Mr Fox

Mr Fox can be found on the Cleveland Street end of Crown Street, where there has always been plenty of things to eat, but where finding a drink has proved difficult at best. It's a pleasant enough, candlelit space, with windows that open right up onto footpath. Inside, the owners have taken a bars-by-numbers approach - one wall hosts the requisite hand-drawn mural, the other a blackboard of scrawls and the obligatory pieces of ‘art'. Kings of Leon are on the stereo. There's a bar, tables and couches, and plenty of room to pull up a seat.

Like every other joint that has opened in Sydney recently you must leaf through a children's book in order to decide what to drink (something we find more sinister than twee). Your fairy cocktail might be one of the classics (Martinis, Caipirinhas), or a house creation like the Summer Sour. There's a decent selection of beers too (Tiger, Peroni, Fat Yak) and an extensive if pedestrian selection of wines. Happy hour runs 5–7pm Wednesday and Thursday, with two-for-one cocktails that keep the regulars happy.

There's a comprehensive list of eats for a bar of this size, with a menu that changes throughout the day. It's practical, booze-soaking fare and the kitchen sends out the heaping plates nice and quick. The house burger is generous in all respects, but you have to question the wisdom of using ‘lean' mince in a patty that arrives dry and not housed in a bun but between lengths of toasted sourdough.

Upstairs is a darker, altogether looser space that shows its terrace bones. This is Charlie's, mentioned last issue. It's usually a venue suited to chitchat; come Thursday, a house band plays. When we stopped by the room was so full we could barely manage a peek. This neck of the woods obviously needed a bar, and Mr Fox is fitting the bill.