Hinky Dinks – Darlinghurst
Jeremy Shipley and Dan Knight, after keeping a joint watch over the cocktail list at Longrain, have opened a window to the booze-laden 1950′s in the guise of their new bar; Hinky Dinks on Darlinghurst Road. These two have formed their careers out of their love for the perfectly formed cocktail, and the drinks list at Hinky Dinks shows off their strengths. The Gypsy Blood, a tall mix of Amaro, fresh lime, in-house pineapple syrup, peach bitters and grapefruit soda is a zesty fruit-bomb, and we loved the Hinky Fizz with in-house strawberry & prosecco sorbet, Bombay Sapphire, elderflower liqueur, peach bitters & grapefruit fizz.
It’s a li’ll bit milk bar, a li’ll bit soda shop, a li’ll bit New York late-night lounge. Half the walls are stripped back to expose the raw bricks, hung with those brightly coloured posters of men in suits grinning madly and holding a neat whisky. The bar area is dipped in a pastel green with red cusioned bar stools, perfect for sitting on while sipping something well-muddled.
We seriously dug the eats. Why toast a sandwich when you can fry it, right? The pan-fried parmesan and olive sandwich ($9) was salty as all hell and the perfect foil to the sweeter end of the cocktails. There’s a range of crostini topped with white anchovy, parsley & Spanish onion ($7), heirloom tomatoes, basil & goat’s cheese ($8), or jamón serano, pear & roquette ($9) next to a couple of light salads and snacky things.
If you’re a little more hungry and you need to soak up the Zombie cocktail you’ve just downed (Silver, aged & OP rums, Luxardo, cinnamon syrup, fresh lime, passionfruit, grapefruit juice & an absinthe flame) before you embark on the next one (only two allowed per person!) you’d be well advised to try the crisp polenta with roast tomato & salsa verde ($20), or the chicken braised with white wine, tomatoes, olives & calvolo nero ($22) before you stumble out the door, drunk yet extremely happy.
Hinky Dinks
185 Darlinghurst Rd, Darlinghurst
www.hinkydinks.com.au
(02) 8084 6379
Open: Wednesday-Sunday from 5pm
Sophie McComas