There’s a ridiculously large number of wine glasses hanging above the bar counter (2682, to be exact, lined in eight tiers), dark wood paneling and a quiet, intimate atmosphere that attracts the powerbrokers working in the area (almost everyone here wears suits).

Sitting at the counter with two friends who had been here before, we all ordered the Wagyu burger, onion rings and double-cooked chips and I also grabbed an Adonis cocktail to wash it down.

The Adonis is a classic cocktail you hardly ever see these days. The menu says it’s made from dry sherry, sweet vermouth and Angostura bitters (although it’s usually made with orange bitters) and the result is high octane and a little too rich for my liking. However, I am impressed with the burger, which is topped with bacon, gruyere cheese and pickle – in fact, it’s possibly the best (and most decadent) burger I’ve had in Sydney (although I am becoming addicted to the Grill’d burgers you can now find around Sydney).

Fast forward a month or so (at my age keeping track of time is becoming increasingly hard) and I go back to Rockpool Bar & Grill with the Amazonian Croatian, who I’ve lured here with tales of sophistication and onion rings.

It’s a Wednesday night and I confidently stride up to the bar, only to see all the stools full. Never mind – prepared and happy to stand at the bar, we look through the menu and order the rum and raisin sazerac for myself and the Fleming blazer for the Croatian from an unsmiling bartender who directs us to get a table.

Now, I wouldn’t say he was rude, and if this bar truly were in Manhattan (or if he looked under the pump) then the cold reception might even be expected, but …

Well, let’s just say it didn’t feel welcoming.

We find a table tucked away to the side (our appetite for onion rings subsiding) and the Croatian suggests that maybe, because they have table service here, I was pushing things by going directly to the bar. When she says this I then wonder if the bartender even took our order or if he was implying we needed to sit and wait for someone to take our order but, before long, a friendly hostess delivers our drinks.

On the downside, the sazerac is disappointing. In addition to the usual sazerac ingredients of cognac, Peychaud’s bitters (and sometimes Angostura as well) and an absinthe rinse, the Rockpool version also has St Lucian rum steeped with raisins and Pedro Ximenez sherry added to it. However, the rum and raisin flavours dominate the drink, to the point where the alchemy of the cognac, bitters and absinthe seem – in my humble opinion – sadly overwhelmed.

On the plus side, the Fleming blazer is great – made with Hennessey VSOP, Yellow Chartreuse, Lagavulin (an Islay single malt whisky), ginger and honey syrup, all of which is flamed with Peychaud’s bitters, this is aromatic to the point where it can knock you out and yet subtle and balanced. My only criticism is that a blazer is such a theatrical drink to make thanks to its use of flame (traditionally it even involves passing the flaming ingredients from one mixing glass to another) that it’s a pity we missed it from our table in exile.

In fact, the blazer almost redeems our experience of Rockpool’s bar – at least until, after failing to get the attention of a hostess and in want of water, I then hazard going to the bar. There, like a leper, I wait, and wait, and wait while the bartender looks at me before continuing with whatever he’s doing. Now, I have full respect for bartenders who have their hands full and have to deal with impatient customers – but this time I really do feel like I’m just being ignored. After a while I give up and slink back to the table where we finish our drinks and leave.

As such, I’m in two minds about this bar. I love the décor, the hostess was friendly, the burger and onion rings were heavenly and the blazer was beautifully made. But between the sazerac and the cold bar service I’m not in a rush to go back any time soon.

Now it’s your turn – how do you rate Rockpool bar?
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Rockpool Bar & Grill, 66 Hunter Street, Sydney. See the Rockpool bar website. Open Monday to Saturday.

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This old-fashioned underground den on Macquarie Street has become my new favourite dive bar and restaurant. Hidden away with just a tiny sign near the door (the formal name is the International Nippon Australia New Zealand Club), this is a bit like an RSL club that serves sake and Japanese beer, is run by Japanese folk and has a great Japanese restaurant hidden at the back.

