The Different Drummer has many fine qualities: it’s snug, it has friendly and knowledgable staff, it’s started having live jazz and funk in its tiny front bar a couple of nights a week, and it has a huge, illuminated aquarium in the back room which is hard to take your eyes off after a few drinks. However, the best feature is its well-loved happy hour-and-a-half from 6pm until 7.30pm, which is actually at an hour that people might fancy a drink and has the effect of suddenly silencing that part of your brain that says “$18 for a cocktail?” Cocktails are what the Drummer does best: the bottled beers and standard mixers are all well and good, but it’s their way with a mix that sets them apart from other offerings on Glebe Point Road (they do a very nice dry Martini, while their Woo Woo is a party explosion of vodka, cranberry, peach schnapps and lime). Their food’s also very good if you fancy a nibble, with their $11 tapas plate easily enough to satisfy two people.
