The Henson, Marrickville

Given we are only new to this whole pub hunting caper, it’s probably a big call to say we are unlikely to find a more family-friendly taphouse than The Henson — but we’re gonna say it anyway. And The Henson doesn’t limit its efforts to ensuring a welcoming environment for the little tackers. This pub is kid-friendly; canine-friendly; vegan, vego and gluten-free-friendly too. That’s a whole lotta friendly. In fact, if this pub were a bloke Henno would be the kind of affable dude that would do anything for anyone and all your mums would love him. Not a bit of wonder this boozer’s El Capitano, Ray Reilly, won Publican of the Year Award in the 2014 Time Out Sydney Pub Awards.

During League season The Henson plays clubhouse to the Newtown Jets. The pub also established Marrickville Matters: a not-for-profit charity program that matches up the Inner West’s creatives with local community development programs like Youth Off The Streets. With polished pub grub that caters well to the restricted diet mob and a big beautiful and bright beer garden and bistro area, this is the kind of tavern that a community grows around. A couple of weekends here sipping craft beer in the sun and you’ll want to move to Marrickvillle just to be closer.

Atmosphere This is a busy, bustling boozer with a great atmosphere. It’s tough to get a table on a Saturday so I recommend you call and make a booking for lunch. The front bar hosts a pool table and dart board and they’ve swapped out the pokies for a cool little arcade room with pinball and shoot ’em ups. On Monday night you can knock some balls about in the pool comp while sipping on pints at schooner prices. Tuesday nights are for those who fancy themselves skilled at throwing darts, Wednesdays are dedicated to trivia, Thursdays are for Spinner Winner and there’s a badge draw on Fridays.
Service Like I said before: our mate Henno, he’s a friendly bugger. That goes for all of the staff too. There was no sign of the VER (vegan eye roll) when I asked about options for me at the bistro and I don’t doubt that if you pulled up a stool in the front bar, the bar tender would be happy to chat craft beers with you ’til your mates turned up.
Beer Garden The beer garden is a corker with plenty of seating, plenty of cover and heaters for the winter days and chilly evenings.

Grub The menu at The Henson is definitely offering more than your standard pub fare. They claim their food mission is “farm to table—field to fork” and they honour this by growing some of their own produce and sourcing the rest locally. Most of the menu is gluten-free, they make everything in-house and there are a whopping eight vego mains with a few vegan options within that list. They are the first Sydney pub I have come across with tempeh on the menu. Cue excited little squeal from this hungry vegan.

According to James and Eamon, the pub’s specialty the Knuckle Sandwich is “a ripper.” They reckon this is one knuckle sandwich you don’t mind copping in a pub. Wagyu brisket, fennel slaw, swiss cheese, and smokey mayo on rye — this bad boy even has its own merch! They sell Knuckle Sandwich t-shirts as part of the Marrickville Matters project.

I forwent the Tempeh Burger this time (vegans need to get it on a tortilla rather than the burger bun) for the Roast Mushroom & Refried Bean Taco. This is gluten free and vegan (no need to make adjustments) and is enormously tasty! This taco is so generous it takes two tortillas to get around its juicy, fresh and vibrant filling.
Tap beers The Henson celebrates the good stuff in a big way. There are plenty of boutique and local craft beers with a rotation of golden oldies and up and comers on the front bar’s 14 taps. There’s a Beer of the Week and if you just can’t make up your mind you can grab yourself a paddle of ponies for $12. There’s a great seasonal wine menu and an impressive list of whiskies on offer too.
Kid friendly? This is pub-loving parents mecca. The bistro has a large kid’s menu. And a garage has been transformed into a kids play club complete with ball pit and a mini rock-climbing wall that takes them up into the beer garden. The room is staffed so you can relax knowing someone is keeping a watchful eye on your mini-me.

