Razz Room

Word on the street is some of Sydney’s best nightlife is happening below CBD level—and Odd Culture Group is the latest big name to follow suit. The result? Razz Room, a daiquiri bar and discotheque tucked just beneath York Street.

Taking cues from pre-gloss disco and the grit of ’70s New York nightlife, Razz Room leans into contrast from the jump. The space is split across two distinct moods: an upper-level bar designed for post-work drifters, and a sunken dancefloor that pulls focus as the night unfolds. 

Once you've had enough lubrication, head downstairs—gone are the days of venue hopping to try and find a place to dance. Expect a steady rotation of DJs, live sets and residencies threading through disco, house, funk and jazz, with referential programming that keeps things classic but current. The fit-out follows suit—warm timber and caramel tones upstairs give way to something moodier below, where velvet, concrete and low lighting blur the line between crowd and performer.

On the drinks front, the daiquiri takes centre stage. It’s a tight menu that stretches the classic well beyond its three-ingredient brief—think shaken, frozen and blended variations, alongside smaller-format pours and off-menu riffs. There’s a broader list of wine, beer and spirits ticking along in the background, but this is a venue that knows its lane.

Big on our radar however, is the venue's Dirty Daiquiri, quite possibly one of the more delicious cocktail creations we've landed on, as of late. It's made with Bacardi white rum, which gets topped with a touch of mezal for a hint of smokiness.

"The sweet component is freshly pressed sugarcane juice simmered down with fresh bay leaves for aromatic complexity and depth of flavour with a subtle savouriness imparted on the rich cane syrup," Jordan Blackman, the Group Beverage Manager for Odd Culture Group, tells us.

"Balance comes from the acidity of freshly squeezed lime alongside olive brine which accentuates the salinity and bright, refreshing acid line with underlying fruit notes. Everything is shaken with ice and single strained."

He mentions this is crucial to all of the venue's Daiquiris with "those little shards of ice for ultimate refreshment and added texture". In its full form, the drink gets garnished with three olives, with Jordan encouraging keen drinkers to take a bite every sip or two, "as the drink really changes and develops as you go back and forth."

Early in the night, expect a run of small plates and retro-leaning snacks to line the stomach—oysters, prawn cocktail, a cheeseburger moment—before things pivot into a late-night offering designed to keep you anchored well past midnight.

Razz Room marks the group’s first CBD opening and a clear shift toward bigger, later, more performance-led spaces—without losing the sense of looseness that’s carried through their venues so far. 

Image credit: Andrea Veltom | Supplied