Foveaux Restaurant + Bar – Surry Hills
There’s something about going to an underground or basement bar that adds a frisson to the night. Ok, using the word frisson makes me sound like a wanker, but you know what I mean – perhaps it’s childish, but it somehow seems more special when it’s subterranean. This partly explains why I like the Foveaux, a bar located underneath the Foveaux restaurant on, you guessed it, Surry Hill’s Foveaux Street – and the fact I like saying “Foveaux”, much as Seinfeld once said that people order salsa simply because of how it sounds, no doubt adds to the the experience.
Thanks to its sandstone walls, dark candle-lit ambience, the jazz and samba on the sound system and its various nooks and crannies, some of which can be curtained off from the rest of the room, this is one of my favourite places to take a date (even though none of my dates here ever worked out – but I blame that more on myself than the locale). Then again, perhaps they got sick of hearing me repeatedly say “Foveaux”.
Tonight, however, I end up with one of my wingmen instead, who orders a glass of red wine (the Cheviot Bridge for $9) while I opt for the Brandy Crusta cocktail ($17). According to the menu, which lists snippets of information underneath each drink, the Brandy Crusta was created in New Orleans in 1852 and contains cognac, triple sec, lemon juice, maraschino liqueur and angostura bitters with a sugar rim.
I’ve never had this drink before and I like it – but it doesn’t wow me, perhaps because the flavour of the cognac doesn’t quite do it for me when mixed with the other ingredients. Having said that, I would like to try it again.
Instead, however, I then order the Moscow Mule ($17), made with Belvedere Pure vodka, a wedge of fresh lime and Foveaux’s homemade ginger beer, which gives it a great flavour and a strong ginger kick. I also have to give the bar credit for serving it in a copper mug, which is what a mule ought to be drunk in according to tradition. The mug alone stops this from being an elegant cocktail but it’s certainly refreshing on a hot night.
Although the restaurant is upstairs you can order food in the bar, with some of the options a little more obtuse than your average bar menu, such as the salt cod and white bean brandade sandwiches for $12 or the ceviche of kingfish with crab icecream for $14. We end up with the $20 cheese plate (served with toasted walnut bread), which has a good selection of cheeses. If my mojo ever rises and I do take a date here, however, I might just try the oysters (with red wine vinegar pearls and salmon roe) instead.
Now it’s your turn – how do you rate this bar?
(2 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
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Foveaux Restaurant and Bar is open Tuesday to Saturday (the restaurant from 6.00pm til late, the bar from 5:00pm til late) and for Friday lunch (midday until 3.00pm). 65-67 Foveaux Street, Surry Hills, phone 9211 0664 or see the Foveaux website
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