For sad souls such as myself, who came to Sydney from Perth a decade ago expecting great culture and was disappointed and horrified by what I saw, there is at last a scene I had given up hope of ever witnessing in this city. Like so many Sydney residents, my trips to Melbourne were heavenly bar-hopping escapades, but back in Sydney there was nowhere I wanted to go too often. At last, Sydney is developing its own small bars, hidden away in laneways and full of delicious liquors just waiting for your contemplation …
Small Bars in Sydney
Small Bar (open)
48 Erskine St, Sydney
The very first of the new small bars, with the bar fashioned from the barge used to construct the Sydney Harbour Bridge
Ching A Lings (open)
133 Oxford St, Surry Hills
One of the first new bars had a bumpy start, closing after two weeks but has reopened
Low 302 (open)
302 Crown St, Surry Hills
Famous for dessert cocktails, Aussie pina coladas and tapas until 2am
Sticky Bar (open)
L2 182 Campbell St, Surry Hills
Sexy tea room with black chandeliers, a white baby piano and some sleek couches with original cocktails like Sweet Popped Cherry
Pocket Bar (open)
13 Burton St, Darlinghurst
Grunge meets glam underground bar, finished with a roller door and polished concrete.
They say no to doormen, cover charges, “doof doof”, pre-mixed drinks and posing
Falconer Bar (open)
31 Oxford St, Surry Hills
A music lovers’ hangout, serving great coffee, wine, beer and unpretentious food
Bacco Chifley Plaza (open)
Chifley Plaza
For suits, namely lawyers and bankers, who work nearby to get good wine and food
Yullis (open)
479 Crown St, Surry Hills
Courtyard coffee during the day and wine by at night
Time to Vino (open)
66 Stanley St, East Sydney
A refreshing wine bar described as “excellent wines from around the world, without the fuss”
Shady Pines Saloon (opening soon)
256 Crown St, Darlinghurst
A country-and-western style tavern plans to play a lot of Johnny Cash
Absinthesalon (opening soon)
87 Albion St, Surry Hills
Absinthe, and only absinthe. Get lucid before dinner with this old aperitif
Tom Dunne Gallery (opening soon)
11 Little Burton St, Darlinghurst
Balcony Bar (opening soon)
46 Erskine St, Sydney
Grass Hopper (opening soon)
3/40 York St, Sydney
Enter via Temperance Lane
Sol Sutra (DA lodged)
239 Oxford St, Darlinghurst
The Lounge (open)
277 Goulburn St, Surry Hills
For artists. Most staff pursue artistic careers. The Lounge hosts readings, screenings, performances, live music, and photo exhibitions
If you’d like us to review your bar or venue, email reviews@freshmag.com.au
The Daily Telegraph, Sat 26 September 2009:
TINY bars tucked away in the city’s back streets are transforming how — and what — Sydneysiders are drinking.
One year on from a legislative shake-up to encourage small bars, a bitter concoction of financial turmoil and a chronic shortage of space has not put off 22 barmen from intimate little drinking spots across the city.
Not just an escape from the sound of throbbing nightclub doof-doof or giant plasma screens and pokies of big pubs, each culture-rich cubbyhole has challenged the beer-swilling Australian stereotype.
Taking its inspiration from Melbourne’s bar culture, the City of Sydney Council enacted legislation making it easier for smaller venues to get a liquor licence without spending tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege.
In July this year, the council gave an even greater incentive for people to rejuvenate alleys around the city with small bars by offering up to $50,000 to approved projects.
Cocktails will be served in jam jars at the premises of 7m Bar when it opens next week. Not so much a “hole in a wall’ as an alley decorated with debris including an old BMW, seven boats and a swing set, the art installation is inspired by what Sydney Harbour would cough up if the ocean rises 7m — the inspiration behind the bar’s name.
At the other end of the scale is Absinthesalon, which harks back to old-world absinthe drinking, serving it pure or in the traditional sugar-cube method. Absinthe importers Joop van Heausden and Gaye Valttila want to bring ritual back into the lucid herbal tonic and demystify the aperitif’s history when they open in four weeks — the drink was once said to be an addictive psychoactive drug.
