In the 1982 Gillian Armstrong movie musical Starstruck, a camera shot swings across cars, a train and a cyclist on the Sydney Harbour Bridge before stopping at a tiled and curving two-storey pub below. The Harbour View Hotel, a workers' pub from way back, stands dwarfed but proud beside the famous 1149-metre long steel coathanger looming above.

Nearly 30 years later, the heritage-listed pub's exterior, with blue-and-white-tiled advertisements for Tooth's ale and lager, is almost exactly the same, save for the cocktail bar's outdoor balcony where we are sipping cocktails and beer.

Built in 1924 on government land, the pub's construction was paid for by brewers Tooth & Co.

Three years later it was a favourite spot for workers between shifts building the bridge.

The art deco downstairs bar is old-fashioned and relaxed. A small room beside the main entrance has couches, a log fire and beautiful wooden doors with stained-glass windows.

Two levels up, from our outdoor bar stools, the tip of the harbour bridge's arch is just visible above one of the granite pylons. To the left, North Sydney's tall buildings glint in the evening sun. To the right, there are glimpses of ferries turning towards Circular Quay. Trains rumble overhead.

It's a heart-swelling locale, picture postcard but not soured by touristy overtones.

From here, the harbour bridge's steel underbelly, just metres from our cocktail glasses, resembles a fallen Eiffel Tower. At the end of the balcony, furnished with tall tables, stools and a stainless steel ledge, you could sling a cocktail olive into the mouths of passing Bridge Climb participants.

Clinking by in grey body suits and safety harnesses, the pluckier ones wave at us quaffing tipples in the fading sunlight.

Food and drink is ordered inside at the small crushed glass-fronted bar behind glass concertina doors. On the wall, a flat-screen TV keeps the log fire theme going with close-up footage of flickering flames.

There's a medium-size wine list with mostly Australian wines and eight beers on tap. From 10 house cocktails we order a Love on Z Rocks (Lemon Z Limoncello, vanilla vodka, passionfruit, $14) along with a Cosmopolitan (vodka, triple sec, cranberry juice, lime, $14) and a Whisky Sour.

The love on z rocks is zingy, fresh and strong, the Cosmopolitan is good and the Whiskey Sour (whisky, lemon juice, sugar) a no-show. The barman has ''run out of sour mix'' despite having a bottle of whisky and a lemon behind him. Perfectly friendly and efficient, he tips himself from the drinks' change before giving us the chance.

An enormous plate bearing pita bread, babaghanoush, hummus, tzatziki, felafel and roasted olives ($19) arrives. It's joined by an 800-gram enamel pot of black mussels cooked with white wine, chilli and parsley sauce, along with slices of sourdough bread ($16).

Both dishes are excellent though we finish the dip plate first, allowing the sourdough to go soggy from the steamy mussels. Note to self: scoff food as soon as it appears.