Bars, Restaurants — February 14, 2011 4:05 pm

The Passage, Darlinghurst

Posted by Alexandra Back

Find yourself here on a Friday or Saturday night and you’ll be all cozied up around communal tables and the long banquettes with Sydney’s young professionals mingling all around you. The DJs are great and the cocktails even better. Note carefully the negroni ($15) at the top of the list (rightfully so), followed by the house favourite rhubarb & almond sour ($17), a creative mix of Bacardi 8 and the Frenchie flavour of Dubbonet. The creamy espresso martini($17), served in a coffee cup can double as an afternoon coffee and evening cocktail like it’s nobody’s business.

Better yet, wander down on any other night (Sundays, Mondays…) or a weekend morning, and you’ll be treated to the inexplicably rare Sydney experience of attentive and hospitable staff who actually want you to be there, an eclectic though commendable track list at a perfectly non‐intrusive volume, and a bar menu that includes the humble hot chip ($10), eschewing tradition by frying in the decadence of truffle oil. The menu is tapas style made for sharing so do not be afraid to order what you really want, whether it be a spicy meatball ‘toastie’ with fennel salsa ($15) or a bowl of fried school prawns topped with aioli ($11).

The space reminds me of being back at school at someone’s house party- where the place is so packed that you would find yourself drifting to various rooms and lingering in the corridor. It was here you found yourself at the end of the night, sitting with a bunch of the coolest people conversing happily over wine and music. The host was there of course. That’s pretty much The Passage. But I think you’ll find it better stocked and staffed than your average corridor.