Time Out Says
Join the Mad Hatter's Tea Party at this Lewis Carroll-inspired bar
From escape rooms to VR experiences, it seems Sydney can’t get enough of immersive entertainment. The Alice experience, held at Wonderland Bar in Kings Cross, is one of the latest such diversions from the team behind Beyond Cinema’s immersive screenings, and the bewitching Wizard’s Den cocktail experience, which intermittently takes residence upstairs, along with other themed experiences.
The old World Bar space has been completely reimagined as a trippy kaleidoscope of Lewis Carroll references. Alice’s disembodied legs dangle from the ceiling in the front bar – signalling perhaps that while she is only halfway down the rabbit hole, you have fully entered Wonderland. Inside the event space, a giant, glowing Cheshire Cat looms over a leather banquette, mushrooms grow out of teacups, and clocks and books festoon every surface.
The 90-minute Alice experience costs $49 and takes the form of a garden tea party, hosted by the Mad Hatter and March Hare. You’ll get two cocktails out of it, but you’ll have to work for them by solving riddles and playing games. Each victory earns an ingredient that will eventually be combined in a teapot, dramatically stirred with dry ice, and then poured into tea cups for you to enjoy alongside sparkly “Eat Me” cupcakes. It’s all good fun, until someone steals from the Queen of Hearts.
If you’d rather leave the mixology to the professionals, the front bar is fully stocked with beer, wine and more teapot cocktails (just like in the old World Bar days). It’s also open to the general public, no tea party invitation required.
