Longrain Bunker Bar

Waiting for the restaurant upstairs, fortunately had great company, typical pretentious cocktail bar, very slow service, and over priced. Would be much better as a champagne bar, particularly as the majority of people were going to eat upstairs, which is Thai food, so heavy cocktails don’t make a lot of sense.

If it weren’t for Bunker Bar I would have stood in a line for over 2 hours waiting for a table. I’ll take sitting and drinking over standing and not drinking any day.
Sure, the cocktails are expensive, but that’s what they charge in Australia. Great selection — I’m huge on spicy cocktails, and Bunker Bar had a few for me to choose from. Service was slow, but with a bar packed full of people ordering cocktails, I wasn’t expecting anything else — hell, I was thrilled we got table service!
Overall: great atmosphere, delicious cocktails, friendly helpful staff and a great start to our night out.

I like Bunker Bar. I spent 2+ hours there with my group waiting for a table upstairs. It was loud and crowded but super friendly bar guy helped scope out a booth which saved us from slumming it on stools in the corridor.
The cocktails are fruity and/​or spicy and delicious although pretty slow to get to our table. I think that is more by virtue of the business of the night rather than slowness of the staff. I always appreciate complimentary snacks but I would have appreciated another round of pork scratchings due to the length of time we were there. Hazards of being a walk in on a Saturday night I guess

Suits and cocktails and cocktails and suits.
Friday night this place is teeming with creative types and agency kids and if you jut happen to be working away on your screenplay in one corner and a TV producer sits down next to you well you’re practically obligated to pitch the idea to him while he hits on the little blonde thing across from you both, right?
Tain’t the cheapest place in the world — the least spendy beer will run you a cool $ 9, best value is to go for the large Tiger (the only beer on tap) at nine fiddy — but if you’re all up in the ad biz then chances are you’ve got some black plastic behind the bar and a giant hangover calling your name.
Fridays sure are fun though, age range is 25 – 35 and it gets pretty loose, punch through a few drinks in the booth seating then hit the floor for some meet’n’greet.

Good food. Upbeat atmosphere. Well stocked wine list. Attentive service. Wide variety of vegetarian options. A bit noisy at times. And quite pricy. Reservations are a must. Have even here several times. It is always consistent but be prepared for the bill when it arrives.

Shortgrain in the Membrane
Lame brain
went to Short grain
fix a hunger pain
draft some Unilocal fame
in the back lane
bloody big crane
(wouldn’t fit in frame)
what a shame
will go again
and again and again and again.

As one of my genuinely favourite restaurants is literally upstairs (longrain), a group of us decided to try Shortgrain for something different. What I love most about this place is the feel of it when you walk through the Huge doors on Hunt, or walk downstairs from Longrain. Its dark, theres a dull drone from all the voices in what is obviously a very popular and busy place, its sexy, its aromatic, conjures up all sorts of feeling (which is soo important, I think if you can engage all senses, job well done).
The high booths are comfortable albeit slightly small to fit 4 people plus bags. Lets discuss the service! Incredible. Highly knowledgeable and professional, service you would see at a fine dining institution and not a casual restaurant/​bar.
The food in my own humble opinion was slightly over seasoned and over spiced, flavours were amazing, don’t get me wrong, but I felt they packed more of a punch than what I was expecting. I still thoroughly enjoyed it as did my friends.
Would I go back? Probably not, but its not because the food or the place was a let down, its more that I prefer Longrain over Shortgrain and if given the choice, I would stay upstairs.

Yum! Firstly, the cocktails are great and a perfect place to catch up with friends, particular while you wait for a table. All the food is fantastic. Give it a go!

Been to the cocktail bar at the rear of the Café section a few times now. Hidden away, it is designed with a chic, industrial feel with a lot of polished concrete and angular lines. Cool vibe with some great craft beers by the bottle, and some excellent service.
Great little place to hit up for intimate get togethers and conversation, it is also in the same area as Bar H, Tio’s and the soon to be opened The Wild Rover.

Great for quick lunch, Love it.

There’s a cocktail bar in the basement of Shortgrain which is humble in it’s advertising, so only a few hundred or so locals know about it. Previously occupied space below Shortgrain was taken over and fitted out with a sparkling new bar.
Exposed bricks, polished concrete and raw wood make a warehouse stylised feeling which capitalises on the Asian fusion, and puts a modern twist on a basement cocktail bar.
The space is large enough for some great functions, and cosy little diner style seating, and couches makes it an intimate and trendy resort for the cocktail connoisseurs.
The bar menu, also serves delicious morsels which complement the extensive cocktail menu, but don’t worry if you keep it simple with beer and wine as the list is a modern and boutique.
Just adding to the awesome vibe are some amazing DJ’s — and there’s no cover! The bar is home to resident DJs who create a perfect mood for sexy people to chill out and sip on saucy cocktails.

This lunchtime restaurant and take-​away joint (joint is perhaps not the right word here insofar as it might conjure up images of tasty comfort food presented to you by people who are for the most part, categorically, and at the least, perpendicularly, ((and this, of course, is always a nice touch)) of the same origin as the food that they’re serving) is for a certain type of individual. Firstly, it well help if you are a fan of the original (and still around, in fact, right around the corner from this one) restaurant Longrain, which you go to mostly just for dinner (and if you’re like most of the clientele who go, you do a little jig every time you think about the much-​ado-​about-​nothing Eggnet filled with pork, prawns, bean sprouts and sweet vinegar). Second, it will help if you like new trendsetting food that has been sourced from another country — in this case, Thai food that has been reconfigured for the Australian inner-​city and eastern suburbs crowd by German-​born and Australian-​raised chef Martin Boetz. Third, it will help if long lists or menus scare you — there are only about five or six things to choose from here (but then also keep in mind that if you don’t like any of them you’re screwed dude). Fourth, it would help a little if, in case the occasion calls for it, you don’t mind scurrying around like a rat looking for a seat (or, of course, you can get take-​away). Not my favourite food joint, but there’s also every chance in the world you’re going to think different. As Danny from the New Kids On The Block video once said, «Try it. Try it and you might like it». Or was that Donny?

Whether you grab the long or the short end of the grain, you won’t be disappointed with what you’re chewing on at this humble canteen on the outskirts of Surry Hills. A little sister to Longrain, Shortgrain proved to be the perfect walk-​in lunch location with incredibly fresh dishes in a humble venue (think 32 seats). The emphasis is clearly on amazing food in the spirit of a fast and friendly Asian street-​style canteen, and they pull it off with pure class.
So the atmosphere’s great… but the food, you ask? My dining partner and I barely came up for air in between our sharing dishes of stir fried chinese broccoli, crispy skinned chicken with green curry, salt & pepper silken tofu, lamb yellow curry, squid and pumpkin salad… and when we did, it was to order the most incredible dessert of vanilla tapioca with jack fruit & pineapple.
Truly, this is a lunchtime treat where a glass of wine, dessert and an half hour extra are necessary indulgences. Necessary, I say.