Bars in Darlinghurst

Shady Pines Saloon
At Shady Pines Saloon a longhorn steer head takes up almost an entire wall, while taxidermied deer and foxes gambol like graceful woodland creatures around the shelves and AC ducts. Three carved wooden American Indians stand sentry around scarred tables ready for games of poker, unlit cigar chewin', deals made with spit and a handshake and, of course, some good old fashioned drinkin'.
You'll want to start with a set-up - that's a whiskey with a beer back. It's here that Shady Pines reveals its true colours. You can have a can of the sessionable Coopers Malt fresh from the ice bucket behind the bar with some bottom-shelf basics on one hand, but you can also trade up with a Rosita, a crisp, artisan-made Spanish blond beer, and on the other, something along the lines of a measure of Eagle Rare, just one of the fine bourbons and ryes on pour. If you take the latter option, be prepared to pay for it - some of the whiskeys are priced north of $15 a shot - but the value is sound.
What makes Shady Pines the place you should be drinking right now boils down to excellent booze (get 'em to make you an Old Pal while you're there - equal parts whiskey, sweet vermouth and Campari), great tunes and expert bartenders.

13B
Sitting in the middle of Burton Street’s small bar cluster – the Commons, Pocket, Shady Pines – 13B is like the group’s mature older sister. The interior is dark and modern, with clean lines and shiny surfaces, and there’s not a second-hand chair or taxidermy head in sight. The drinks follow suit. The cocktail menu is considered and original, if a little heavy on narrative exposition. The Amazingly Perfect is a buttery passionfruit delight, and pretty much lives up to its promises, and the signature 13B, a watermelon and Kaffir lime leaf infusion, is clever and subtle. The wine list, too, is impressive. It navigates the old world and the new and covers several price brackets ($45–$200). The only confusing thing about this little – and we really mean little: 8 tables – bar is its name. Is it 13B, or is it the Safe House? Though it is officially known as the former, all signs point to the latter. Owner Mark Stephens says ‘Safe House’ was rejected by licensing officials, but is evidently pretty attached to the name. With its positioning just off heaving Oxford Street and a single block from the oftentimes impossible to get into Shady Pines, we reckon the nickname is fairly apt.

Love Tilly Devine
Sommelier Matt Swieboda and chef Tim Webber have turned a dank storeroom out the back of Crown Street's Best Cellars into an excellent little wine bar.
Named after notorious crime boss Tilly Devine, it might suggest a sly grog/knocking shop, but the reality is a drinking den dealing in some of the most exciting wine you're likely to taste - and all of it deliciously turpentine-free. Gruner. White Burgundy. Teutonic rieslings aplenty. Yep, twist our oh-so-rubbery arms to drink the entire list. Riding the austerity train all the way to poor town? Have we got the wine for you - and it comes by the pint! Try the Natural Selection Theory ‘Voice of the People' spring blend for $25. This red wine (there's no telling which grapes are used - let's just say it's a bit of everything) comes in an old-school glass milk bottle. Not a wine drinker? There are a few choice beers on offer including Cooper's Pale and Moo Brew Heferweizen. Oh, and two types of cider. If you're not sure what you're looking for but want to have a bit of a dig without the help of a sommelier, the list is broken up into descriptive sub-categories. Looking for something 'challenging, unusual, idiosyncratic'? Look no further. How about something 'fragrant, textured and harmonious'? They've got your back. There's even a section devoted solely to riesling with a Fight Club-esque 10-point explainer.
 

Heavy Feather
You’ll find this bar a couple of doors up from Chingalings (the first small bar to open on the pink strip), up a narrow set of stairs. Like Chingalings, Heavy Feather brings a different sound to Oxford Street, better known for mirror balls and thumping house music than rock’n’roll hidy-holes. Heavy Feather is decked out in that ‘oops-I-just-walked-into-someone’s-lounge-room’ style, with the bar taking pride of place in the middle of the room.
“It’s meant to be an oxymoron,” says our bartender, when we ask about the name. Take a look at the cocktail list and you’ll see all the drinks are oxymoronically named. There’s a Fine Mess (tequila, Cointreau, lime juice, honey, passionfruit); Terribly Pleased (light and dark rums, coconut liqueur, lime and orange juices, passionfruit, bitters); and Friendly Fire (a riff on the El Diablo, with the addition of hazelnut liqueur with tequila, creme de cassis, lime juice and ginger ale).

The Commons
If you’ve any interest at all in the whole small bar revolution, you’ll know the Commons was one of the first to open under the new laws. Last year’s Time Out Small Bar of the year, the Commons has had a recent refurb, renaming the bar downstairs the Downtown Bar and kitting it out with a whole new classic cocktail list. It still has that ‘oh! I’ve stumbled into a 1960s ski cabin!’ look to it, but now there’s more on offer drinks-wise than the usual beer and wine offerings. Order yourself a Sazerac or a whiskey Sour, and take one of the low-slung lounges off to the side of the bar, or a spot at the communal table. Call in on Thursday evenings for jazzzz.

