Mystery Bar II Revealed - Bloodwood

The mystery bar series kicked off the other week with Corridor, which lasted a respectable amount of time before being identified. Mystery Bar II continued the 'door' theme of the recent mystery photos (red and farm) and asked in which fine Newtown drinking establishment the above yellow door was.


It wasn't so hard given there are still too few bars in Newtown to really challenge you, but whether it was shyness or something else, it was 10 days until LolaSkate put their name to a (correct) guess of Bloodwood - and scored the bonus point for identifying that it leads absolutely nowhere ! To be fair ShaBlair had pointed this out earlier, but only on Twitter.


Bloodwood has been the subject of a very un-Newtown like buzz since it opened a couple of months ago in the old Planetarium (fancy word for a nursery) in the up and coming South King St (SoKi) area. It has been reviewed postively in Barzine, Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney Restaurant Review, Time Out, and several blogs amongst others.


In my mind Bloodwood is more of a restaurant than a bar - the food is bloody good as you'd expect from ex-Claudes chefs (I'll leave reviews to the experts) and much has been made of the great design. The bar area is really just the reception at the entrance - the physical bar given to protecting the chefs and anyway the corridor is too narrow for bar stools - but at least there is the option to drink and or dine in this much welcome addition to the Newtown scene.

Out the back

Mystery Bar II - Follow the Yellow Door

The mystery bar series kicked off the other week with Corridor, which lasted a respectable amount of time before being identified. To continue in the 'door' theme of the recent mystery photos (red and farm); and certainly a little easier than they have proved to be; I present (without further ado) the second Newtown Mystery Bar - "Yellow Door".

In which fine Newtown drinking establishment is this door to be found ? And for a bonus point - where does it lead ?

Mystery Bar I Revealed - Corridor

The first Mystery Bar asked you to identify the bar where this cosy lounge was to be found. It was relatively quickly indentified by justiceotb as Corridor; although happily not until after a few near misses, which has encouraged me to perservere with the Mystery Bar series ! It might have been easier to pick with some wider angle pictures ...



Corridor is the second attempt at making a success of the former site of Sabor de Espana, Newtown's short lived tapas bar. Early indications are that it will be a success. A fair bit of effort has gone into the renovation, although the basic form of the site has been maintained, with a limited bar area downstairs and more seating (indoors and outdoors) upstairs.


The night the mayor visited the outside area was full while the insides remained mostly empty, but I can see the front room upstairs becoming popular as the weather cools, even if the fireplace sadly doesn't look functional.

All in all, a welcome addition to the Newtown bar scene.

Corridor, 153a King St Newtown.

Mystery Bar I - Chesterfield

The Mystery Photo series, popular with visitors (albeit shy ones, very few of you leave comments), continues to struggle to last more than a day without being identified. However I will persist and one day create a Mystery Photo that lasts more than 48 hours !

In the meantime, it's time to introduce the first of the Mystery Bar series. There still aren't so many bars in Newtown; sadly more people in Darlinghurst and Surry Hills seem to be taking advantage of the new small bar laws than here in Newtown. Still, things are slowly improving here; and hopefully as this series progresses there will be more and more candidates.

I won't be giving too many hints; especially at this stage. The photo above is taken in a Newtown Bar. Where is it ? And what is the bar's name ? And for a bonus point; what did it used to be called (yes, a hint of sorts).