Canine friendly? Yes! Plenty of pooches sniffing each other’s derrieres oot the back.
Music The tunes are top notch and are being played at the kind of volume that creates atmosphere while still allowing for a good natter. We had everything from Midnight Oil, Crowded House and Stevie Wonder to Empire of the Sun soundtrack our Saturday.
Chips They give their spuds some lovin’ at The Henson. They are crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, nice and fat and perfect vehicles for the GLORIOUS WALL OF CONDIMENTS you’ll find in both bars. Perched in saucy splendour along these walls you’ll find mustards, vinegars, and hot sauces to make the heart sing. There’s a delightful a’salt (wink wink) on the senses with flavoured salts like ‘rooster and rosemary’ and ‘lime and cumin.’ These chippies get 4/5 spuds.
The Yard Stick A schooey of Coopers is $6.50. Cheap — good price for a Coopers!

All up, this family-friendly watering hole gets an 8.5 outta 10 happy little rock climbing tots.

 

The Workers, Balmain

There’s a lot to love about The Workers in Balmain — especially if you fancy a slice of political history served up with a splash of kitsch fun and a twist of inner-west spunk. The building was a trades and labour hall in the 1890s and was headquarters to the first Labour Electorate League. The name is a respectful nod to the area’s rich Labor history and the theme is reflected throughout the bar with images depicting party greats and a very bromantic portrait of Hawkey and John Singleton.

Our brother James and sister-in-law Claire joined the Pubably team this week and the four of us had a blast exploring every curious corner of this Balmain boozer. The main bar is eclectic with a vivid green living wall, oversized lounge chairs atop tartan carpet, a white picket-fence-lined dance floor, pinball machines, a photobooth and an old-school Pacman game table straight out of the 80s.

Towards the back of the building there’s a room housing pool and foosball tables. Another three rooms sprout from the winding hallway and we all exclaim at once, “it smells like Nan’s house” (a four-story townhouse in Belfast that held a world of mystery and magic for us as children) — making it feel more like a house party than a pub. One room is taken up with a ping pong table and lush old Chesterfield armchairs for spectators to lounge on. Another is called the ‘Locker Room’ and has a timetable of sporting matches that are screened in there — an intimate spot to yell at the tele with your mates.

Atmosphere This one is a late starter but once it gets going the vibe is electric. You can take a group of pals to a nominated nook or you can get your party mingle on in the cute rooftop beer garden or whilst pulling shapes on the main bar dance floor. There were posters for a rockabilly swing dancing class, Wednesday nights are dedicated to comedy and Sunday Funday delivers $10 burgers, live music, foosball, giant chess and giant jenga. Service The staff are the kind of friendly that makes you want to invite them to your next birthday party. They are warm, don’t mind a chat and were super helpful with no sign of the dreaded VER (Vegan Eye Roll) when asked about dietary options.
Beer Garden The rooftop garden is a charming astro-turfed spot with cute furnishings and walls adorned with artwork and an edible garden. Plus plenty of warmth coming from the heaters for the chilly nights ahead.

Grub There’s a school canteen/neighbourhood fish’n’chippy nostalgia lacing the menu with potato scallops, Chiko rolls, Bubble O Bills and Golden Gaytimes making an appearance. There are a few options for the gluten-free (GF available for all burgers) and vegetarian crowd and the kitchen was happy to take the dairy off the mushroom burger to veganise it.

Eamon had the Workers Burger and declared it “juicy” then started waxing lyrical about the merits of shaved beetroot over sliced — but I can’t tell you the rest  because I fell asleep. James had the Buttermilk Chicken Burger and said it “hit the spot” then he started discussing the digestive challenges of deep fried chicken and included the words ‘bowl’ and ‘slider’ — but I can’t tell you the rest because I put my fingers in my ears and went to a happy place. Claire and I had a vegan version of the Mushroom Burger and we enjoyed it but would have loved a more shroomy slant on the bread to mushroom ratio. This is simple tucker. It won’t blow your hair back but it gets the job done. Perfect fuel for a night on the DF.

