Hemingway’s: A Literary Drinking Hole in Manly

The atmosphere of a writer's den, insanely long opening hours, fun and flavoursome food, a drinks menu that will keep even the most inspired drinker guessing, and not even the slightest degree of pretension. In short, Hemingway's must be one of the best spots in town right now.

And it's perhaps not where you would expect it to be. A far cry from the back lanes of Darlinghurst or even the fame of King Street, this bar is firmly situated on Manly's main strip, right across from the beach. Despite this, it's about as dissimilar from a tourist trap as you can imagine.

For a start, the prices. The house cocktails are $15 and the suggested mixers, almost good enough to be cocktails themselves, are a mere $10. Hemingway's Cup is the ten to one favourite cocktail, spotted in the hands of almost every lady in the place. It's gentle mix of Hendrick's gin, rose and apple tea, sugar, and spice, served in a tea cup and saucer with slices of cucumber alongside. While it's very good, my pick would be the Miffy: house-infused vanilla rum, Falernum, orange, lemon and egg white whisked into a cloud-like dream. On a summer's day, the Creaming Soda might be more your style, with vodka, crème de cassis, home-made lemonade, wild berry foam and a paper cocktail umbrella. As far as mixer ideas go, Aperol and Fanta isn't a bad choice, and neither is Rum, Spicy Bitters and Ginger Beer. Both pack a flavoursome punch.

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