Sydney Small Bars
Sydney's bar revolution rolls on and summer is the time to think small
In 2009, City of Sydney held three seminars for people interested in opening small bars in the area. Small bar culture, development processes and matched funding grants for laneway bars were all explored and June's Liquor Licence Freeze was clarified, with confirmation that only Kings Cross, Oxford Street in Darlinghurst and parts of the south CBD would be affected. Now, in the wake of the 2010 Time Out Bar Awards, we present nine bars proving that from little things, big things grow...
Café Lounge, Surry Hills
Winner of Best Small Bar at the 2010 Time Out Bar Awards, Café Lounge was a base camp for Raise the Bar campaigners as they fought for the introduction of the Small Bar bill currently revolutionising Sydney's nightlife. You'll find it tucked away on a side street running off Crown, nothing more pretentious than a courtyard full of mismatched furniture and cool kids drinking and lounging beneath a mural of a Havana Club setting sun. Café Lounge boasts an extensive cocktail menu with twists on classics plus local bottled beers and a modest wine list available all day and night. By day, it's a prime spot for an arvo coffee or a weekend breakfast, particularly for those who like their Sunday eggs served with a Bloody Mary. By night, Lounge DJs spin disco, jungle or hip hop with the odd live music event thrown in and stays open till midnight on Friday and Saturday nights.
Ching-a-lings, Darlinghurst
Ching-a-lings doesn't have a phone number and they don't do cocktails - only mixed drinks. (Try and trick them into pouring three different elixirs into a glass, and they'll be onto you faster than you can say Daiquiri.) But what's a Sydney small bar without a few quirks? Ching-a-lings serves Coopers longnecks, plays good vinyl (Elvis Sun Sessions on our last visit) and the bar staff are always smiling. Finding this bar is half the fun (look for the bouncer out front of the Soleil tanning salon) but once in, head past the shadowy bar to a big, open verandah with different levels built for lounging - it looks like a sauna and smells like butter chicken thanks to the neighbouring North Indian Diner. Locals abound mid-week, chilling over beers and Dimitris pizza (play nice and sling your bartender a slice).
Firefly, Walsh Bay
Like the beastie it's named for, Firefly is tiny but it glows from within. Capacity here is 35 people so tables are at a premium, but if you're lucky enough to snag a set you'll know why folks go wild for it. Bang on the Bay, with beautiful tapas-style food, a revolving line of beers and just a stroll from the theatre district, Firefly is Sydney small barkeeping at its best. Sitting here with a Tommy's Margarita (a king hit of Patron tequila, elderflower liqueur, lime and agave syrup) watching the yachts bob on the Bay pre-or post-performance is truly an exercise in illumination.
The Hive Bar, Erskineville
The Hive has fast become a local hero. Everything's sourced from the 'hood - the beers (huzzah for St Peters Brewery), the artists who decorated the walls and the DJs who spin on a Wednesday night. Erskineville Road may be a bustling little nexus of activity, but inside Hive you'd never know it. Here, people hang out with boardgames (Scrabble? No. Guess Who? Yes), drink beer and play records amid walls covered in prints, spray paint and stencils. Carp swim up one wall, treble clefs spiral up the staircase, and the bar itself is scrawled with scarab beetles. Hive features four different local beers on tap (Scharers, St Arnou, Blonde and the extremely malty E'ville) and does Sydney's own Wicked Elf, St Peters and Red Oak by the bottle. They also do fine Mojitos, Caipirinhas and Martinis and an excellent Bloodwood ‘Men in Tights' rosé from Orange from the minimalist wine range. Oh, and it's BYO mug for cheap coffee and BYO vinyl at Wednesday night Vinyl Club.
Small Bar, CBD
First fruit of the new NSW Liquor Licensing Laws and City of Sydney's Live Laneways project designed to reanimate the unused alleys of the CBD, Small Bar - opened by Chris Lane and Luke Heard - is the antithesis of the city beer barn. Multi-levelled yet intimate, it has lounges down below and cosy little tables up top, all amenable to accompaniment by Small Bar's big wine list spanning Adelaide to Provence ($6.50-$14 by the glass). There's live music every Thursday night, and if you order a main meal, they shout you a glass of Bogan shiraz. Classy.
Velluto, Potts Point
Sydney's small bars take many shapes. Some go for interior design sharp enough to slice your liver open on the spot; others for drowning opulence scary to the average drinker; while a few dumb things down with hipster grunge. Velluto defies these stereotypes, framing itself as a Champagne bar, and the list is extensive enough to warrant this claim. Past the thick velvet curtain in the dappled shadows of El-Alamein fountain, this plush, sexily lit venue boasts friendly bar staff, complimentary nuts and a sharp, Aussie-centric wine list. But the star here is French fizz and the bourgeois bubbles ensure a returning fanbase revelling in a small bar exuding clandestine decadence and cool.
THE BURTON STREET TRIANGLE
Proving Sydney can match Melbourne in the small bar community stakes, the three Ps (Pocket, the Pond and Pong) form a sophisticated drinking triangle in Surry Hills, each doing something completely different
Pocket Bar
People's Choice winner at the 2010 Time Out Sydney Bar Awards (and pictured at the top of the page), Pocket is squishy lounges, huge graffiti-style murals and a glass bar-cum-installation. By day the bar opens onto Burton, next to Outré Gallery, but at 8.30pm, the roller doors come down and you enter via Crown. Classics crackle here (Aviations, Gimlets, Manhattans and Dark'n'Stormies all excel) and if you're hungry, they also serve crepes. Yes, crepes.
The Pond
Run by brothers Bob and Barrie Barton (the latter will open Rooftop Bar on Brisbane Street, Surry Hills next summer), the pop-up Pond looks like a 1960s lounge room with a basement filled with retro furniture and lights turned way down low. There's great drinks, a cool vibe and awesome food - try the Sonoma bread slathered with goat's curd and caramelised shallots (a recipe from Fergus Henderson's Nose to Tail Eating) and the rabbit terrine.
Doctor Pong
Dr Pong is the most casual of the Burton Street 'P' triumvirate. Round-robin ping-pong gives the bar its name and the bar's look and feel is of an American frat house (DJ decks in the corner) spliced with NSW south coast beach house (backgammon, easels, board games). Pong boasts big comfy lounges, window seating and a big outdoor area (part of the adjoining restaurant, where you can dig into great chargrilled lamb cutlets) but we prefer inside under a mural of cityscapes, squirrels, baboons, jungles and street signs... in outer space. Just what the Doctor ordered!
City of Sydney still has opportunities for potential owners and operators of small bars. Information can be found in three areas:
If you'd like to view a podcast of a Small Bar Seminar click here.
If you'd like more information on the Liquor Licence Freeze click here.
And if you've got any queries, contact the City of Sydney's Business Development Coordinator for Laneways and Small Bars, Richard Roberts, on 02 9265 9228 or rjroberts@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
