The Ten Best New Bars to Try This Autumn

Birthed by the guys who brought you Arcadia Liquors (just across the road on Regent), Redfern Continental really is a little bit of everything: the perfect neighbour in a suburb fast becoming an eclectic hub of food and drink in Sydney. Mosey on out the back for a drink in what has been dubbed ‘Günthers Dining Room’ — a bar boasting a 1980s Eastern Germany feel, an extensive cocktail menu and the beginnings of a shrine to David Hasselhoff, said to be a work in progress. Cosy up in one of the booths or sit at the bar and lap up something off the four-page cocktail menu, largely tequila- and gin-based.

When it comes to Darlinghurst, there are plenty of cute, cool and quaint little bars ideal to while an hour or two away in, but on Oxford Street they generally ain’t. This Must Be the Place, a brand new pop-up-soon-to-be-multilevel-bar by literally world-class bartenders Luke Ashton and Charlie Ainsbury, is a very welcoming change to a street that direly needs it. What you’ll find currently is a pop-up spritz bar on ground level, decked out in eco-friendly accents like the reclaimed timber bar, plywood banquette and intimate small tables for intimate little drinks in an intimate, table service setting.

Over the last couple of years, plenty of hyped-up hangouts have popped up in the CBD primed for thirsty folk to while away an hour or two through their doors. So when The Smoking Panda, a fabulously named East-meets-West cocktail bar above the Coronation Hotel on Park Street opened theirs in late October, the question was — what makes these guys stand out from the crowd? In a nutshell, The Panda’s open until 5am.

Dragoncello’s interior style pairs distressed industrial with the politesse of leather banquettes. It makes a thoughtful setting for food that has a lot of fun hopping back and forth between classic and contemporary. The drinking here is just as thoughtful. Manager and sommelier Stuart Sanders happily dives behind the bar to produce an off-menu answer to the cocktail brief ‘citrusy, gin-y, bit herbal’. His solution of Tanqueray, apricot liqueur, orange bitters, spiced sugar syrup and lime add up to cocktail that’s rich in herbal aromatics with a creamy, sherbet-like texture.

The Stillery bar occupies the first floor of the newly refurbishedInterContinental Hotel in Double Bay, where gold literally drips from the ceiling by way of a 160 kilogram chandelier on the stairwell. Each of the 20 cocktails on the menu feature a different gin paired with botanical ingredients that complement. Combinations such as blackberry and thyme, pink grapefruit and sage, or strawberry, basil oil and lemon create refreshing and well-balanced medleys. Alternatively, you can sample your way through the gins straight.

Goro isn’t at the bar (if you haven’t cottoned on, he doesn’t exist), but the staff that are there are more than obliging and will helpfully guide you through the sake menu (each sake is described and numbered so you don’t have to try and get your tongue around ‘Dewazakura Dewa Sansan’) as well as guide you through the best of the menu — which is pretty much anything with chicken in it.

At Longrain’s new bunker restaurant, Subcontinental, one of the drawcards is the dedicated bar, which serves Indian-inspired cocktails as well as imported Indian pale ales and an extensive G&T selection. I’m instantly drawn to the VVS Lassie ($19), which combines Pampero Anejo rum with plums, yoghurt, spiced syrup and pistachios to create a delectably boozy smoothie that cleanses the palate and also gets you drunk. Win.

If you’re a fan of Japan’s top-notch scotches, head to Tokyo Bird for a selection of premium imported whiskies and tasty meat-sticks (formally known as yakitori). In the izakaya tradition, this dimly lit den is all about the drinks, coupled with a small snacking menu to ensure you don’t get too tipsy and disgrace the family name.

Expect to be blown away by the Powder Keg, the latest in a string of old-world gin palaces. Serving high-calibre 17th-century Dutch and English fare, it’s a haven of duck schnitzel lollipops and gin and tonic sorbet alongside expertly crafted ginfusions. World-renowned mixologist Grant Collins (Zeta Bar) has partnered with James Young (Wine Library) to create a tavern-inspired drinks menu with a modern twist.

While King Street has always ruled the inner-west nightlife, Enmore Road has emerged a worthy challenger, with some exciting high-profile bars currently in the works. The latest is The Gretz, a rowdy, popular, American-styled bar which serves cheesy baked clams and homemade jerky, as well as a highly addictive and totally badass cigarette-inspired cocktail. It’s from the team behind Hartsyard, so expect big things.