Four New (or Soon-To-Open) Bars Prove Why Enmore Is Sydney’s Most Exciting Place To Drink

We could debate this hotly, but my stance is steadfast: Enmore Road is Sydney’s hottest stretch to drink on. Bar Planet , The Midnight Special , Famelia , Fortunate Son and The Magpie all halo the Enmore Theatre. And if you do want to venture, Odd Culture , drink-in bottle-o Spon , Earl’s Juke Joint and Continental Deli are all pouring nearby. And more than a few pubs.

The fact that there’s space for any more bars, let alone four, to move in is impressive – and the calibre is spectacular. Find a time to drink, stat.

Silver’s Motel

Silver’s Motel launched softly last week , ahead of this week’s grand opening. It’s the second bar for Michael Chiem, from the CBD’s Hot-Listed PS40 , and the first for his new partner Tynan Sidhu. The brief? “[We’re] playing on the mystery of Australian motels from the mid-1970s and early ’80s,” Sidhu says.

The pair did the fit-out themselves, wrapping it in walnut-toned laminate panelling, with antique lampshades and textured carpet – imagine how the nicest motel in the country might have looked on the day it opened.

Silver’s has been in the works for three years, but Sidhu’s had it on his mind for a decade – he’s more than ready to share his whopping collection of rare whiskies. There’ll be Chiem’s cocktail wizardry, too, including a whole section of Whisky Sour-inspired drinks.

Silver’s Motel officially opens on Thursday July 31.

Bar Demo

This teeny boozer quietly scooched onto the street a few months ago , and was quick to keep up with its heavy-hitting neighbours. Two Double Deuce bartenders – Claudia “Beryl” Morgan and Olly Churcher – are behind it, so you know the calibre of cocktail we’re working with here. Order The Full Bush. The first time I did, it arrived and I snorted: “Oh, I get it.” An impressive bush of flame-red silgochu (threads of Korean dried chillies) crowns a warm bourbon short pour, making a compelling case for going au naturel.

But Demo is labelled as a wine bar. The duo clearly have cocktails down pat, so they put their considerable energy and enthusiasm into the drops as a challenge. Time spent on the floor in wine-focused restaurants ( Bentley , Cafe Paci , Bar Louise ), plus drinking a “shitload of wine” to find things they liked, has resulted in a natural-leaning 12-glass list, available in small or large pours.

Demo also just debuted its monthly snack takeovers, where chefs are invited in for a Sunday session. First up was Cafe Paci’s Pasi Petänen , who delivered a chicken-liver Paris-Brest, a zingy oeufs mayonnaise, hand-cut chippies and more.

Deadwax

It was a sad day when we heard Enmore Country Club was pouring its final Cherry Colas. And we’ve kept an eye on the space ever since. This week, it enters its next era: Deadwax, a red-lit vinyl-spinning cocktail bar from Conor O’Brien and Dan Teh (of Otis in Leichhardt) and Davyd Blacksmith (ex- Nola Smokehouse ).

Blacksmith will lead the food. Think snacks with a Japanese bent (like edamame dressed in ginger butter and gochujang and fancy yuzu-ranch-topped Pringles), taramasalata crumpets and flash sangas. It’s all primed for drinks that range from a house yuzu spritz and classic highballs to Midori-green Honeydew Highs and ponzu-and-whisky numbers. Plus, funky takes on old standbys like a miso-powered Old Fashioned and sesame-crowned house Martini.

Like a mullet, it’s party time out the back: a 12-person karaoke room awaits.

Deadwax opens at 182 Enmore Road, Enmore, on Friday August 1.

Vineria Luisa

You could argue the newest venue from the Pavonis , the couple behind the heritage-listed Marie-Louise Salon facade, is more restaurant than bar. Maybe that’s true upstairs, in the art-filled dining room awash in creams and greens. But downstairs, it’s proper bar territory. Snag a seat on a frilly stool, order a goblet of G&T and don’t sleep on the suppli al telefono. It’s prime drinking food: two golden eggs of fried cacio e pepe risotto – with a core of melty cheese – stretch telephone-cord-style when split.

The 70-seater opened last week with a lengthy list that includes a five-part G&T section – featuring two house Luisa spirits – available as a standard 30-mil “Aussie shot” or a 50-mil “Italian nip”. More than 50 gins follow, separated by flavour profiles. Each is available with a classic match (Long Rays Australian tonic) or its perfect match – which could mean Strangelove’s No 8, Long Rays citrusy tonic, Tassoni’s superfine or a rhubarb and smashed mandarin tonic.

From the tight cocktail list, the umami-packed Olive You Tomato stars gin infused in turmeric olive oil and tomato cordial. Bottles for that night’s by-the-glass wine list are scrawled on the dining room’s blackboard. But if you’re looking for a different drop, just ask and the team might open something special.

Additional reporting by Callum McDermott.