Freda’s

JUST AWFUL! After reading clearly out-​dated reviews boasting a daily changing menu based on the Sydney Fish Market we tried this venue … The menu was limited at best CLEARLY NOT CHANGED DAILY (based on the stained, dog-​eared bit of paper it was printed on) and nothing seafood to be seen … Ordered the Mezza Plate which took an eternity to be prepared despite all the ingredients coming out of tins (and not expensive tins) and being the only customers in the establishment … the staff were more interested in watching YouTube videos than serving customers. Really VERY disappointing!

I must have been to a different dimension to the other reviewers. ridiculous prices charged for a cheese plate with two pieces of cheese which no one could tell me what they were other than vintage cheddar and a blue… Both the size of a butter pat, although the did serve it with a basket with have a toasted loaf in it…
Bar staff were disinterested, or maybe too cool or perhaps shy…
The bar looks great but that’s not good enough when food and service are wanting.

Great bar in converted small warehouse. Small food menu on offer which has a number of tasty options. Got the spare ribs and miso eggplant.
As a bar it is doing everything right — great atmosphere and friendly crowd. The only criticism is that the wine list is a little expensive compared to other small bars on the area.

There’s a traffic ravaged part of Regent Street that used to be particularly dodgy … but in these days of gentrihipsterification (that’s a technical term), Regent Street has «laneways», and up one of them is a tapas /​wine bar /​trendy joint called Freda’s.
They’ve got a Euro-​style enoteca thing going on — with small plates that combine Spanish and Italian-​style comestibles with a touch of Eastern European flavour (think pickled /​lemon juiced /​salted).
Raw artichokes (yieehah!!) are on the menu right now — of course, that’s seasonal. The ceviche is luscious, and the pickled eggplant goes well with the crusty bread they serve. It’s pickled though, don’t order it if you don’t dig pickled stuff.
If you’re lucky, you can catch them on a «Lamb in the Lane» night. There really is a lamb, on a spit, and you can eat it. More precisely, they serve «charcoal spit slow roasted whole milk-​fed Cowra lamb rubbed with lemon, salt, and herbs.» Dude.
Not many wines are on offer by the glass, but they’re all pretty good, I particularly rate the Tempranillo, but that’s just me. Don’t expect a cheap night. Even the olives are a little spendy.
It’s a great space — it’s larger than many of these so-​called «small bars», with plenty of tables and some bar space too. The lighting is warm, and the ceilings are nice and high. It isn’t over-​decorated, but has some splendid old hair-​cut posters around the place. They somehow make the place feel airy and comfortable even though it has no windows. (Or maybe it has one… anyway, don’t come here for windows.)
When I was here with a group it was too busy to sit at a table, but the waiter found us a cosy corner spot to stand in, and he made sure we all had water as well as our drinks, and took our orders as if it was table service (sans table).
They’ve started doing lunch too — so maybe this review will need an update once I’ve tried that. BTW their website doesn’t have much info, but there is heaps on their Facebook page:

Fantastic! It was very hip, very warm, very inviting. And they do table service, at a bar, awesome. Not only that, but it is exceptionally knowledgeable and friendly service. I believe that’s called bi-​winning.
We ate fishy cerviche (fantastic), olives (meh), pickled eggplant (yum), and some hommus-​y sausage-​y thing (incredible). The only disappointment was the bill — $ 100 for the aforementioned tapas and drinks for two. Admittedly, we weren’t walking in straight lines as we left, but a cheap eat it ain’t.

Freda’s is a great little place. It sells itself as a bar… but has the most amazing table service I’ve experienced in Sydney outside fine dining. We walked in and sat down, contemplated what to drink, but before we could stand and head for the bar there was a guy at our table taking our order.
The tapas style menu features a lot of «preserved» dishes. A few cerviche options, tasty pickled things, olives and a couple of token hot dishes. We went for the olives ($ 7) which was sadly underwhelming and stupidly overpriced. It was a tiny dish of baby olives… meh. In better news the garfish cerviche ($ 13) was great — not a Mexican style like I was expecting, rather a salty Mediterranean flavour. The pickled eggplant ($ 10) was recommended and we loved it, as was the sarjuk and hummus ($ 17).
I want so desperately to give Freda’s 5 stars… but it’s just so overpriced. Especially for a place with no kitchen that can only serve pre-​prepared and re-​heatable dishes. Even though the food is great, the serves are tiny (even for tapas) so I probably won’t be rushing back, and hey, I still haven’t made it to Bodega ;)

Went here on recommendation of a friend — didn’t even know it existed. Walked in to discover an amazing old warehouse space kitted out with a huge bar and heaps of tables.
Sat at the bar, and was introduced to the owner, who immediately recommended their beer as a first drink — it changes weekly (fortnightly?) and at the time was a fantastic Stout from Manly. After this we moved on to cocktails– my friend and the bartender colluded to ensure the mix was just right, but to me they tasted damn fine.
As for food, we only tried the sardines, but they melted in your mouth and tasted great.
The atmosphere was very lively — there were a lot of birthdays being celebrated, but it was never so loud you couldn’t have a decent conversation. Will definitely be heading back, trying the next great beer and a few more of those cocktails.

Great new place in Chippendale. Finally Chippendale is attracting hospitality loving entrepreneurs to set up awesome businesses, oh yeah!
Freda’s is situated in a great 100-​year-​old warehouse on the not so great Regent St. But you don’t feel one single thing of the somewhat dodgy street when you enter Freda’s. Sit down at one the intimate tables or at the bar. I’d suggest the latter cause in that way you get the chance to have some great banter with the sexy bar staff (okay, I think I’m biased being a girl who loves to watch well-​done tattoos and sophisticated beards).
They don’t do a lot of food but what they do sounded extremely yummy. I only had the freshly baked bread with carrot spread, special and delicious. I’ll be back to try the other little bites. It’s more of a bar where you go for good conversation, great and well-​designed cocktails, a good glass of wine and then have some little plates to share on the side.
High five team Freda’s!