Since I Left You

Nice place for a first date. Loved the atmosphere, the plum in a hat drink was real good– tasty, hints of whiskey and choya, and served by an incredibly cute staff. Trio dip was good as well. went on a Friday night, 8.30pm, wasn’t crowded (we got seats immediately) but Super comfortable considering they were nearly at full capacity.

I am giving this place five stars for hygiene & food safety. The Food Authority of NSW awarded them 5 out of 5, on 25/​11/​2014 as part of their scores on doors scheme. (Full list available on the City of Sydney website.)

Recently in Sydney for a concert, and not quite ready to head back to the hotel (read: had a few too many drinks and launched into party mode), we ventured over to Since I Left you on the advice of the Unilocal community. Expecting to have to fight our way through crowds on this Saturday evening, we were surprised to arrive here and find only a couple of tables full. Looks like the lockout laws really are killing Sydney’s bar scene?
The quietness of the evening worked in our favour though, as we received friendly, attentive service from the bar staff, who were happy to make suggestions and check in when we were nearing the end of our beverages. The bar itself is super cool– cosy indoor section, good for small groups or impressing a date, while we took advantage of the outdoor courtyard. I imagine on a busy night this place would go off, but despite being quiet the vibe was still good.
Will definitely be back next time I’m in town.

Let me do this when the vodka and gin talks. I will back it up! Such an awesome tucked away gem. As long as you get a table early in the evening you should be good. Bring on your friends and start the party!

Decent service. Decent drinks. Great atmosphere — but I’m somewhat biased since I absolutely love laneway bars. Would I go again? Most certainly!

11.30pm call last night and a 10.30pm call tonight. How am I going to stay awake for this? What’s this work colleagues? Let’s go for a drink? I probably shouldn’t buuuut ok. Just the one.
And that, kids, is how I lost my job. Just kidding but I definitely underestimated the lure of Since I Left You. This gritty, industrial oasis in the back alleys of Kent Street with its soothing candle light makes even the people you have to stare at all day look attractive.
I started with the daily special cocktail. Strawberries are in season so this week is strawberry week. Can’t remember what it was called but it had brown rum, apricot and caramel liqueur, muddled strawberries and balsamic vinegar and the skinny maroon pants and bowler hat wearing young waiter wasn’t lying when he said it had an amazing depth of flavour.
SILY is my sort of small bar. You can book, food is good — particularly the guacamole and the charcuterie board, the staff are attentive and not afraid to recommend a drink for you. The only thing they could think of investing in is those things you put on top of doors to make them swing shut. The toilets are directly across from what would otherwise be the best table and it ruins the magic somewhat having to stare at that when some thoughtless patron leaves the door open after they’re done.
Despite that, I can definitely see this place becoming a regular haunt but not one I’ll let all my colleagues in on. Just the fun ones.
And as for the 10.30pm call? I was on it. I may have been nodding off, snoring and possibly dribbling, but I was there and that’s all that matters. I hope I was on mute…

Great little city hideaway bar. Lovely alternative to the typical CBD hotel, and they’ve got a nice wine and whisky selection.
Came out here with work peeps and the place was hoppin’ so we grabbed a table in the alley way (not as dodgey as it sounds, promise!) and sipped and chatted until the later hours.
I’d say Since I Left you has a great vibe for smaller or larger groups, and being close to Baxter’s you’ll be saved from the throngs waiting shoulder to shoulder to be served at those more happenin’ joints. I liked the open air but covered alley way, and thought the noise level was reasonable considering the size of the group.
I have to admit I didn’t browse the menu thoroughly but the wine selection was great. The bartender chose a modestly priced Shiraz for me and sent it out with glasses for the group without my asking. I am a sucker for intuitive service!
Making Since I Left You one of my regular spots now, as it’s ideally located for the cheeky Friday night drinks crowd.

Attention dartists, SILY has your swagger covered! So saunter down the alley way and, if it’s nice outside, you are going to partake of table service whilst you enjoy the buzz of the banter from the other tables.
There’s your dartboard… over there… and it comes with rules… so beware:
— 338 countdown
— No drinks in hand
— One thrower at a time (dartist, not thrower, surely?)
— The winner stays on
And the biggie… Throw a dart at anything but the dartboard — Throw yourself out!
Also take note of the candles in a bottle which have been allowed to flow and congeal over previous waxes creating new melting moulds. I used to do this with old liquor bottles. It is the coolest!
The service is friendly, and the inside is a lil snazzy. If you had a date you could bring them here, and if you don’t? come make some new friends :)
They have red Peroni’s, the direct import kind not the stuff brewed in Sydney and passed off as an import. They have cool and friendly staff who’ll approach your table, pep you up, piss you up and then prop you up!

Hidden laneway bar, cool outdoor sit on the stairs if you like kinda décor, hipster bartenders, plus amazing cocktails… All this equals to a recipe for success which this small bar totally is. The vibe is relaxed fun and the music upbeat… I specially like their outdoor seating area, which pretty much feels like you are in a party in someone’s backyard! The place is small and is quiet often booked out for private functions over the weekend, so do check their website beforehand.

Definitely my kind of bar. Tucked in a little alley, you wouldn’t give it a lot of thought, but it’s very different from other bars in the CBD, and you just have to go to find out why. Perfect atmosphere for a date or after work drinks with a friend, order a couple bottles of wine and some nibblies and you’ll be set for a nice evening.

