Bar Herbs Brings Bar Planet Energy (and Cosmopolitans) to the CBD

A “Negroni traffic light” led the way to Herbs Taverne, when it opened in May. A classic red serve of the bitter Italian cocktail was joined by a golden tropical riff and herbaceous green pour. But the latest bar from Mucho – the team behind the internationally renowned Cantina OK, Enmore’s Bar Planet, the CBD’s Centro 86 and more – is no longer. Meet Bar Herbs, a Martini bar on Clarence Street.

The move is another pivot for Sydney’s hospo scene in 2025. Neil Perry just quick-changed Next Door into Cafe Margaret after Song Bird made way for Gran Torino. Vin-Cenzo’s takes the Bar Vincent space into its next era. On Australia Street, Joe’s Tavern makes a moodier, meatier resident for the Flora space. Reports so far say these changes have proved successful. Herbs is the first notable bar to try the tactic.

“Every time we open a venue, there’s definitely a process of tweaking it about six months in,” Mucho general manager Daisy Tulley says. “The last example was Centro, around the same time. We were like, ‘what’s working, what’s not working? Like, what are people enjoying? What can we do better?’”

The change was relatively small: it wasn’t a tequila bar, it was a Margarita bar. “It was just that one line: ‘Welcome to Centro 86, we’re a Margarita bar’. That change was led by staff. I checked in about how people were reacting [to ‘tequila bar’], and it was 50/50 ‘yuck’ and ‘yum’. That one change changed that first reaction for nearly everyone. It’s interesting – leading with ‘tequila bar’ [equals] that initial memory of being sloshed as a teenager, whereas a Margarita? Everyone’s like ‘yum!’”

Herbs Taverne’s first six months proved the Negroni was not as approachable – read: fizzy and fruity – as a Margarita. And it hasn’t had the same cut-through as the Martini, which has been the star of the drinks scene for years now.

“It was the same 50/50 yuck or yum when guests were greeted [at Herbs],” Tulley says. “I was like, ‘well, we can do better than that’. And give people what they actually want. It’s a bit harder, I suppose, than a flip from tequila to Margarita. Like, where do you go from the Negroni?”

Co-owner and creative director Jeremy Blackmore tested a theory, adding an Appletini to the Taverne menu as a special. They sold just as many as they did Negronis. They knew what the people wanted.

Mucho is known for its Martinis. Specifically those at the forever-heaving Bar Planet on Enmore Road. “But what else are we saying in Martini-land?” says Tulley. “What is the difference between Bar Planet and Herbs?”

Herbs is sexier. There’s a Cosmopolitan, New York Martini, Gibson, Gimlet and a frothy caffeinated ‘tini. “If Bar Planet was Brooklyn, Herbs is Manhattan. It’s a bit more Sex and the City. We want to do fun, fruity, classic Martinis.”

The space is largely unchanged: disco ball, retro metal blinds, black-and-red chequerboards on the ceiling and underfoot, trippy mirrors by Steady Hand Studio and a skinny little counter wrapping around the entire venue – so there’s always somewhere to rest your drink.

The mirrors have been painted, though, and the playlist’s jazzier, funkier, more soulful. The seating’s improved and the uniforms are more sophisticated (smocks switched for black button-ups and ties). “Taverne” is now “Bar”, and the Mucho trademark tear-pad menus are newly designed. The cheesy popcorn’s sticking around.

Still, you can order a Negroni – and a “shitload” of amari. “I feel like we could keep [Herbs] as is, let it build up,” Tulley says. “And it would. On Saturday night, we were full. But I can’t get over the fact of people going, ‘I really don’t like Negronis’. That doesn’t bring me joy.”

Mucho is responsible for a distinct clutch of bars that contribute significant heft to Sydney’s drinking scene. The team knows what it’s doing. And, just like Herbs Taverne, Bar Herbs is a divey small bar with a certain va-va-voom, ready to pour your ideal Martini. Or a Negroni, just ask your bartender.