Mai Tai Meets Satisfaction And Polynesian Decor Fits The Location

Hard to port!

Drop the mainsail!

Cut the engines!

I have found a place to toss out my anchor in Australia, a tiki bar in a great beach town outside of Sydney. It’s called the Sugar Lounge and it has strong rum drinks, tiki dccor and a view of the ocean.

As an additional bonus, you arrive there by ferry from Sydney!

Sugar Lounge is in Manley Beach, which is about as perfect a place as I’ve found Down Under.

The main beach at Manly is largely unspectacular, but go to the right and take the walkway to Shelly Beach and you will be rewarded with a gorgeous cove that looks both Polynesian tropical and also, with rocks by the shore, has a little touch of gorgeous Monterey Bay in California. It’s awesome, one endless photo op after another.

And not only that, but the walkway goes up a cliff and within minutes you are overlooking the whole area and out to the wide Pacific Ocean. Spectacular!

 

 

After absorbing all this, and having a swim in the pristine cove, it was time for me to absorb something else. Namely, lunch and some cocktails. So I headed back to town. And then a funny thing happened.

I was suddenly struck by the thought, “hey, I wonder if Sydney has any tike bars?”

And then, as if on cue, I found myself in front of it. I am not kidding, I took no more than five steps after that tike bar thought to actually step into one.

The Sugar Lounge was right there I was instantly rewarded with a hula girl statue standing next to a “Just Another Day In Paradise” sign.

The decor is what I would describe as “subdued tiki,” meaning it has tropical touches but is not overboard. There are also island-style couches and tables that look out onto the ocean.

Naturally, it’s the drinks that really the bar and the Mai Tai definitely meets my critical “rum buzz criteria.” Oddly, it’s tan colored, rather than red. And yet, despite the Australian bar rule of pouring the booze into a shot glass before the drink rather than the American free pour, it still packed a good punch.

The menu contains about a dozen other tiki-style drinks, some served in the traditional tiki ceramic glasses.

The bartender tells me that the place is absolutely cranking on Friday and Saturday nights after 10 p.m. This is something I just may have to confirm in a future visit.

Cheers!