Concrete Playground

With its blacked-out windows and lack of signage, Harlem on Central is not Manly's most easily-found nightspot, but it's certainly the area's coolest. The bar is a tiny high-class hideaway with a Prohibition theme running consistently through the drinks, decor and service.

Upon gaining entry to this exclusive-feeling bar, you're seated on a velvet chaise lounge or in crocodile-skin armchair delicately balanced on a cowhide rug. Excellent table service delivers strong, tasty and beautiful-looking cocktails made from an array of exotic-seeming spirits that will baffle even the most dedicated boozehound.

The food is more familiar than the drinks, but just as good. Harlem On Central take on fast food classics like burgers and fries, and makes them its own with unexpected combinations of blue cheese, truffle dipping sauce and jalapeno jam.

Low lighting, cool jazz beats and small tables for two render Harlem On Central a great place for a date, particularly if you're dating someone who likes the finer things in life. Conversely, it is not the venue for you and your fifteen drunk pals after being kicked out of another licensed establishment. In fact, groups of six or more are not welcome without bookings. This is a seriously intimate venue, one that easily conjures up images of shady Mafia-boss types doing deals in the back booths, or fortunes made and lost.