marina, alfresco areas included, with seasonal modern Australian menus.

The private dining room seats 20 or holds 30 and has its own waterfront balcony over the marina — the best small room on this stretch of the harbour.

Summer Salt takes 190 seated or 220 standing above Elouera Beach, with the ocean filling the windows and a seafood-led menu underneath it.

It also divides: the north half of the dining room seats 48, the south half 76, the bar holds 60 for a cocktail party, and the private dining room seats 14.

Three spaces sit on the sand at Shark Beach. The Pavilion seats 90 or holds 120, with high ceilings and the water at the end of the lawn. The Kiosk holds 120 standing, breezy and a little old-fashioned, in the best sense.

The Beach Club has its own bar and an alfresco deck, and works best as a cocktail room — moving from a sunlit lunch to drinks at dusk without changing gear.

SRG caters the whole Australian National Maritime Museum precinct on Darling Harbour, from 10 guests to 2,500, minutes from the CBD and ICC Sydney. HarbourWatch North seats 180 or holds 650 with bi-fold walls opening onto the boardwalk; HarbourWatch South seats 60 or holds 80 and suits a workshop or a breakout.

Above them, the Ben Lexcen Terrace seats 270 or holds 400 in the open air. The Terrace Room seats 130, the Lighthouse Gallery takes 250 at banquet or 350 theatre-style, the Theatre seats 210 with full AV, the City View Room seats 110 between HMAS Onslow and HMAS Vampire, and the Tasman Light Gallery seats 100 beneath a suspended naval helicopter. Then there are the vessels: cocktails for 120 on HMAS Vampire's upper decks, dinner for 12 in Cook's Great Cabin aboard the Endeavour replica, and evening events for 80 at Wharf 7 among the Sydney Heritage Fleet.

Noi can be taken whole for 40 seated or 50 standing — a small, low-lit Petersham room with seasonal Italian cooking and no pretension.

It suits the sort of party where everyone knows everyone by the second course.

The Drawing Room at The Langham seats 100, holds 150 standing or 150 theatre-style, with an original fireplace and collected furniture. It divides down: Drawing Room 2 seats 40, and paired rooms seat 60.

The Ballroom seats 150, holds 200 standing or 200 theatre-style, gold-panelled and built for scale. It splits in two as well, each half seating 60.

The Lakeside Room, downstairs at the Budgie, can be hired on its own for up to 80 guests cocktail-style — the right size for a birthday or a work night without taking over the pub.

The Lakeside Deck adjoins it: covered, outdoors, with the lake in view.

The whole first floor above the Budgewoi Hotel can be taken over: Mediterranean interiors, a menu of bold Italian flavours, and the lake showing between the buildings.

The Cellar sits inside the main dining room, semi-private, for a smaller group — separate enough to feel like your own table, close enough to keep the noise of the restaurant.