Tap beers You’ll find the usual crowd being poured — Resches, Pure Blonde, Dirty Granny and Coopers. But there’s plenty of room to go exploring with 32 bottled beers and ciders and seven taps. 
Kid friendly? This one requires a babysitter I’m afraid. Although we didn’t check that with management. 
Canine friendly? Nope, the upstairs nature of The Workers means Rex has to stay at home.
Music They kill it on the music front — lots to love from David Bowie to the Jackson 5. When the DJ spins Roll Over Beethoven the dance floor erupts into a swing frenzy and it’s a delight to watch. The manager also informs us there is a ten-piece jazz band on Sundays from 4.
Chips Like we said last week, there’s nothing wrong with a shoestring, aside from the fact they go cold quickly, they’re just not very exciting. These chippies get 2.5/5 spuds. The Swedges on the other hand were absolutely delicious 4/5 sweet spuds.

The Yard Stick A schooey of Coopers is $7.00. Standard.

All up, this Labor-lovin’ taphouse gets an 8 outta 10 fluorescent former Aussie PMs.

Friend in Hand, Glebe

This quirky taphouse has got character in spades. If outback folklore wove tales of a jolly swagman in giant form with the ability to vomit Australiana — then Friend in Hand is the scene of his last spray session.

There are old public notices, newspaper clippings, rusty street signs, sports memorabilia and endless curious objects to cast your eyes over. In a group of first-timers you’ll hear delighted squeals of: “come and look at this” or “read that.” An assortment of oddments cram every nook and cranny of the place, making it easy to understand why they declare themselves, “more a museum than a pub.” They make sure to mix it up with live music, life-drawing, comedy showdowns and their Word in Hand poetry night on the first Tuesday of every month. The highlight of most folk’s trip to Friend in Hand though would have to be meeting pub mascot George the cockatoo who can’t pour a beer to save his life but parades up and down the bar ensuring the ladies get a look at his handsome self.

Atmosphere Top marks for character but unfortunately atmosphere was well and truly spoilt by televisions displaying sporting matches in every corner of the pub. All of them with audible commentary too. 
Service Average service in the bar and a kind of rude, vegan-resenting chef in the bistro. 
Beer Garden There is a small but bright and cheerful outside space adjoining the bistro but no real beer garden.
Grub After asking the chef about vegan options and having him roll his eyes and then declare, “all I can say is sorry” with as much sarcasm as he could muster — I didn’t have high hopes for the Fork in Hand bistro. But he relented and made me a vegan-friendly version of the veggie burger and it was tasty. It didn’t knock my socks off but it is definitely the kind of grub that I would thoroughly enjoy after half a dozen schooners. Eamon tried the specialty, The Diablo and he was glad he got the sauce on the side. By the sounds of it and by the hue of his face, this is one fiery steak. Chilli seems to be a hobby for the gang at Fork in Hand with a peculiar array of homemade chilli sauces and a Chilli Challenge for those pub goers who hold a low regard for their rectal health. I’d say if you’re into Mexican flavours — and a carnivore — there’d be a few things to excite you in this menu.

Tap beers You’ll find the likes of Resches, Coopers, Old and Fat Yak here as well as Bulmers and Dirty Granny for the cider swillers. There’s also Guinness and a couple of Rocks Brewing Co. craft beers on tap. 
Kid friendly? The bistro welcomes kids with a Sunday family roast special.
Canine friendly? You could definitely sit on the small offering of chairs out the front with your fur-ever bud. 
Music No music, only the sound of televised sports games. This was a big atmosphere killer for us. We saw a poster advertising live music and a free sausage sizzle on Sundays though. 
Chips Standard shoestrings. They’re not the best chips for sharing with mates over a few beers — or for eating in public at all for that matter. They are the kind of chips you eat in front of a movie at home…alone…where no-one can judge you for shoving 26 in your mouth at one time. These chippies get 2.5/5 spuds.
The Yard Stick A super dooper schooey of Coopers is $7.00. Standard.