“It’s traditionally served between 4pm and 7pm, the green hour,” Mr van Heausden said, explaining their 4pm to 10pm liquor licence.
They offer up to 25 varieties of absinthe, and only absinthe, served in the traditional turn-of-the-20th century fashion.
All entrepreneurs have felt a simmering demand for something special.
Three-month-old Pocket bar in Darlinghurst has shot to the top of the modelling circuit with its interior design of street-art-meets-your-nan’s-house and a pledge of no posers, pre-mixed drinks or doormen.
Nearby, Jason Scott is about to pull the insides out of a vacant record store and an old surf shop and bolt on a bar to bring us Shady Pines Saloon — fashioned like a country-and-western tavern in tribute to 1920s US sly grog dens. Aref Jaroudy, of Low 302, thought late food was missing from a Sydney night out and now offers dinner until 2am.
Owners agree the lounge-room size intimacy means better behaved clientele.
“We get the best blend of people, who can come to a place where they don’t feel harassed or intimidated,” Sticky Bar’s Michael Fantuz told The Daily Telegraph.
Demand for more hole-in-the-wall drinking venues continues to grow, with seminars on starting a bar in Sydney booked out.
Best Nightclubs in Sydney:
Arq Nightclub
16 Flinders St, Darlinghurst 9380 8700
The Basement
29 Reiby Pl, Sydney 9251 2797
Bristol Arms
82 Sussex St, Sydney 9262 5491
Carmen’s Nightclub
590 Kingsway, Miranda 9524 0398
Cave Nightclub
Pirrama Rd, Pyrmont 9566 4755
Chinese Laundry
3 Slip St, Sydney 9299 1700
City Live
Bent St, Fox Studios 9358 8000
Embassy Nightclub
16 Cross St, Double Bay 9328 2200
Gas Nightclub
477 Pitt St, Haymarket 9211 3088
Globe Nightclub
King Head Tavern. 60 Park St Sydney 9264 4844
Home Nightclub
Cockle Bay Wharf, 101 Wheat Rd Darling Harbour 9266 0600
IceBox
2 Kellet St, King Cross 9331 0058
Jackson’s On George
176 George St. Sydney 9247 2727
The Phoenix
34 Oxford St, Darlinghurst
Tank Nightclub
3 Bridge La, Sydney 9251 9933
Yu
171 Victoria St, Potts Point 9358 6511
The Bank
129 Pitt St, Sydney 9230 0521
Castle Hill Tavern
25 Victoria Ave, Castle Hill
Castles Nightclub
114 Castleraegh St, Sydney 9261 2238
Club 77
77 William St, King Cross 9361 4981
Club 209
209 Queen St, Campbelltown 4628 4283
Club Sydney
122 Pitt St, Sydney 9233 2171
Eden Nightclub
88 Oxford St, Darlinghurst 9331 5314
EP1
1 Earl Pl, Potts Point 9358 3990
Goodbar
11a Oxford St, Paddington 9360 6759
Jupiters Nightclub
Rear253 Windsor St, Richmond 4588 5594
Luna Lounge
176 George St, Sydney 9247 2727
M X Nightclub
Hunter St (Cnr Burdett St ). Hornsby 9477 5555
Metropolis Nightclub
Mount St, North Sydney 9954 3599
N V Nightclub
Lvl 1, 163 Oxford St, Darlinghurst 9360 5666
Nakita
104 Bathurst St, Sydney 92839199
Rogues Nightclub
Oxford St (Cnr Riley St) Darlinghurst 9380 9244
Shelbourne Hotel
Market St (Cnr Sussex St) Sydney 9267 3100
Sugareef Nightclub
20 Bayswater Rd, Kings Cross 9368 0763
Tantra
169 Oxford St, East Sydney 9331 7729
Tracks Nightclub
58 Beecroft Rd, Epping 9876 1855
GoodBar
11a Oxford St, Paddington
Zen
22 Bayswater Rd, Kings Cross 9358 4676
Rogues
16 Oxford Square, Sydney 9380 9244
DCM
33 Oxford St, Darlinghurst
The Pavilion Hotel
580 George St, Sydney
