Darlinghurst's Cliff Dive opens skewer-themed tuck shop

If there's a winner in Sydney's new lock-out rules, it may prove to be the quality of food in the city's bars and nightclubs.

This week, the Cliff Dive in Darlinghurst opens a skewer-themed tuck shop, partly in response to the new rules.

"We opened a few months before the lockout came into force. It resulted in a 20 to 25 per cent decline in business," says Cliff Dive co-owner Jeremy Blackmore.

"At 1.30am we used to get a second wave of customers. Now patrons who maybe don't want to drink any more are stuck in there."

Early and late eaters are now catered for by Tin Jun Shea, an engineer who followed his passion for cooking by leading the skewered charge at Cliff Dive.

"I was really inspired by a street in China, where there were about 500 metres of skewers - that great, classic smokiness," Blackmore adds.