The Rum Diaries
Editorial
Much has been made by local reviewers of this place’s successful fusion of bar with dining destination. Few Sydney venues seem able to kick the habit of combining the ease of a bar with the precision demanded in the delivery of good food. Proprietors of The Rum Diaries have got the heady mix right.
The resto-bar concept might be European. The vibe and décor, however, is plucked straight from the Americas.
This place marries the Key West of Hemingway with the East Village of Kerouac. Officiating at the service, of course, is the good Doctor Gonzo. Here, we can find the venerable ghost of Hunter S Thompson on his Caribbean odyssey by way of Woody Creek.
A credible job has been done here to evoke the masculine prose and legend of American literature’s bad boys. Hints of worn down glamour meet railroad motifs. It’s boho and sparse, chic and cluttered all at once. If Hunter had ever taken leave of his beloved Chivas Regal and bothered to try a little interior design, this is how his lounge room may have looked.
The small plates here are good. The US south-eastern style cocktails here are better. The clientele is various and happy and fuelled by a rum list more than ninety labels long.
SM King, Citysearch
User Feedback
Ms
October 23, 2008
I felt unwelcome from the minute I walked in. The wait staff were rude to me to the point of ignoring me. However I found they were delightful to my date when he arrived and then lifted their game when he sat down at the table I was perched at waiting for him.
Fergus Gardiner
April 29, 2010
nice food but the upsale was too much and being over 50 I got the strong feeling that perhaps I shouldn't have been there. We were only there for 30 minutes but will not be back. Our usual eating times are early in the week I would have thought that they would liked punters like us at that time
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