With the exception of some paper lanterns, screens and Japanese posters this looks like an RSL, from the padded bar counter and red carpet to the check-in desk where visitors have to fill out a slip before entry. There’s a pokie area, simple tables and chairs that could have come from a takeaway shop and a gaudy air that the lawyers from the nearby firms and courts seem to like after a long day of – well, lawyering.

The service, however, is always friendly and the jugs of sake are great – but the real attraction is the restaurant at the back.

Despite the daggy décor the restaurant’s food is the real deal. A sushi chef stands before a bench filled with fresh fish and the sashimi is the best I’ve ever had in Sydney (the salmon sashimi, for example, is so delicate and fresh it virtually melts in your mouth). The first time I came was with my friend Dot, who despite not liking sashimi still loved the yellowtail sashimi entrée, and the second time was with the Amazonian Croatian who devoured two sashimi platters and claimed the sashimi is even better here than in Japan (where she’s spent some time in the past).

Everything else here is perfectly done as well, from the Japanese-style fried chicken to the tofu soup with bonito flakes and the green tea ice-cream that looks horrifically dark green (the colour actually put me off) but which tastes great.

The prices here are also extremely low – the yellowtail sashimi, for example, only cost $9.

The Nippon Club might not win any design awards (although it is the most retro bar I’ve ever seen in the Sydney CBD) but for my money it’s certainly one of the most pleasurable and quirky discoveries I’ve come across in a while.

Now it’s your turn – how do you rate this bar?
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Nippon Club, 229 Macquarie Street, Sydney. Phone 9232 2688.

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The top level of Grasshopper is a restaurant with an open kitchen and an aroma that makes us regret having fish and chips before coming here. The menu is limited to some classics such as steak poivre and pork and parsley terrine and the dining atmosphere is seductive and low-lit, with intimate little tables. In other words, this would be perfect for taking a date.

However, the Amazonian and I instead head downstairs to the bar, which has a hip, funky vibe. One side is wallpapered with kitsch black-and-white still shots of people performing kung fu, there are 70s-era armchairs and lamps, old records are used as coasters and there’s an overall vibe that would be very much at home in Melbourne.

As with 7m, some of Grasshopper’s cocktails are served in jars, such as my no. 3 (all the drinks here have numbers rather than names, much like an Asian takeaway). Made with gin, vermouth, orange, Campari and raspberry syrup, the no. 3 has a fresh and strong orange flavour. Both the Amazonian and I prefer her no. 7, however, which is made with calvados, Fernet-Branca (an Italian amaro), orange and almond syrup. This is served in a small cocktail glass and has a complex flavour with the almond syrup giving it a slight nutty edge that works beautifully with the bitterness of the amaro and the sweetness of the orange.

Unfortunately the Amazonian and I are on a tight schedule and have to move on, but if we weren’t then we’d definitely stick around for another round. Overall, Grasshopper is a cosy and welcome addition to Sydney’s bar scene – and if we get a few more laneway bars like this then we’ll really be giving Melbourne a run for its money.

Now it’s your turn – how do you rate Grasshopper Bar?
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Grasshopper, Temperance Lane (between 389 and 391 George Street), Sydney CBD. Open Monday to Friday. See the Grasshoppper website or phone 9947 9025 for more details

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Located in a grand old building, the bar has its own doorway on Macquarie Street just metres away from the hotel foyer with a sign simply saying “The Bar”.

Inside, however, you find there’s nothing simple about this place. The walls are decked with some great old paintings that are apparently worth a fortune, there’s a piano, an old fashioned wooden bar with some great whiskies and spirits behind it, and a range of tables and armchairs that look lived in. In other words, it’s the type of place where you could either take a date or your grandmother to – especially if your grandmother likes hard liquor (although they also have a wide variety of tea available).

Personally, I prefer cocktails and so I order a Martinez, the granddaddy of martinis. Made with Plymouth gin, sweet vermouth, maraschino liqueurs, orange bitters and sugar, this is a great introduction to the martini family for those who want straight spirits without the taste of alcohol.

