Double Deuce Lounge

Despite taking its name from a raucous, rundown pub in the Patrick Swayze-starring 80s flick Road House, Double Deuce Lounge isn't a dive bar. Instead, the newest CBD drinking hole from the Ramblin' Rascal team is a refined cocktail lounge with a touch of '70s porn chic'.

No, you won't find find Ron Jeremy lounging in one of the burgundy leather booths. Instead, you can expect loud geometric 70s wallpaper laid with vintage film posters, the likes of Marvin Gaye, James Brown and Curtis Mayfield on heavy rotation and a cocktail list that arrives in a Deep Throat-esque VHS cover. The bar's owners, Charlie Lehmann, Sebastian Soto and Dardan Shervashidze, will also be suitably on theme, decked out in safari suits and furry vests.

Behind the bar, the team is shaking and stirring ten signature cocktails (all $20), which travel from the tangy and refreshing yuzu margarita and minty Stinger (with lots of Fernet and Cognac) to the cold brew-spiked Discretionary, the Jungle Boogie — with cacao, rhubarb and Campari — and a super-fancy take on a gin and soda dubbed Trouble Man.

While the cocktails are proverbially stuck in the 70s, the wines and beers are very much 2019. Co-owner of Newtown's P&V Wine and Liquor Mike Bennie has pulled together an extended list of fun and funky drops.

You can throw back a couple of Garage Project's Salted White Peach Sour numbers (they're only 2.9 percent ABV and super tasty), order a bottle of Blind Unicorn pét-nat for a very reasonable $60 or go big with a milk stout from Marrickville's Batch and a shot of 'Deuce Juice' (Jim Beam).

Images: Kimberley Low.