Pubs & Bars: Café Lounge (277 Goulburn St. Darlinghurst).

Nestled sweetly away from Oxford St. lies one of the most scandalously chilled-out bars in Sydney. It’s hidden from the hustle and bustle of the Oxford strip, bypassing all the posing and insanely tight shirts, and getting straight to the core of what you really want: a place to relax and unwind.

As you walk in to Café Lounge, you’re greeted by a bright red and yellow mural depicting palm trees. And yet it’s not kitschy or lame. It’s just cool. This mural looks down upon heaps of comfy seats located outdoors. Heating is provided for those who adore drinking al fresco (and fuck, who doesn’t?). Indoors provides the same level of comfort sans smoking and weather fluctuations.

Surprisingly for such a cool place, the crowd tends to err towards the awesome as opposed to the pretentiously wanktastical. You won’t see many trucker caps here – just nice dudes and tigers talking about the arts, music and culture. It's like the backyard of your dreams.

I was hesitant to review the place simply because I don’t really want people to know how fantastic it is. And yet, despite my elitist apprehensions, I feel a duty to inform the readers of The Brag that Café Lounge represents a high-water mark in Sydneybars. Whilst Water Bar takes the up-market prize, Café represents fulfilment of the potential that chilled-out bars have. Other chill-out bars aspire solely to garnering the support of Von Dutch-sporting spastics, but Café Lounge just wants people who want to be taken away from the oft-oppressive realities of our capitalist existence. Café Lounge yearns for people who just want to relax with their mates and take in the world. And every night of the week, Café Lounge gives these people a beautiful venue to do it.

(Originally published in The Brag as part of the Under The Bar column).