Enmore Road’s newest cocktail bar, Super 44, debuted on 26 June, brought to you by Mucho Group. You may recognise Mucho from sister venue Bar Planet, just a minute up the road, Centro86 in Martin Place, or their other new venue Bar Bridge, tucked away near Circular Quay. Super 44 takes the place of Midnight Special, which closed its doors in September of last year.
Some features of ‘The Spesh’ remain in Super 44, including the distinctive checkerboard floor tiles, which now infects the whole venue from the floor to the bar top. Mucho’s trademark features are all present here, with a focus on the handmade, dim lighting, finely uniformed staff. Above the bar, cabinets are lined with lightly backlit stained glass, the roof is covered in rows of dark red hand-cut paper doilies imported from Mexico, the walls are plastered in vintage eclectic Mexican newspaper clippings, photographs and oil paintings. The staff (all of whom are hired from other existing Mucho venues) wear burgundy waistcoats, white button-downs with rolled-up sleeves. The music is a mix of Latin, Latin-adjacent and dark pop, with the speakers mixed to be crunchy, slightly compressed.
CEO of Mucho Group Daisy Tulley says, “We just want to bring a piece of joy to the Inner West. I’ve lived in Newtown for 20 years and seeing the way Bar Planet has been accepted was really encouraging.” Tulley highlighted the “psychedelic margs”, “Mucho Group service”, “close work with artists”, and characterised the bar as “inclusive and empathetic”. The ultimate aim, in Tulley’s words, is “to bring world-class margaritas to the Inner West.”
So, how are the margs? I only had the chance (budget) to try two. All margaritas are currently priced at $24 a piece, which is barely above standard in Newtown. The classic margarita left quite a lot to be desired. Super 44’s handcrafted nature sometimes acts as an obstacle to the product, such as here. The ‘Super Margarita’ is made with hand-shaved ice in the coupe, and hand-squeezed Australian finger limes, house-made citron liquor and blanco tequila. The absence of agave is noticeable, as the marg is too sour for my liking. The other cocktail I sampled was the Beesting, which blew me away. Made with hot honey, reposado tequila, pechuga mezcal and fresh lime juice, poured over shaved ice with a smoke salt rim. Delicious, smoky flavour, lots of depth, the shaved ice really works here. Big recommend.
Other notable cocktails on offer are the Shark Fin, with fermented yuzu, the Red Hot, a cocktail version of an Al Pastor taco with roasted capsicum and pineapple syrup. Definitely a lot more to see.
All up, Super 44 offers the classic Mucho experience in a smaller (75 capacity) on Enmore Road. If you don’t like the other Mucho bars, you’re unlikely to feel different about this one but if you’re one of their many fans this will be right up your alley.
