Overview
When you're not quite in the mood for a complicated cocktail, but are after something with a little more pizzazz than your go-to mixed drink, the humble highball proves a perfect sip. The simple combination of a spirit, a soda and a twist has long been popular on the Japanese bar scene, and now it's the star of the show at Sydney's newest pop-up drinking destination, The Highball Bar.
Tucked away on the first floor of the City Tattersalls Club, it's a cosy, elegant haunt, with moody lighting and soft jazz setting the tone for simple sophistication.
Open until at least March next year, the bar's offering a menu that aims to bridge that gap between cocktail and mixed drink, filled with fuss-free, sessionable sips that were made to be enjoyed.
It's the brainchild of Flynn McLennan — also behind Japanese restaurant Kagura and film noir-inspired cocktail bar The Long Goodbye — with Strangelove's artisanal sodas and tonics pushing the drinks list's local focus, and a rotation of grazing platters and interesting cheeses sure to tempt discerning snackers.
Ranging from $12 to $18 and showcasing almost every spirit imaginable, the highball lineup has all tastes covered — see concoctions like the Armagnac and triple sec with mandarin mineral water, or the zesty blend of Jensen's Old Tom Gin, house-made pineapple cordial and yuzu soda. You can shake up your standard vodka and soda or gin and tonic game, too, with drinks like the Santamania vodka with burnt lemon and soda, or a Poor Tom's Gin with 'dirty tonic'.
Alongside the hero drinks, sits a tidy wine list championing biodynamic and organic drops, an Aussie-led craft beer selection and a range of classic cocktails, heroing precision over the elaborate bells and whistles you'll find elsewhere.
While it is located inside the City Tattersalls Club building, it's not part of the club, and you don't need a membership get it.
Find The Highball Bar within the City Tattersalls Club, 194/204 Pitt St, Sydney until March, 2019. You'll find it on the first floor, if you hit the foyer and catch the second elevator on the left.