I’m escorted by Dot, my literary friend who has turned up with a feather in her cap (or it could be her hair – I don’t want to be rude by staring too hard, but I do notice something bird-like poking up above her eyebrows) and she orders the Ernest Hemingway Special. As with the Martinez, this also has maraschino liqueur although that’s where the similarity ends, as this is an old-fashioned style daiquiri that’s also made with Havana Club rum, grapefruit and lime (the lack of sugar is due to Hemingway being a diabetic). The drink is good, although Dot prefers the sweetness and smoothness of the Martinez – after all, much like its namesake, the Ernest Hemingway Special has a punch but also a bit of a rough edge.

Since Hemingway lived in Spain for a while we decide to go with the flow by ordering some tapas to soak up the booze. The pork belly is good (although after a while I feel a heart attack coming) but the garlic prawns with chorizo, as well as the oven warmed dark olives, were definitely the winners.

I suspect the Sir Stamford’s bar is mainly targeted at the après-opera crowd (I feel sophisticated/pretentious in saying that) in addition to its residents but since Sydney is sorely lacking when it comes to grand old fashioned bars that make you feel like time stopped around a century ago, this is worth dropping in for a quiet Martinez or two.

Now it’s your turn – how do you rate The Bar at Sir Stamford at Circular Quay?
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Sir Stamford at Circular Quay, 93 Macquarie Street, Sydney. Phone 9252 4600 or see the Sir Stamford at Circular Quay website

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The ground floor is the main drinking den, filled with paintings and an after-work CBD crowd downing beers and wines, but it’s the Dome lounge on the first floor that impresses me – or, more specifically, some of the cocktails on offer there.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much and so when the barman suggested a Peruvian pisco sour (which is yet to go on the menu, but I’ve been told it will be soon), I was expecting the same disappointment I usually have when ordering this South American drink that hails from Chile and Peru.

Instead, however, I’m served a fantastic drink. The pisco sour is traditionally made with pisco, a South American spirit made from grapes, lemon juice, sugar and egg whites, but this version uses a dark Peruvian plum brandy instead as well as gomme syrup and a few drops of bitters splashed onto the foam. The result is spicy and has a great balance of sweetness and sourness to it. For $12, which is the price of all the cocktails here, it’s also great value.

The Dome Lounge is tucked away at one end of the first floor next to the restaurant. The building is heritage listed and has some grand features, including the dome in the middle of the high ceiling (hence the bar’s name) as well as a glass tiled floor near the restaurant. The decor, meanwhile, is colourful, from the walls covered with paintings right down to the brightly-coloured armchairs.

The crowd tonight is largely young, with a lot of female office types, and the soundsystem is playing folk and world music.

My dining companion sticks to her peach bellini (which is good as far as bellinis go, although I’ve never been a fan myself) while I then order the Vesper martini and some tapas.

Both the dips and the lamb and fennel meatballs (served with tzatziki) are good, but it’s the spinach and cheese empadillas that stand out – nice, fresh spinach and cheese piling out of flaky pastry.

The Vesper martini, made with Bombay gin, belvedere vodka and lillet blanc, is almost as good as the Pisco sour. It’s so smooth you can barely taste the alcohol in it and is served stirred rather than shaken (even though it’s named after a martini that James Bond invented in Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale).

Those after an even less alcoholic-tasting drink, however, might prefer the vanilla rhubarb sour, which tastes like it sounds – strong flavours of rhubarb, vanilla and sour mix (it’s made with Absolut vanilla vodka, licor 43 and rhubarb). However, if I do come back to the Arthouse then it would definitely for the Pisco Sour – and, being a dirty old perve, perhaps Dr Sketchy’s.

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Arthouse, 275 Pitt Street, Sydney. See the Arthouse website or phone 9284 1200.

