Jimmy Liks

186-188 Victoria St, Potts Point

That's rain, not sweat. Oh okay, and maybe a bit of gin.

WELL, LOOKY HERE. Walking into Jimmy Liks out of a sodden sheet of rain, we were quite impressed. A long thin room, with minimalistic decor; dark lighting, a black counter with a little service area below, and wood-panelled walls. We’d even go so far as to call it Asia-Contemporary, except that would make us sound like the snottiest kind of provincial wanker. So we won’t.
We like things to be simple and confidently executed, so the scene was set for what we hoped would be an enjoyable drink.

Two drinks, please. Oh, and also: get stuffed.

THEM IN THE APRONS Being ladies of the single persuasion, we consider barmen of the aesthetically pleasing persuasion to be an enjoyable diversion, and good ol’ Jimmy did not let us down in this department. Bar staff were dressed in black pants with a black V-necked shirts, simple, hot, and acceptably clingy.
When we asked to see a menu, our waiter not only produced one, he also produced an Itty Bitty Book Light to help illuminate the menu. An Itty Bitty Book Light. Just like that. Swoop, slap, click, ta-dah! God forbid they’d turn up the ambient lighting and ruin the moody, surly darkness – just slap a booklight on the bar and be done with it. We’re not ashamed to say that the novelty of this did not wear off quickly, although the old couple drinking champagne next to us had to whip out the reading specs.

Now, it’s one thing for your staff to be hot, but we don’t think it’s too much to ask for a bit of flirting to be thrown in for good measure. Yes, as a bar tender you might feel like a cheap tip-whore, but if two girls come and sit at your bar and ask you what your specialty is, it’s bad business not to do your best to work it. Responding with the phrase “cuddling afterwards” isn’t necessary, but give us something. This is where Jimmy loses some points. Bar staff seemed like they had better places to be, or worse, better people to serve. They were polite, but any one who knows us will tell you, we hate polite. The service was as cool as the over-iced drinks. When we asked for suggestions for our second drinks, our barman (after whipping out his magnificent, tiny illumination again) just kind of pointed at a few cocktails and then left us alone.


BOOM CHIKA WOW WOW The music was jazzy, ambient and sort of just there, but most of the sound came from the restaurant that takes up the other half of the space. It probably seems a little obvious to call it “Bar Music”, but it was… sort of musicky and… and at a bar. Who are we, Glenn A Baker?


DON’T FORGET TO WASH YOUR HANDS The toilets, whilst clearly an admirable adaptation to the space available, were still a bit look-what-we’ve-done-to-Harry-Potter’s-cupboard-under-the-stairs chic. As a result, an apology had to be made to one of the other punters for a near-lesbian experience just trying to get to the sink. Cosy. Understatement.


DRINKY DRINKY: LORIN My standard drink is a vodka dry. For those of you who don’t know what dry ginger ale is (I’m hoping the readers of this blog would), it’s a brown sugary drink, not as dark in colour as coke and it tastes of ginger. My vodka and dry looked like what I imagine water from Kenya to be, only not as dark. Point being, it was almost clear and I couldn’t taste the ginger ale, or vodka for that matter. Too much ice in the drink watered it down, so it wasn’t a good start.

I'm partly happy, and partly frozen in this position.

 As for the specialty, I wasn’t expecting big things after my standard was murdered, but I was trying to keep an open mind so I ordered a Pandanas Ginger Caipiroska. This, my friends, is AWESOME. It seriously tasted like I was eating Thai food, but not in an I’m-chewing-what-should-be-liquid kind of way, it was just a delight. Made with their own self-infused Pandanas vodka (massive points for this), palm sugar, lime and ginger, this is an amazing cocktail. For a bar attached to a Thai restaurant, it is a well designed drink and the menu follows suit. Eclectic with some classics, but with a twist. It’s just a shame they couldn’t get the simple drinks right.


DRINKY DRINKY: JO My standard gin & tonic was pretty good as far as big glasses full of ice go. As an alcoholic drink, though, it was a touch on the disappointing side – watery, with ice that actually cleared the top of the glass, reminding me of the Titanic. Unfortunately when I think of the Titanic, I think of Celine Dion, who is also kind of bland, watery and frigid-looking.

Look out to starboard, cap'n. Or is that port? I can never t... damn.

My cocktail, a Bangkok Iced Tea (lime, basil, mint, Noilly Prat & lemon ginger tea) was a massive improvement – it was as refreshing as… well, as a glass full of citrus, herbs, vermouth and iced tea. And ice. SO MUCH ICE.




With cocktails priced around $16/17, it was quite reasonable, but ultimately, Jimmy’s is what we like to refer to as a transit bar. It’s not the destination in itself, but it does very well as a waiting area for the restaurant, and as an advertisement for snug black trousers.






We’re giving it three itty bitty book lights.