Black Penny (CLOSED)

Bourke Street just got a little more interesting with the opening of Black Penny. The place certainly looks right: there’s your vintage suitcases sitting on a shelf alongside an ’80s boom box. There’s your framed Scarface poster side by side with a poster for Django Unchained. Industrial metal light brackets dangle over a few tables near the bar’s entrance offset by a wall-sized mural of cartoon-style ‘street’ art featuring a black-and-white montage of a gurning, muscle-flexing Popeye with Mickey Mouse ears, a shrugging Pinocchio and a monocle-sporting Monopoly Man.

The barstaff are really friendly. They’re happy to pour you a local tap beer – there's Young Henry’s natural lager on tap, as well as Balmain Pale Ale (raise a glass to the Inner West) – or a Hills apple cider, if beer’s not your friend.

Cocktails, however, are not Black Penny's strength. A Wrath (tequila, Cointreau, lemongrass, ginger, chilli) is muddled, then shaken. So far so good. Then the entire contents of the shaker are poured into a schmiddy glass. And then – here’s the thing – it’s only now our bartender decides to taste the drink, realising he’s forgotten to add sugar syrup.

Ah well. On the plus side, there are plenty of bar snacks on offer and lots of cheap deals – great for all you penny-pinchers. Tuesdays (the cheapest of days!) means you can share three dishes for $30. Go for crisp onion rings, tender, twice-cooked meatballs in tomato sauce and tomato, goat’s cheese and basil bruschetta. Double-plus yay for happy hour from 5pm to 7pm every day. Tap beer, cider and house wine are just $5 a pop.