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Then again, the decor of this Italian-influenced restaurant is quirky to say the least. There are man-sized flowers lurking about (well, dwarf-sized, anyway), brightly coloured sofas and chairs in eccentric shapes, a gilt-edged mirror, lamps that look like tree branches, flashing lights underneath the liquor bottles and red plastic sinks in the bathroom that make me think of kindergarten. And keep in mind that all of this is housed in an old warehouse, complete with timber beams, that you access through an old stone archway and moss-covered steps from Argyle Street.

I’m here with a female dining companion (I’ll call her the FDC from now on) and we sit at one of the small tables near the bar. I order the negroni (Campari, Martini Rosso and Bombay Sapphire gin, stirred over ice with orange peel) and she orders the Bay Harbour Breeze (Absolut raspberry vodka shaken with pink grapefruit, lime and cranberry juice).

Scolding me for going for a classic cocktail, the FDC claims I ought be more adventurous but I made the right decision. The negroni is fantastic – to me, a well made negroni holds its own against any cocktail – whereas the Bay Harbour Breeze is, as the FDC admits, a sweet chick drink that tastes a bit like a lollypop (then again, I’m not a fan of raspberry flavoured vodka).

The bartender then suggests a drink that he just invented and which he describes as a mojito-inspired cocktail made from Jack Daniels. To be honest this sounds ghastly to me but I agree to try it out of politeness and morbid curiosity – and to my surprise I love it. Made with muddled limes, mint, Jack Daniels and a splash of Cointreau, it definitely deserves to go on the menu (I hereby propose they call it the Jackito).

Unfortunately, however, my love of the new cocktail only encourages the FDC into berating me even more for usually sticking with classic drinks and to prove it she orders the green tea martini (vodka, apple schnapps, apple juice and green tea) in defiance.

I must admit the green tea martini is better than I’d have thought – in fact, if you like flavoured martinis then I’d actually recommend this, since it has a gentle flavour that’s neither too sweet nor too … well, tea tasting – but I still snobbily believe the FDC doesn’t appreciate classic cocktails.

We also order two entrees (there’s no bar menu), namely the pan-fried scallops with roasted capsicum purée as well as the hiramasa kingfish with stir fried vegetable cannelloni, and when they arrive we take them out to the balcony. While the bar area is nice – aside from the tables you can also perch at the bar counter – to me it’s the balcony that really stands out. There’s a clear view of the Harbour Bridge as well as of the streets below, and it surprises me that, on a Friday night, we have the balcony all to ourselves.

The hiramasa kingfish is good but it’s the scallops that stand out: fresh, juicy and cooked just right. In the past I’ve had great fresh pasta here and I decide that if I ever go back to bel mondo again, I’d probably order the scallops as well as a pasta dish. And, of course, a couple of Jackitos.

Now it’s your turn – how do you rate Bel Mondo?
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Bel Mondo, Gloucester Walk, The Rocks, Sydney. Phone 9241 3700 or see the Bel Mondo website. Open Monday to Saturday from 6pm to late.

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The folks on Erskine Street sure take the naming of their bars literally. When Sydney’s first small bar (according to the new licensing laws) opened up there they called it Small Bar and now that a new bar has opened up next door with its most obvious quality being the two balconies overlooking the freeway and Erskine Street, they called it Balcony Bar.

Well, you can never accuse them of being misleading.

Even though Balcony Bar is run by different people to Small Bar it does have a similar feel, both in terms of layout and decor. There’s wooden floors, sofas, a cosy and yet pared-back vibe (the most outrageous element is the gold chandelier that looks like it came from a sci fi film), and when I’m there funk music is playing while the crowd is a mix of suits as well as some who look like they’re itching to get back to Newtown.

I go there on a Thursday night with a friend of mine who I’ve previously referred to as being like Dorothy Parker without the suicidal tendencies. I’d like to call her DP for short, but that might conjure up unfortunate sexual connotations, so from now on I’ll call her Dorothy. Or Dot.

