Concrete Playground

The thing about Redfern is, although it has a reputation as being the ‘next big suburb’, there’s also not a lot there yet. Enter Dry Land Bar, the first small bar to open in Redfern. It possesses the kind of local, relaxed atmosphere that would make you seriously consider moving (unless of course you already live close by, in which case accept my jealous commendations).

The lovely thing about Dry Land Bar is that they really know what they’re doing, bringing together folk who’ve done stints in Love, Tilly Devine and Grasshopper. On top of this, they serve the kind of drinks that cause me to do a kind of happy-wiggle dance in my chair and the best food I’ve had at any small bar in Sydney. It’s technically bar food, but I’d be quite happy to come here for dinner once a week: try the Mushroom, Jerusalem Artichoke and Fennel Tart or the Gruyere Cheeseburger. And if you’re in any way fond of after-dinner treats, the Chocolate Mousse with Poached Pear is enough to cause a very indelicate scramble for spoons.

The drinks are also good, but perhaps not quite as remarkable as the food. The wine list is approachable - meaning you won’t have to choose from an intimidating menu of 300, simply a little flier of about 20, which makes you less on edge and therefore receptive to even more wine. They also encourage you to buy bottles, not glasses, so they’re telling you right there they want you to stick around for a while. The cocktail list is equally relaxed, there’s a list of suggestions but everything is open to discussion. I’d recommend both the Charlie Chaplin and the Hemingway.

The music policy is strictly vinyl-only, with a good stack of records on hand and some quite voluble blues pumped out into the atmosphere. On a Friday night is was packed, but even then it wasn’t noisy enough that you couldn’t carry on a conversation.

At the end of the day this place is a proper bar, like the ones you see in the pictures. You can sit at the bar and have a chat with as stranger about what you’re doing on the weekend, spy on couples out on awkward dates or just hang out with good company, without ever feeling like you’re under pressure to clear out.