ANTE

Ante is one of Australia's cleaner examples of the sake-bar-meets-jazz-kissa format. It is small, dark, tightly run and built around Matt Young's deep sake knowledge and a record collection of roughly 2,500 LPs. The sound chain includes Technics 1200s and a handmade Condesa mixer, with records moving through jazz, soul, funk and disco rather than a narrow museum version of jazz. The food is more serious than the average listening bar, but the room still reads as music-first: the shelves, booth and low bar make the soundtrack hard to treat as an afterthought. Go for sake, close listening and dinner that does not fight the records. It suits people who want a focused room without the stiffness of a no-talking audiophile bar.