Anyway, Dot and I find out there’s a $10 mojito special on Thursdays (Update: although I could have sworn I went on a Thursday, I have been told that it may delusional as their mojito special only runs on Wednesdays. In my defence, if you drink for a living then your memory is bound to be flawed), so we order two of them and are pleasantly surprised – in fact, they’re possibly the best mojitos you can get in this city for $10 each, and I’m a mojito snob. Made with good white rum, freshly muddled limes and mint, the mojitos are served in tall glasses and yet don’t have too much soda water in them (which is my usual complaint with cheap mojitos that are served in long rather than short glasses).

I then order an Old Fashioned cocktail while Dot grabs the Cadillac Margarita as well as some meatballs and tempura zucchini flowers – and while the cocktails are fantastic the food is a little disappointing.

The Old Fashioned (which is the favoured drink of Mad Men’s Don Draper) hits home: Woodford Reserve bourbon, sugar, bitters and cherry juice with a flared orange and a maraschino cherry that Dot snatches from my glass. I might look more like Hoggle from Labyrinth than the dapper Draper, but I do appreciate his drink. If you like your cocktails to taste more like spirits than fruit juice then this is for you.

The Cadillac Margarita differs from the usual margaritas by doubling down on the orange liqueurs: in addition to tequila and lime juice it has both Cointreau and Grand Marnier. I prefer less orange flavours in my margaritas but this is still a great drink.

And then we come to the food.

The meatballs with tomato chutney are tasty – but they’re also tiny and we only get four or five of them, making us feel a little short changed after $12. Ok, $12 isn’t exactly a lot, but the meal doesn’t look like much when it’s served up, even for tapas. The zucchini flowers stuffed with bocconcini, parmesan, pea puree and lemon are more disappointing: we only get two for $12 and they seem to be filled with more zucchini than bocconcini (and not all words that end in “ini” are equal, my friends). In fact, we struggle to taste any of the ingredients that appear in its menu description and neither Dot nor myself are all that thrilled.

The wine list, however, is good – after the cocktails we order a bottle of the Peter Lehmann riesling, which I recommend, followed by some Mt Eyre Shiraz. Furthermore, the service is great: from the time we entered to when we left, all the staff members we came in contact with were far more friendly than the Sydney norm. As such, while I’m too cheap to order food here again, I’ll definitely be back for the cocktails and the service.

Now it’s your turn – how do you rate this bar?
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Balcony Bar, 46 Erskine Street, Sydney. Open Monday to Friday from 10am till midnight. On Saturday it’s open for private functions. See the Balcony Bar website for more information.

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Update: The Stoneleigh pop up bar will next appear at Bungalow 8 from Wednesday 27 January to Sunday 31 January.

Appearing at different Sydney locations this summer, the Stoneleigh pop up bar’s next appearance will be at Dawes Point Park, The Rocks, for three days this week – namely Wednesday 20 January from l.00pm to 9.30pm, Thursday 21 January from 1.00pm to 4.00pm (after 4pm there’ll be the A Stoneleigh Moment event that’s invite-only) and Friday 22 January from 1.00pm to 9.30pm.

Since I obviously don’t have time to review it, I never went to their previous pop up bar (although the photo above is of the Stoneleigh pop up that was in front of Customs House late last year) and my attempt at writing an intellectual and yet sexy feature that connected the public’s interest in pop up bars with the fickle nature of modern society failed miserably, I’ll just stick to the facts:

• There’ll be live music performances and DJs
• Stoneleigh wine (which is from NZ) will obviously be on offer, including their sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, pinot gris and pinot noir

and …

That’s it.

Ok, I suspect I won’t be winning any writing awards for this story …

Stoneleigh pop up bar, Dawes Point Park, The Rocks (near the Park Hyatt Hotel), from Wednesday 20 January to Friday 22 January 2010

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Although the building has some nice art deco touches, from the curved sweep of the bar to the steep circular staircase that two of my friends have actually fallen down on different occasions, there was never anything glamorous about the Century – and this is what I and many others loved. In contrast to the nearby backpacker bars the Century had an authenticity to it, from the offbeat and often emo (not that anyone used that word back then) clientele to the great jukebox.

