Hot Lips and seventeen separate brain freezes

It used to be Luigi's, now it's a cocktail bar and cafe called Hot Lips. I dragged The Peachettes there tonight after Spicks and Specks finished and the lounge room started to look boring. I expected Hot Lips to be dire. The kind of terrible experience I do on purpose, like going to the RSL and eating a five dollar bowl of pasta while the Portuguese Elvis impersonator sings Roy Orbison songs and it didn't disappoint.

The cocktails were cheap and awful. The bar has one blender which is rinsed and washed between each cocktail. The process of making three cocktails took about fifteen minutes. The Spatula's cocktail tasted peculiarly of honeydew melon, ice and something a little bit like lemon. Mine tasted like sour cherries that had been mashed, frozen, diluted then frozen again before being blended with something quite like lemon. Grizelda chose the Hot Lips cocktail. It was a chocolate, strawberry and ice cream extravaganza with chillis randomly thrown in to surprise the nonchalant sipper.

I spied some Penguins from Penguins Plays Rough, two people who are always in the supermarket and one ex-waitress from my fourth favourite cafe among the happy patrons. The interior designer was our waiter for the evening. I was tempted to ask if he had purposely created the hippie-goth-strawberry-car-smash aesthetic or if the theme had developed naturally. Part of the ceiling is painted in a pink chequer board pattern, the part that is nearest the front door.

We were presented with a platter of free cold food. I am assuming this because it was the grand opening night. The catch was that some of the food is generally best enjoyed hot. I'm including calamari and battered prawn things in the generally best served hot category. The platter was accompanied by some corn chip and a small bowl of dip that can best be described as aerosol cheez whiz mixed with Tang and thousand island dressing.

It might have been the constant bouts of brain freeze from indelible unmeltable cocktail or the hot lips caused by the chilli I stole from Grizelda's cocktail but I did not want to murder the musicians plying their trade in the corner. The three women singing playing guitars and drumming were at times transcedent and at other times high quality background noise.

Close listening to the singers was made impossible by The Spatula who insists, always, on singing along loudly no matter where she is or how close she is to my head and my small but efficient ears. Locations of The Spatula's insistent close and loud singing includes the lounge whilst watching television, any cafe, restaurant or bar, Hot Lips, The Townie, any privately owned vehicle, walking down the street, my bedroom, the bus, the train, a taxi, an aeroplane, The Peach Deck, The Peach Hallway, concerts, The Peach Library, Grizelda's bedroom, all book shops, supermarkets, department store, hardware shop, The Peach Kitchen and other various locations. It is fortunate that she can carry a tune.

I am terribly pleased at the opening of Hot Lips. This is what I hoped for with the demise of draconian liquor licensing laws and the relaxing of live music regulations. I welcome you small, quirky and independent bar.


Comments

TimT said…
You know, 'I am terribly pleased at the opening of Hot Lips' is really quite a versatile phrase, and can be used in a wide array of circumstances not necessarily related to this bar.
DS said…
Just as nature intended.
Anonymous said…
Dale you are so funny. It doesn't matter that I am thousands oof miles away from newtown, i dont need to be there to experience it. Though it would be rather nice to have a pot of tea there somwhere actually with you.
DS said…
It is indeed always lovely to share a pot of tea with someone, provided they are also lovely and not mean or some other kind of not lovely.
Anonymous said…
i went to try this place out dale on friday night there was a line up the place was packed i assumed by your blog it was going to be horrible but when you pay 12 bucks for a cocktail that has 5 shoys im there anyday i thought it felt alittle understaffed at the time but every thing ran pretty smoothly i thought yes i see about the one blender thing but i didnt mind waiting it was a enjoyable night and i love the roof its unique so going to be going back and dragging the girl with me
DS said…
I didn't say it was horrible. It had the kind of homemade charm that I admire in an establishment. I am glad to hear that it is doing so well because as I said in my post "I welcome you small, independent and quirky bar".
Anonymous said…
hi there dale just to clarify you that this place has no connection to the hotlip you had in your ps comment just to save you trouble of researching
DS said…
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