✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
There’s a site that Dave Spanton used to walk past every day in Kings Cross. If you were once partial to a liquor-filled teapot, you’ve probably walked past it, too, as the space is located just up the road from where World Bar used to thump. Inside is anchored by a horseshoe bar and, one day while walking past, Spanton stopped. He pictured himself sitting at that same bar, watching fresh oysters being shucked to order, drinking a Guinness, with old-school music playing in the background. The rest, as they say in the world of clichés, is history.
The Hook, an oyster, piano and cocktail bar, opened in May this year, and it’s the third venture by Spanton and his partner Amy. They’re also behind the very tiny Piccolo Bar and European wine haunt Vermuteria (a nominee for Time Out’s Best Wine Bar Award 2023). Our green coaster shows the three spots on a map – a Bermuda Triangle of bars – which are all within walking distance of each other. Spanton is also the founder and publisher of Australian Bartender magazine, which is now in its 25th year. This is all to say there are two things he knows well: excellent booze and how to create a rocking space.
The space really does rock. Which is also thanks to Spanton’s long-time collaborator and friend Mike Delany, who he once again teamed up with to bring his vision – an oyster bar inspired by the ones found in San Francisco and New Orleans – to life. Just like its siblings, The Hook is neon-lit and sexy, with red-velvet curtains, dark wooden furniture, green walls, retro art and a shiny black piano. It’s also very Pirates of the Caribbean – with twisted rope, lifebuoys on the walls, oyster shells and a giant marlin. And right now, it’s looking like the kind of place to while away a chilly night, so we pull out a stool and get stuck into doing exactly that.
The cocktail menu is tight with the classics, so I begin with The Hook Martini. It arrives ice-cold in a chilled glass and served with a cocktail onion that reminds me of scoffing them as a kid at my mum’s dinner parties. The base is Never Never Oyster Shell Gin, which imbues a slight salinity. It’s subtle and lovely, more a gentle tap than a punch.
View this post on Instagram
It’s an oyster bar, so of course we order oysters. You can opt to have them served naturally with lemon and mignonette, with a virgin Bloody Mary hot sauce, or with Laphroaig aged whisky. Or you can choose to step back into the ’80s and go for retro grilled oysters served Kilpatrick, Mornay or Rockefeller, among others. On the weekend, the team shucks the fresh oysters right in front of you, but tonight it’s going down in the kitchen. We go for the half-and-half, Kilpatrick and Rockefeller, and also the smashed cheeseburger and a wedge salad. Elsewhere on the menu there are crisps, nuts, olives, a hot dog, a vego burger, and a plate of Penny’s cheeses. I.e.: salty, fatty snacks that pair well with adult drinks.
The burger comes out first. I would have liked to start with the oysters, but it’s hard to dwell when you’ve got a burger in front of you on a soft milk bun alongside a mountain of golden shoestring fries. I take a bite and it tastes like a Macca's cheeseburger but better, though the patty doesn’t have that caramelised lace that smashed burgers are loved for. Still, it does the trick, and the fries are seasoned well. A wedge of iceberg lettuce is coated in a creamy dressing with bits of fried salty bacon. It’s crunchy, cool and yum.
Our Rockefellers, which come topped with buttery toasted bread crumbs, are fine (and better with a lift from lemon), but I prefer the Kilpatrick, which amps up the flavour dial with crisp bacon, sharp Worcestershire sauce and spice from Tabasco. (Hot tip: oysters are half-price from 5 to 7pm daily.)
By this point, the place is mostly packed, the lights are low, Frank Sinatra’s ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ is playing overhead, and I’m now onto a Bloody Mary, which gets a good kick of heat from Tabasco, though a dash more Worcestershire would be welcome. Our barman asks if my date wants to keep his drink in the fridge until he has finished his current one, and that’s great service. After that, we finish with a cracking Negroni, and I find myself wishing it wasn’t a Wednesday.
There’s no doubt about it: Spanton and his team have true vision and a knack for creating a hit.
There’s still opportunity for this place to develop. For one, we don’t find out what oysters we’re eating until I see a sign on my way out, so I reckon there’s room for more mollusc theatrics, even on a dreary school night. And I’m keen to come back on Friday and Saturday night and see the live-shucking and the pianist in action. But there’s no doubt about it: Spanton and his team have true vision and a knack for creating a hit. And I believe Kings Cross and Sydney are far better places today because of what they’ve created.
So, am I hooked? You bet I am. Hook, line and sinker.
Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, food & drink inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox.