Kubrick's (CLOSED)

[CLOSED] Named for legendary director Stanley Kubrick (it’s on Stanley Street, geddit?) Darlinghurst’s newest little bar joins the likes of Sagra and the Hazy Rose in revitalising this patch of the deep dark east.

You’re in good hands on the drinks front. The crew sling tall cocktails like the icy, bitter and herbaceous Kubrick Fizz (Aperol, rosemary syrup and gin topped with ginger beer) as well as Anchor Brewing Company’s full-bodied Liberty ale and glasses of Si Vintner’s semillon/chardonnay. A piece of green Perspex attached to the wall above the bar displays a short food menu offering meat and cheese boards, sandwiches (today it’s wagyu bresaola) and a salad caprese. Generally speaking, though, if we can't pick it up with our hands we don't really want to eat it in a bar setting.

It's a pretty fit-out of simple, clean geometric patterns and wall sculptures. Charcoal and cream tiles create a border around the bar, along with comfy bar stools. Outside in a giant chandelier drips down, lighting little tables and chairs like a Marie Antoinette-inspired beer garden. Bare globes light the rest of the space.

Your experience at the bar really depends on your tolerance for the throbbing deep house of Nicholas Jaar and the dubby jams of Fat Freddy’s Drop. It’s not really the type of music we like to do our drinking to, but it works with the cool, studied interiors. And the fact it’s a vinyl-only bar is cool in-and-of-itself.

Kubrick’s is definitely marching to the beat of its own drum. Would it become a local for us? Maybe not. But there’s friendly service and if you’ve got a penchant for tall drinks and eclectic tunes, it may well be your new favourite haunt. You know what they say about all work and no play…