When you can't get across the impressive girth of this country, the West Australian craft beers will come to you, care of the Atomic Beer Project, an airy new industrial brewery bar in Redfern. Atomic beers are brewed by Gage Roads Brewing, but soon their Atomic Pale Ale, XPA and IPA will be brewed in small batches inside their Sydney microbrewery, alongside seasonal and experimental brews. Wine might not pair well with spicy food, but beer sure does – which is why the kitchen here, led by Jordan McLeod (ex-Longrain Tokyo) is taking inspiration from across South East Asia for its bar menu. There's a bougie riff on a banh mi where they fill a croissant with porter-braised beef cheek, coriander, shallots and fermented chilli. They're also serving grilled tiger prawns on sticks, covered in green curry butter. It's a beer bar, so a steak on the menu is expected, but here your sirloin comes with coriander and green chilli chimichurri. Don't eat meat? A yellow curry comes packed with roast cauliflower, Thai eggplant and snake beans.
If you do your best work with a pint in your hand, they have even built in a co-working space on the second floor (it's the dining space come nightfall), which features unlimited
WiFi and bookable tables with USB and power sockets. Worried beer might not be the best motivator? They have coffee too. But come knock-off, that first after-work drink is seconds away and as fresh as it gets.