All up, this backstreet boozer gets a 6.5 outta 10 bird-flippin’ outback Santas.

The Pursuit of Hoppyness

After a few weeks of meeting up weekly to get out of the West and head into Sydney to sniff out a ripper tap house, grab an adventurous schooner and have a chinwag — this ale-swilling duo had discovered a few gems. They also found they knew nothing about Sydney pubs and where to find the real pearlers tucked away in each corner of the sprawling inner suburbs.

They had a feeling in their beer bellies that once they knew where the magic was to be found, others would pubably want to know too.

And so, in the pursuit of establishments offering delicious tap beers, great music, and a warm atmosphere with plenty of soul and laughter, the idea to start a blog came to life. Or, as Emma likes to put it: an excuse to eat deep-fried potato all around Sydney and call it a ‘blogging project’ became apparent.

Pubs are important to us. We grew up in them.
Deep Heat and beer. Do you know what the combination of those aromas signifies? Middle-aged men playing soccer. And as our Dad is a soccer fanatic, this is the smell of our childhood Sundays. The best part about Soccer Sundays was heading to the team’s pub afterwards. While the old fellas congratulated themselves on making it through another game without breaking anything, us kids ran amok in that other great hop-soaked institution: the Beer Garden.

That beer garden set the scene for many of my early memories: playing hide and seek and running from the stinky boys, then a couple of years later flirting with the very same boys (this is Emma speaking by the way, just to clarify), and a few years after that longing to leave the kids behind and be counted as one of the grown-ups inside. It was the backdrop for my first encounter with real-life violence and I remember it being both exhilarating and terrifying. It was the place where an eleven-year-old Eamon downed EIGHT steak sandwiches at a soccer presentation BBQ — also exhilarating and terrifying.

I’ll never forget that pub. And when I think back on my uni days in Bathurst, my years living in London and Edinburgh or our family holidays to Ireland, it’s the pubs I remember.

Magic happens in pubs. They have a rich history and can be the architectural highlight of a postcode. There’s a sense of community in pubs.  Pubs are where society’s isolated go to connect with each other and leave their loneliness behind for a few hours. Pubs can be the background for finding soulmates; forging lifelong friendships; wetting the baby’s head and celebrating birthdays, engagements, promotions and sporting victories. They are the place where dares are offered up and accepted. They are where youngsters — in a determined effort to be accepted into the Big Boys and Gals Club — develop a palate for what, at first, seems unpalatable. They are the backdrop for the kind of passionate, beer-fuelled discourse between mates that finds solutions to all of the world’s problems —genius solutions that are then forgotten by morning.

Pubs are just bloody brilliant, alright?

And now that I have accidentally written a love letter to pubs — let’s move on to the scoring system!

We will take note of the things we find ourselves wondering about when we are heading somewhere new.
Atmosphere
Service
Beer Garden
Grub Eamon will try the signature dish and I will try the vegan offering. We will clock the vegetarian and gluten-free options too.
Tap beers
Kid friendly?
Canine friendly?
Music
Chips Each pub’s chips will receive a spud rating. Goes without sayin’ really.
The Yard Stick Every reviewing system needs a point of comparison, especially on price. So we will take note of the price of a Coopers schooner at each venue. We’ve chosen Coopers because it’s a great aussie-owned and vegan-friendly beer and is available in most inner Sydney pubs.

Each pub will get a score out of ten and any pubs who score lower than five will not be published on the blog. This is not a space for beating up struggling venues or chef’s who have had a bad day. This will be the place to come to find out more about solid Sydney pubs.

Let us know if there is anything else you wonder about when you’re considering the next location for your Sunday session, birthday bash or Tinder date.

Drop in again soon yeah mate? Cheers!