Good Luck Bar - CLOSED

Overview

When it comes to bars and clubs it's usually a really bad idea to go to the ones that lead downstairs. They usually involve mosh pits of sweaty singlet-wearing single males and drum and bass music (not that d&b's that bad, it's just something that should be consumed in little doses). Fortunately, Good Luck, which is of the downstairs-variety, does not fall into that category of night-time venue. It's actually a pretty classy joint (best visited from 4pm - 10pm).

The bar, which used to be a Chinese opium den (or that's the rumour at least), has two distinct areas - the sit-down cocktail drinking space, and then the dance floor and bar area. I personally prefer the sit-down bit, since although Good Luck is wonderful, it does falter a little bit on having danceable music. Plus the dance space is just that little bit too rectangular (leads to strange crowd distribution) and has an entire wall of mirrors down the side - making it just that little bit awkward having to dance in a semi-line dancing format and accidentally catching a glimpse of yourself every now and then.

For those drinking enthusiasts Good Luck provides options for cocktail, sangria, saki, wine and beer lovers. They also have special teapot concotions which includes the delicious Daddys Little Earl (ignore the slightly creepy pun) which comes with citron vodka, rum, lychee liquer, earl grey, ginger ice tea, Thai basil and peach bitters ($25). Definitely my pick of the teapot selection.

My all-time favourite from Good Luck is definitely their Old Fashioned ($14).

There is an art to making an Old Fashioned, and is the type of drink that no bartender should undertake lightly. A lot of complicated and slow procedures are involved (this is a universal thing), including burning orange peels and all sorts of witchcraft. I don't really have the attention span to watch exactly what they do, but all I can tell you is that Old Fashioned here in Good Luck is magic, and good enough to convert non-Whisky fans (i.e. my friends) to die-hard fans. For any bar that can do that, I give full points in the drinks department.

As a bar, Good Luck isn't student-cheap, but the dimly lit basement atmosphere makes for a unique night out.