Officially the coolest bar around. Why?
Walk down the alleyway entrance off of Kent street and into the enclosed brick courtyard out back and try to tell me there’s a better place in Sydney. As it’s set back from Kent there isn’t much city noise, and instead you feel like you’re on a friend’s roof or something, with fairy lights suspended above the courtyard while you’re sitting on random milk crates (or if you’re lucky a chair).
It’s just a great atmosphere and the best is that you can actually hear the person next to you unlike most bars these days in Sydney. I’ll be interested to see how they make the space comfortable in the winter as the majority of the bar is outside, but if they bring in heaters and have some blankets like I’m hoping I think you’ll find me glued to a seat every weekend.
I didn’t try any of the cocktails, but the wine was delicious and the staff super friendly.

The last stop for the Unilocal bar event. Quite a dramatic name and logo. The place itself makes me think of being in a bar in a castle somewhere. Staying at the outdoors area makes me feel like I’m not in Sydney. Maybe in Europe, though I’ve never been to Europe, so probs just what I’d imagine Europe to be.
This place gets four stars because of:
— the guacamole. SOOOO addicting. I’ve eaten tons of guac in my lifetime but this one was just sooo addicting.
— the cheese toasties. And they just kept coming! Yummy yummy. How come the cheese toasties I make are never this good? :(

Well they had Cardhu (single malt scotch) so I was lost when I entered the bar. Getting some nods due to their toasted sandwiches (good for a winter night), this place has a good feel to it, a huge back courtyard and a tiny bar. Plus unisex toilets. Gotta love equality. Be interesting to see it in the summer and how they deal with that heat. Very friendly bar service which was great.

Semi-​hidden bar down an alley, with a large room inside and lots of seating space outside in the alley and the back interior courtyard.
Fairly flashy and modern, with a shiny bar and cocktails and beers and a wine list. Service is good. It’s the sort of place that would undoubtedly be so busy as to be impenetrable on a Thursday or Friday night. I was here on a Tuesday and it was fine.
Overall I’d rate this an average 3 stars. It’s nice enough, but is a little too *nice* for me to call it a fave. Those who like a bit more style will like it more.
But what easily bumps it up to 4 stars for me are what I can only assume are *crack-​infused* cheese toasties. Honestly, these are not just sandwiches. They are toasty slabs of gooey goodness, parcels of semi-​liquid dairy gold with smoked beef bullets of bliss. After a couple of drinks you couold not find anything better to munch on. Cut into sandwich soldier slices they lasted about 2.3 seconds each on the tables of our Unilocal Elite event last night. Though at $ 12 each I might be a little more measured if I was splashing out for them myself.

The service here is fantastic; friendly, approachable & fun. When the owner comes out and jokes with the patrons & serves them himself you know you’re on to a good thing.
These people know how to be hosts, nothing is too much trouble, they’re fun and funny as well as very attentive. This will be our new local, it makes you happy to part with your money when a business is run this well.
New York service in Sydney!

Excellent service, brilliant wine list, awesome venue (think lane way, small bar) and all round great vibe.
A regular Friday night hangout for obvious reasons :-)

Very cool pub in the city. Came here on a Friday night and tried to grab a table outside. We had to wait until 530 to sit outside but the staff was really cool about it and told us he’d get us a table.
The cocktails are pretty good, food is tasty and service is top notch. Good happy hour specials.

Since I Left You is definitely on the list of: «Bars I Will Not Attempt to Get Into on a Friday or Saturday Night Because They Are Just Too Damn Busy». Wait, I haven’t written that list yet. But I will! Promise.
People flock here because it’s a great bar, and it combines four excellent features together: historic building, a laneway, a courtyard, and small indoor intimate space.
Basically, it has the works.
The service is generous and accommodating (helping you move around chairs and tables, and moving the heaters closer during winter). The wines are excellent and the lighting is flattering. It’s classy without being snooty.
It’s not like the more «divey» small bars of Redfern and Glebe; this place gets a bit more of an after-​work crowd. Like, I would even take my mother here if she really wanted a drink. But I’d rather not.
Urban legend has it that this bar is only half named after the old Avalanches song. It is also named after a genuine, real break-​up. So the legend says, anyway …

Yeah, so this is my kinda joint.
Makes me feel like I’m in another century, a cross between A) a sly Prohibition-​era booze den where men with pomaded hair and moustaches and vests and hobnail boots glanced at one another slyly from slitted eyes and sipped their drinks with one eye on the front door and one foot out the back, and B), some medieval Three Musketeers-​type inn, where a stinking drunk Gerard Depardieu with a big ridiculous hat with many feathered plumes in it spills wine from a big ol’ pewter goblet and tries to balance three bawdy serving wenches on each knee and fight The Man In The Iron Mask and King Longshanks and The Sheriff of Nottingham.
That may seem evocative and fanciful but once you’ve spent a night in the cobbled sandstone alley leading to the re-​purposed loading dock out back, seen your shadow soar along the low tunnel courtesy of the many clusters of giant, dripping Victorian-​style candles and experienced the attentive service of Messrs Nick, Elvis & co, you’ll see that I’m, like, totally not crazy.

Seems like a very nice after work chillout bar with a nice selection of cocktails (probably the best time to go is on a Monday/​Tuesday).
If you’re into bars like Grasshopper, then you should definitely check this out as it has the same vibe, and on a side note, the minimum spend for credit cards is $ 15 or 1 cocktail, so you get to spend less than grasshopper if you just want one drink.
The food isn’t too bad too, recommended to try the guacamole — which was recommended by one of the bartenders.