Ching-a-lings
Finding this bar is half the fun. The only indicator it's here at all is the pink neon light in the entrance of the doorway, halfway up the laneway between the Gaslight Inn and Nu and Nan. There's no sign (apart from some racy graffitti next to the door) so you'll have to use your spider senses. Even then it's not 100 per cent obvious – the toilets are positioned right at the entrance - but persevere and you'll be rewarded by a very cool bar.
Go up the gritty concrete staircase and be greeted by a big, open verandah with different levels built into it for lounging. Inside, the extremely dark bar houses decks, longnecks and plenty of spirits. But they don't do cocktails, we found - only mixed drinks. OK, we say; but can you put mix gin, sweet vermouth and Campari in a glass? Yes, they can. Bingo! Cocktail. This small bar holds limited numbers so you'll want to get there early. On Sundays, the DJ spins old tunes.

Owl House
Owl House isn't going to ruffle any feathers, but why should it? The affable people behind the bar and the chatty locals sitting along it suggest keeping the locals happy is the motivator here. The 'House is a two-floor terrace wedged between a gym and a brothel down the wrong end of Crown Street. Downstairs, a handful of stools hugs a pleasant bar while a neon sign points upstairs to a classic Darlo terrace: a candlelit room, mismatched furniture, and a small balcony covered in tree-shade. To drink there's classic cocktails (Negronis and Sidecars), bottles of Alhambra Negra beer, and a lone, quality Spanish cidre (Lagar de Camin). Wine runs the gamut from plump, acidic Albariño to the slurpable ‘Juveniles' GSM blend from Torbreck

Pocket
Pocket has matured into a sophisticated cocktail den. The queues still linger on the weekends, but mid-week the busy hum is the sound of a well run business rather than a faddish it-spot. New shelves and partitions groan under the weight of vintage detritus. Even with a mural of King Kong, bare-breasted ladies and Marvin the Martian, somehow the venue still manages to feel grown up in a ‘boy-I’ve-got-a-few-stories-I-could-tell-you’ kind of way. Don’t be talked into resting on a chaise longue – a pew at the bar is definitely the way forward here where a slick bar team will whip you up art deco-era classics like a Corpse Reviver #2 or the Golden Dawn (calvados, gin, orange juice, Cointreau and apricot brandy) or something more progressive from their constantly refined selection of house specialities.
Crepes, both savoury and sweet, are a popular menu item but you’ll now find these accompanied by a page-long selection of share plates. Grilled chorizo – that friendly bar snack sausage – is a choice pick and comes with roasted truss tomatoes, braised white beans, preserved lemon and mint. The whole package is pocket-sized imbibing pleasure.

Darlo Bar
Walk through the door of the Darlo Bar and you may as well have stepped right off the planet - the coolness is other-worldly. On tap you'll find plenty to choose from, with local boutique beers sitting alongside the usual big brewery suspects. Downstairs you'll find an unassuming retro bar decked out with arcade-style amusements, popular with post-work creative types. Upstairs is a a scene out of Alice in Wonderland. The outdoor patio features enormous decorative fans, wrought-iron garden furniture and a luminous pink and green colour scheme. Filled as it often is with heaving groups of loud, happy people, the Darlo Bar gets crowded - the trick is to get in early and stay late.

The Victoria Room
Cool evenings in the Victoria Room lazing back on the wide-lipped chaise longue or sitting regally in one of the throne-like armchairs with a cocktail in hand is a perfect example of how good Sydney bars can be. The stunning fit-out and outstanding list making this one huge with cocktail nerds and hens' nights respectively. If it's ballast you're in need of, they serve supper between 11pm and 2am on Friday and Saturday nights, and high tea on Sundays is a signature.

The Green ParkHotel
Did you know the Greenie is named after Darlinghurst Gaol's hangman Alexander Green, notorious for his drunkenness and botched hangings? Dubious foundations aside, this is a very cool pub to find yourself drinking in on a sunny afternoon. These days, you're more likely to find local musos, journos and the odd wino than incompetent hangmen. The beer garden rides shotgun to the bar and is filled with fluoro orange outdoor furniture, while inside there are pool tables and a raft of ace pinnies.

The Falconer
Oxford Street denizens have all had a cappuccino and a piece of lemon meringue pie at Aristotle's - the legendary sad café at the beginning of the street next door to the now defunct DCM, house of many shootings. Well, Aristotle's is no more. It's been replaced with this cool little bar. Three young fellas - web programmer Ben Ward, café veteran Jack Sheen and musician Chris Cobb - man the counter. And while the food leaves something to be desired, you can't beat the service, the prices, and the vibe. They've left the original fittings intact and added some of their own touches like a wall-sized deer mural, record player and stunning deco-style light feature. The grand old bar gets a spit and polish and the booths have been reupholstered, but the space has been altered only for the better. There's none of the usual Blah FM, either. They play Bowie, Costello and Grace Jones. On vinyl. And while they don't serve pinot blanc or Argentinean malbec, they do serve dark Peroni and plenty of inexpensive Aussie quaffers. 

Rambutan
At Rambutan, you'll find a dark bar downstairs with Missoni-print banquettes and lampshades, young gun bartenders with an eye for the classics, and a giant glass tank filled with tropical fish. The wine list is short but sweet with French, Italian, New Zealand and local splashes, but the most exciting thing in drinks here is the cocktails. They can also whip up a rum Old Fashioned before you can say "Hit me!" 

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