Foveaux Restaurant + Bar

Like Alice down the rabbit hole, once you are through the red door and down the stairs at Foveaux you'll feel a world away from Surry Hills. The décor is something between Moroccan and Weimar chic with red drapery, carved privacy screens, faux candlelight and a low-ceiling painted jet black. The drinks menu is well considered rather than extensive. There are four beers - Stiegl on tap, White Rabbit, McClaren Vale and Mountain Goat in bottles - a mix of Australian and international wines, and a cocktail selection split up into aperitifs, for any time, and after-dinner styles. The amaro fiore is the perfect balance of sweet and bitter with grapefruit vodka, aperol, bitters and St Germain, an excellent starter, but for a late-night drink it’s hard to go past the single malt whiskeys. Surprisingly, this bar also pays respectful deference to non-drinkers, boasting not only an entire page of mocktails, fresh juices and soft drinks, but also Löwenbräu non-alcoholic beer. For something solid there are entrée style snacks, or desserts if you want to skip straight to the end, but for a proper meal you’ll need to grab a table at the upstairs restaurant. The Foveaux bar feels like a well kept secret - a dark, romantic spot for a late-night rendezvous.