Stanley Green Darlinghurst Review - Plant Shop, Cafe & Bar

Stanley Green is a plant shop and cafe by day and a bar at night. With the feel of New York's East Village, it is a popular place to stop by for a drink and a snack and you never know who you'll meet! Plus visit during their generous Golden Happy Hour for espresso martinis and glasses of wine for an absolute steal!

Everybody's expression when they walk into Stanley Green is about the same - it's looking around the store with wide eyed wonder. Stanley Green is one of the prettiest plant stores in Sydney and is a verdant paradise of greenery. The store is located on the corners of Stanley and Crown Streets and sells a range of planted pots and seeds. It is also dog friendly so your pooch can also offer their opinion on choosing a plant too.

During the day there are sandwiches, pastries as well as coffee and tea (and a lavender latte too). These are still available at night along with wine, beer and cocktails including classic cocktails like Negronis, margaritas, mojitos and the ubiquitous espresso martini.

There are also fruit smoothies and soft drinks available and half a dozen bar snacks. Ordering is done at the counter and the friendly staff will bring your drinks and food to you. And during Golden Happy Hour from 4-7pm every day, Espresso Martinis are just $12 and glasses of wine are $6!

There is one table inside the shop but most of the seating is outside under the huge yellow and white striped umbrellas. On Sundays all day they have Aperol Spritzes for $10 all day (normally $18) and these are excellent.

When we arrive at 4:30pm or golden hour, the crowd is already in full swing. We start with glasses of wine that come with a snack bowl of pretzels and crackers which we enjoy while sitting outside on this perfect evening.

The food menu has around half a dozen things from olives to a charcuterie board or the loaded crisps. We love the dip which is a herby warm dip made with smoked eggplant, fried garlic, mint, whey with plenty of crushed walnuts on top. This comes with a bowl with a variety of crackers. We love this wholesome and tasty dip that really reminds us of Persian flavours. A lot of places serve the same types of dips so we like that this is different.

The perfect item to share are these loaded crisps that come out on an enormous platter. It's a bottom layer of kettle chips served with slender wedges of manchego cheese and rolls of jamon as well as roast capsicum and olives. The kettle chips are also delicious dipped into the Persian dip.

It's then time to try a couple of their signature cocktails and that means the espresso martini and the Pink Stanley made with Morita Chipotle vodka, triple sec, cranberry and a rim of lime and chilli.

After that it's time for the charcuterie plate with salami, jamon, two types of cheese (Manchego and Cheddar) and a big bowl of crisp bread. The selection can change but I love the crisp bread with the chutney, cheese and salami.

We pair this with the Negroni that is intensely strong with a strong hit of citrus. I also enjoy a refreshing virgin mojito as I'm driving.

The vibe is another thing that sets Stanley Green and this whole neighbourhood apart. We have Teddy and Milo with us and people come up to us all night complimenting their good behaviour and wanting to say hello to them. And we have legendary comedian Bob Downe or Mark Treverrow and his partner sitting next to us with their mini schnauzers who chat with us the whole time.

So tell me Dear Reader, do you drink more beer, wine or cocktails? Have you ever gone somewhere for a drink and ended up making new friends?