4 Unusual Dining Experiences
It seems everyone’s a foodie these days. While you’re hobnobbing with people who use the terms ‘palate’, ‘red wine reduction’ and observe that “such-and-such region offers excellent charcuterie.” you’re probably just as interested in the venue you’re in and the way the food is presented.
Pull your head out of your behind and have some fun – here are four places where dining is about more than just the food.
Shirt Bar - Sussex Lane, Sydney
Are you here for a tailored shirt or a glass of whiskey? Who cares? The novelty of the venue is what makes it interesting, and they claim they are ‘a concept store focussed on accessible luxury offerings in Shirting, Coffee and Whiskey’. What?!?
Shirt Bar is literally a clothing store within a restaurant - but a nice clothing store in a very nice restaurant. You’ll be served by anyone from a stylist to a barista, and walk away with anything from a custom-fitted shirt to a taste of coffee. This is a small bar with a difference.
Blu Bar on 36
- Cumberland Street, The Rocks
Impress a date. Impress your boss. Impress yourself, even. When you’re – yes, that’s right – 36 levels above The Rocks on top of the beautiful Shangri-La, you can believe you’ve made it! The stunning views - where you can see as far as the Blue Mountains - will have you enjoying your city as well as the fine dining experience.
LL Wine & Dine - Llankelly Place, Potts Point
LL Wine and Dine has gangster written all over it. OK, it doesn’t, but it looks like the secret hideout of Hong Kong kung-fu movie gangsters, or something straight from the set of Underbelly.
There’s more than just the obvious, delicious Asian-inspired dishes (dumplings to share, anyone?). Here, you’ll discover that it was once an adult bookstore (check out the wall full of nudie lady boobies – the wallpaper is made up of images from 70 porn mags) and an illegal gambling den (hydraulic doors and all).
‘LL’ even has a spiral staircase and secret passageway that used to lead out to the store next door or the straight through to the Harbour - perfect for quick getaways.
Sydney Harbour Tall Ships - Wharf 5, Circular Quay
If your fantasy is to stand at the bow of a ship and declare to the world that you are, in fact, King of the World, then congratulations, this dining experience is just for you.
You can choose to sail on the Southern Swan or the Søren Larsen at twilight, through Sydney Harbour, and see it from a different point of view. You’ll get dinner and live music, all on board ships built as early as 1922. If you’re lucky, you might even get to hoist the sails or steer the ship.
Written by Erica Enriquez
