Carlisle Bar, Kings Cross, Sydney

It's a nice bar so don't expect no dry bowl of wedges here (although technically do have $8 chips). Carlisle has a new cocktail and tapas menu. It's sleek, dark and trendy in decore.

The absolute highlight for me that night was the Haloumi. It tastes like a tasty mozzarella; it's not as salty as your normal haloumi but I'm told it's hand made by some greek grandma and only distributed to three places - Carlisle being one of them.  It's a must try!

If you are a fan of gin and whiskey then you'll also love the cocktails. If you are soft and normally stick to vodka like myself then you will get smashed really quickly from the cocktails. My favourite for the night though was called South of the Border (Tequila, mezacal, passionfruit, lime and vanilla).   I wasn't a fan of all of the cocktails.

Please note: I was invited to the Carlisle Bar for a cocktail and tapas tasting. It was great because I got to meet a few other fellow food bloggers.  It was a very well organised event.  
I came back here early on 6pmish on a Friday night and it was dead. Hopefully they can attract more people and revive that atmosphere.

I had a bit of everything here, Tortilla chips with fresh avocado, coriander chilli and fresh lime, Carlisle Plate with trio of dips, marinated olives, feta, crusty bread and pita and Vegetarian Teasers: chargrilled eggplant, zucchini, capsicum, marinated artichokes, semi-dried tomatoes, olives with pita and crusty bread

Watch out for the super onion hit in the avocado!  I think the starters were all good.

grilled haloumi cheese, topped with purple grape and balsamic reduction - $14 (you'll get 4 pieces)

THIS IS A MUST TRY ABOVE !!!!

Eastside Fizz - Beefeater gin + lime + mint + Perrier water + sweetness.

This cocktail Eastside Fizz was nice and refreshing

Lightly floured and fried prawn cutlet, served with three dipping sauces - sweet chilli plum, soy teriyaki and wasabi aioli $18 - you'll get about 8 prawns

The prawns were nice but the wasabi aioli needed more wasabi. They were very well cooked

Blood & Sand - Chivas + Cherry & Herring + Antica Formula + Ardbeg + fresh orange.

The Blood and Sand was probably my second favourite cocktail. It was tasty.

Beef tenderloin - rolled in mixed peppers, barbecued and served medium rare with a bourbon jus and garlic crisps. $24 (you'll probably get 3 fold as pictured here)

The beef was very well cooked. Tasty dish.