Freda's Bar and Canteen

Sydney's drinkers have become a forensic bunch. Half the fun of going to a new bar these days is finding it. Our journey to Freda's in Chippendale starts on bland, busy Regent Street. We look for a giant red tongue on the building next door and head down a laneway beside it. At the end are two doors: one opens on to a raucous room of same-sex salsa classes. The other is a grey door marked with a tiny sign for Freda's.

INSIDE, IT'S A WORLD AWAY from the rainy, gloomy streetscape outside. The 100-year-old warehouse feels like a trendy New York loft with its high timber ceilings, exposed brick work, neat finishes and warm lighting. The grand bar has a Prohibition-era feel to it - like a furtive drinking den cut off from the world. And there's more space than you'd expect, even enough for a caged stage up front that, on this particular night, hosts a band called Glitch Juke Box playing mariachi-style covers of everything from Gangster Paradise to Dolly Parton's Jolene. On another night, it might be a neighbourhood DJ or a one-off live performance from a well-known musician.

A WAITER COMES OVER TO US straight away, apologises for the noise and runs through the menu. The service here, after some initial mixed reports, seems to be spot on. The waiters are super-attentive but not over the top. The cocktail menu seems to tick a lot of boxes - fruity and fresh, short and dark, summery rum-based, Mexican flavoured. For fresh, it's hard to go past a Vodka and Pineapple Fix (vodka, pineapple juice, mint, Green Chartreuse and Creole Bitters, $17). The Grapefruit Mezcal Margarita (El Senorio Reposado Mezcal, Cointreau, fresh lime, pink grapefruit, pink salt, $17) is perfectly bitter but others, such as the Tequila Smash (Sauza Tequila, Mickey Finn Sour Apple Liqueur, sugar, fresh lime and mint, $16), feel more one-dimensional.

THE FOOD IS SIMPLE, with less than a dozen share plates listed on a blackboard. The Freda's team has some excellent foodie street cred. Head honcho Simon Cancio comes from Luxe Bakery in Newtown and has worked the ovens at Bourke Street Bakery, while head chef Ibrahim Kasif has worked at Fish Face and Bistro Moncur. Kasif makes Mediterranean-inspired tapas with little more than some bench space. Rather than cook, he visits the markets, pickles vegetables, oils fish and bakes bread every day using the ovens of a catering company up the road. The menu is always different but some hits from our visit include a tangy broadbill swordfish tartare ($15) and fresh mussels in beans and tomato ($16). While clean and fresh, it's all very heavy on oil, even the eggplant salad, so ditch the diet. ''The emphasis is food for sharing,'' Cancio says. ''It's an ancient thing. We're not trying to reinvent the wheel, just do it really well.''

WINES COVER LOCAL AND IMPORTED drops with eight by the glass including some interesting blends. 4 Pines beer is on draught and there's a $38 Le Pere Jules piore cider. By day, when sandwiches and salads line the tables, there is Mecca coffee and fresh juice. But a freakishly drinkable 2010 Spanish Palacios Remondo tempranillo/grenache is our tipple of choice as we rock out to Billie Jean in a bar worth fossicking for.

YOU’LL LOVE IT IF you want a small bar outside the Surry-Darlo Bermuda Triangle.

YOU’LL HATE IT IF you’re on a tight budget.

GO FOR broadbill tartare, curedocean trout, Vodka and Pineapple Fix.

IT’LL COST YOU cocktails $16-$17, wine by the glass $8-$14, tapas $6-$16.

Freda's Bar and Canteen

Address 109 Regent Street, Chippendale, 8971 7336

Open Mon-Fri, 11am-midnight; Sat, 4pm-midnight; Sun, 4pm-10.30pm