3 Mums out on the town without their kids in Sydney, but perhaps not so strangely, with a bag full of Bluey toys, find some hidden bars in Sydney
This guide to Sydney's hidden bars is written from the perspective of 3 Mums travelling to Sydney for 6 days to exhibit the Getting Lost Games at a trade show (how cool is that!).
Being busy with trade shows all day night time is the time that we get to explore Sydney and all it has to offer and we were determined not to waste a second of it.
For my sister with a 5 year old Sydney is also the place to stock up on Bluey toys for birthday presents so when we arrived at our first stop for the evening - Sydney restaurant Chin Chin, she also arrived with 3 bags full of Bluey toys.
Chin Chin is loud, vibrant and spicy with neon bunnies everywhere.
After a great dinner (and a few wines) we wanted to find somewhere we wouldn’t find at home and definitely somewhere we wouldn’t bring the kids to.
We’d heard about Old Mates. The directions - through a Green door that caused Alice to ask “are you sure it’s there?” We followed some hip looking young people (almost young enough to be my children) to an elevator that definitely didn’t look like it led anywhere good.
Once up the top the only sign that anything was there was a rather bemused looking bouncer and a small sign above the nondescript door. We were let in before our younger friends who got stopped for ID. At least there are some benefits of age!
Once inside the room opened out to a dark, moody, speak easy type space with chandeliers and a winding staircase.
Of course we had to explore the staircase and found ourselves on an intimate (seats maybe 15 people) rooftop bar. It was slightly hard to manouver with the overflowing Bluey bags as Jo banged a few of the Sydneysider 20 somethings as we made our way through. Once seated with an extensive cocktail menu the hardest thing was deciding what to choose!
When the rooftop bar closed at 10 (it was Sunday night and way too late for Bluey to be out) we headed downstairs. We couldn’t resist ordering the hidden pina colada which did in fact come hidden in a hip flask inside a book.
Approaching midnight we were ready to leave but as we were leaving we were chatting to the bouncer about how cool it all was and he said “then you really should stop by Old Loves” Just on the ground floor and instead of leaving go down the corridor and through the door”. Who can resist an invitation that cryptic and interesting.
So there we were on a Sunday night (or is it Monday morning by this stage) at Old Loves. Another hidden dimly lit Sydney bar with a great cocktail bar. Bluey toys stashed under our seats.
We got chatting to our waitress who gave us a list of all the other hidden Sydney bars we should check out but it was way past our bed time by this point (but they are all here for you to check out). And maybe next time we'll check them out - you'll see us coming with our bag full of Bluey swag!