Then, a number of years ago, they did a renovation, changed the name to Bar Century and the place looked a lot cleaner and more sterile. To be honest I can’t recall many of the finer details, although I do remember an awful lot of pokies – and then the bar shut down. Now, however, Bar Century’s re-opened and with my gay wingman in town for the weekend (he’s also one of the friends who fell down the stairwell) I decide to see what it’s now like.

The biggest change is that a hostel, called World Square Hostel, has opened up in the building with the reception where the second level bar used to be. As such there’s only one bar now and the clientele is, as you guessed it, largely backpackers. It’s good to see that there are also still some eclectic characters there but the overall clientele has definitely changed. The music has mellowed too – as I order some beers, for example, a Michael Jackson song is playing.

What hasn’t changed is the heat: in summer it’s so hot that the GW and I have to wedge ourselves up against a window in an attempt to cool down. We’d like to give the bar owners the benefit of the doubt and say they must have cut the air con to be environmentally friendly, but our top two theories is that they either want to torture the backpackers or make them thirsty enough to keep drinking beer. Admittedly the draught beer here is only $3 a schooner, which is possibly the cheapest beer in Sydney’s CBD (although if anyone knows where you can get cheaper beer, feel free to leave a comment below), but it’s not worth suffering for – even though the view from the windows onto George Street is entertaining.

Overall, I do like Bar Century now more than I did after their second last renovation, and I’ll probably come back (especially when the temperature drops) – but it’s still not the same as it was in its grungy heyday.

Now it’s your turn – how do you rate this bar?
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Bar Century, 640 George Street, Sydney (above Hungry Jacks – entry is on Liverpool Street).

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The event is called Bohome (and on the fliers Betty Boop Boho Nights) and it runs every fortnight. Usually Bar Zine focuses on a bar rather than an event but, even though there are live bands at Tokio from Thursday till Sunday (for example, they have a blues and roots night on Thursdays), it’s Bohome that grabs my attention. What that says about me I don’t know, but let’s leave that to my therapist.

I’m here with the Vicious Vixen, who picked her Bar Zine moniker herself. Normally I don’t condone this behaviour – after all, the whole point of this site is so that I can think of asinine pseudonyms for my friends – but the VV truly is vicious and so it not only suits but I’m too scared to argue.

I am glad she took me to Tokio, however. People are swing dancing and several are decked out in fedoras, suspenders and snappy suits – in fact, barmaids aside, I think the men are actually better dressed than the women for a change.

The headline act is Dirty Lindy, a rockabilly swing ensemble worth checking out, but the supporting acts (John Hardaker Direction, Pom Pom Shizaam and The Fantastic Terrific Munkle) are great – especially considering that entry is free! – and it’s nice to see one of them feature a female flutist who rocks out.

Incidentally, I go back to Tokio a week later to see what it’s like without the burlesque. It’s still a good bar – you’ve got comfortable looking cane chairs (although they always seem to be occupied), retro pendant lights, a good view of the water and a red-lit back alley feel about it (I don’t know what that means either, but I thought it sounded swingin’), but without the fedoras, swing dancing, garter belts and VV (she’s gone back up the coast to terrorize the inhabitants up there) it just doesn’t feel the same.

Tokio Hotel, 1/101 Wheat Road, Cockle Bay Wharf, Darling Harbour. Phone 9266 0600.

Bohome is on every second Friday from 7.30pm – for more information see the Bohome/Betty Boop Boho Nights MySpace page

Tokio’s happy hour is available from Monday to Friday, 5pm to 7pm. $3.50 drinks (Tooheys Extra Dry, glass of bubbly, house wines, house spirits).

Now it’s your turn – how do you rate this bar?
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