Capital cocktails

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This was published 10 years ago

Capital cocktails

Just a quick one? Soju Girl.

Just a quick one? Soju Girl.Credit: Rohan Thomson

Canberra, trendy? Tim Richards will drink to that.

'In victory you deserve champagne; in defeat, you need it." When the great Napoleon Bonaparte uttered this line, it was unlikely he was thinking of Australian politics. But anyone observing the machinations within our national capital over the last three years would recognise its truth.

Which is possibly why it's painted boldly across a wall at Soju Girl, a bar in Canberra's city centre across the lake from Parliament House. There's no record of former prime minister Julia Gillard coming here for a consolatory cocktail after losing the top job, but Soju Bubble Tea would be the cocktail of choice to put that "to hell with it all" smile on the ex-PM's face.

It combines the distilled Korean rice beverage soju with green tea, aloe juice and passionfruit, served with passionfruit jelly balls. Yes, jelly balls. It's that kind of bar, serving cocktails that defy the drinker to take oneself too seriously. The barman rolls his eyes a little when describing the most popular, the Midori-based Soju Girl, but I like the lively cross-pollination of Asian ingredients and Western cocktail styles on the menu.

This creativity is an antidote to the stereotype of Canberra as a dull place after dark and a hallmark of the capital's newly awakened small bar scene.

Over the past year or so, small bars have taken off in the Canberra CBD. There have long been nightclubs and restaurants in the warren of commercial buildings scattered among government offices, but now there's a critical mass of compact places to drink, each with its own personality. While sipping an excellent Concubine (soju, plum liqueur, house-made ginger syrup and fresh lime, $16), I can see that Soju Girl symbolises this change.

SOJU GIRL

It's a sleek, modern space with vibrant art on the walls, inside one of the capital's first structures - the venerable 1927 Melbourne Building.

I spot another quote inscribed there, this time from Graham Greene's The Quiet American: "They say whatever you're looking for, you will find here." These words could describe the bar's food menu, its sharing plates influenced by the cuisines of south-east Asia, Japan and Korea.

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I order the spring rolls of the day ($14), long diagonally cut tubes filled with spicy chicken sitting on a light peanut sauce, topped with bean sprouts and mint. The flavours, thankfully, are more than a match for the charms of the Concubine.

Soju Girl, 41/43 Northbourne Avenue, 02 6257 5328, sojugirl.com.au

KREMLIN

Down the road is Kremlin, perhaps an oblique reference to the grim institutional excesses of national politics. This bar once contained a gimmicky collection of Soviet-era symbols, but in 2012 it had a major makeover and won the best cocktail bar gong in the local Australian Hotel Association awards.

There's a lot of class to the remodelled interior, an elegant collection of vintage-design wallpaper, leather couches and stools with floral upholstery.

There are tapas dishes on the menu but the focus here is on cocktail creation, ranging from the classics to quirky in-house numbers such as the Suffering Bastard (brandy, gin, bitters, lime, sugar and ginger beer, $17). It's labelled "A hard day's drink".

One for public servants after the annual performance review, perhaps?

Kremlin, 65 Northbourne Avenue, 02 6257 7779, kremlinbar.com.au.

PLAYGROUND

The nondescript collection of shops along pedestrian Garema Place has always looked a little tatty. But time has finally granted the laneway the sort of big-city grit usually hard to find in Canberra. It's become a small bar hub.

The most colourful of the new additions is Playground. The decor matches the name and there are vividly colourful stools in the shape of tumblers scattered across the interior. There's more playfulness in the stripped-back brick wall with a lush green vine arcing across it, and the thick ropes hanging above patrons' heads between industrial-sized bulbs.

The drinks list focuses on martinis, all $15. Co-owner Nino Arena tells me one of the most popular is the Peach Monkey Bar (vodka, strawberries, peche du verger, Cointreau), but my eye is caught by the Earl Grey martini with tea-infused gin, lemon, egg white and vanilla.

Playground, 25 Garema Place, 02 6262 7171, playgroundbar.com.au.

SHORTY'S

A busy casual bar, Shorty's has a split-level interior with a cosy mezzanine of stools and banquettes, and a lower section with scuffed timber tables and exposed floorboards.

It's a casual, dressed-down kind of place, but with a touch of retro sophistication - think soda syphons as decor.

Wine is the highlight here, the list covering the range of Australian wineries, plus the odd Kiwi or European drop. Food is pub-style, though it extends to more imaginative dishes such as the house-cured duck prosciutto salad with asparagus, parmesan and champagne dressing ($19).

Shorty's, 29 Garema Place, 02 6257 9035, shortysbar.com.au.

HONKYTONKS

It's been a big night in the nation's capital, so I'm looking for somewhere to wind down.

With its dimly lit, cosy interior, Honkytonks is the answer. Groups of friends cluster at tables, chatting with wine in hand, in yet another Garema Place shopfront rescued from mundanity.

A chandelier and pot plants hang from the ceiling, there's a giant painting of a butterfly and bees along one wall, and the vibe is mellow. Beer and spirits are accompanied by an eclectic wine list including whites from Europe and reds from South America. Food is limited to hot dogs, corn chips and tacos, the latter $5 each.

I order the ceviche Mexicano taco: white fish, lime, coriander, chilli, tomato and avocado. If politics is the art of the possible, this is the art of the delicious.

Honkytonks, 17 Garema Place, 02 6262 6968, drinkhonkytonks.com.au.

The writer was the guest of the Mantra on Northbourne.

TRIP NOTES

GETTING THERE

Canberra is a three-hour drive from Sydney. Qantas operates regular flights to Canberra from Sydney and Melbourne. See qantas.com.au, phone 13 13 13.

CountryLink operates trains to Canberra from Sydney ($80). See countrylink.info, phone 13 22 32.

STAYING THERE

The centrally located Mantra on Northbourne apartment hotel has doubles from $209 a night, 84 Northbourne Avenue, Canberra. See mantra.com.au, phone 02 6243 2500.

MORE INFORMATION

visitcanberra.com.au

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