Bar - Sydney Restaurants and Bars - Eat Drink
From morning to midnight and back again, EAT/DRINK is TwoThousand's guide to cafes, bars and restaurants in Sydney. We know the best coffee because we drink 20 a day (each), we know the good restaurants because we can't cook, and we'll tell you where to find hidden bars and other places that still let you smoke so that we can ask you for a cigarette when you get there. EAT/DRINK is as voracious as our appetites and a much better filter than our livers, which stopped working a long time ago. Email your EAT/DRINK suggestions to: talk@twothousand.com.au
Shady Pines Saloon
An oft-had discussion in my house goes like this:
"Seriously, there are no bars here like American bars."
"I know, where it's all dark, and you sit at the bar and just shoot the shit."
"Exactly - let's just open one."
"Well why not?" Etc.
That conversation has now been shot.
Eau De Vie
Eau De Vie has had some top billing this week, most of which has highlighted its speakeasy style. While in Chicago, as most tourists do, I drank at the Green Mill, putatively Al Capone's favourite speakeasy during Prohibition. Here, you paid the doorman, made sure you shut up during the band, and didn't stray far from whiskey, gin or Guinness - legacy traditions from a bygone era.
Absinthe Salon
First things first: Absinthe Salon serves nothing but absinthe. You're here for absinthe or you're not here. In a fit of indulgence, I figured I'd go sample the product of the joint then write this piece while under some faux-Rimbaud buzz.
The fit out of the tiny room is a charming homage to fin-de-siècle continental salons, but the great attraction is in the ritual.
The bar at Rockpool Bar & Grill
To those with even a remote interest in wine, restaurant wine lists are the keys to Fort Knox. Exotic varietals and museum vintages, not available through garden variety bottleshops, sit shimmering in tome-like publications. However, access to these treasures can come at a cost, and lacking the wherewithal to justify hatted menu prices can cut you off from these legendary cellars.
Ching-a-lings
Even before they've really arrived, everyone's sick of hearing the phrase "small bar." Tired analogies to other cities become exhausting to readers, while the hyperbole surrounding these new ventures must daunt the keen entrepreneurs (heroes?), who have thrown blood, sweat and life savings into creating original places for us to drink.
Bacco
Following an enthusiastic review this week in one of our city's broadsheets, Bacco held great premise. The high-praise of ‘Melbourn-esque' had come out - that holy grail of appealing intangibles which all new bars in Sydney try to achieve.
For the most part Bacco checks these boxes: it's a cosy, intimate den of wood and soft lighting; the wine list is impressive; the wait staff are charming.
Safety Wolf
Safety Wolf is the restaurant equivalent of black jeans. I'm talking Yul Brynner circa THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN black jeans - the kind that hold their own in a saloon, or a gunfight.
I can imagine Yul pulling up a chair at one of the wooden tables at Safety Wolf. Dusty and thirsty, he'd order an El Diablo (Herradura Silver tequila, Chambord, lime juice and ginger beer), empanadas (tomato and cheese stuffed pastries) and maybe some rough-hewn potato wedges with his hat pulled down low over his face.
Random Entries:
Subscribe to our e-newsletter for weekly updates and exclusive stuff:
Browse our guide to Sydney by interest
Sydney Events Calendar
Select a date to see what's on in Sydney
Browse our guide to Sydney by keyword
Browse our guide to Sydney by weekly issue
Working