202 Australia Street, Newtown
Reviewers present: Macca, Simone, JB
Time of review: Afternoon AFL and beers
Reviewers present: Macca, Simone, JB
Time of review: Afternoon AFL and beers
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| Courthouse Hotel - quiet on the outside, happening on the in |
"Court is now in session"
The Courthouse Hotel, or "Courty" as it is more commonly known, is located just up the road from the Newtown Courthouse - funny that. There's no bullshit there. Ok, sometimes there is some bullshit out the back when all the wannabe-cool-kids blow in from 'outta (new)town', but in general what we have here is a relaxing place to enjoy your beer, meet friends, have a laugh, and enjoy a bit of sport on one of the TVs if that's what you're into - AFL preferred pub by the way. And that, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, was my opening statement.Ok, enough faffing about with the court-related words. Straight into business with the exhibits, I mean, facts.
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| View sitting at the front bar |
The front bar is great to sit at in the afternoon, listening to the bar music (of the slightly more alternative variety, thanks). The staff are friendly enough and the beers are generally well priced. The bearded ones behind the bar will pour you a schooner of Carlton Draught for $5 and a Coopers Pale for around $5.50. Jugs of Carlton are $14. When we were here, other tap beers included Vic Bit, Spew, Bummers Original and Pear, Man on Surfboard Draught (aka Reschs), Coopers Pale, Blondie, Stoned & Woody, Big Yak, and Little Critters Bright Ale. For the record, if you remember back to our post on the Alexandria and it's prices being a bit ridiculous, the price at the Courty for a lemon squash was around $3.10, and it's in a schooner glass as opposed to the Alexandria's $4 pony sized rip off. So that's a win!
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| Leigh Matthews and Rex Hunt watch over your beer |
You can order up a meal from the Courty kitchen and eat it out back in the beer garden or even at the bar, and from memory the food wont set you back too much cash. We've eaten here before but we don't rate it as 'the place to eat', especially with so many other good feeds near by in Newtown. Just stick to the liquids ;)
Pulling up at the front bar and grabbing yourself a seat is a treat. Just relax and enjoy the excellent beards/beers. Over by a side entry there's a bottle shop section of the bar and a takeaways fridge, with the locals frequently dropping in, grabbing a bottle or two and heading for the pleasant Camperdown Memorial Park across the road. The patrons generally line themselves up at the other end of the bar waiting in turn to be served. Nice manners. Around the corner there's a jukebox, ATM and tabletop arcade machine, while further back still, next to the kitchen and food orders area, you'll find some tables and a pool table.
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| Chalk board above the urinal for the Inner-West artist folk. |
A bit further back a surprise awaits - the small back deck overlooking a substantial beer garden area, which wraps around almost three sides of the hotel from Australia Street, up around Eliza Street and a little along Lennox street before heading back into the front bar. Personally, I prefer out the back in the earlier hours of the afternoon before it gets too busy. The popular beergarden fills often, generally 7 days a week. When it's busy, you'll find an outdoor bar opening up out here. Outdoors has plenty of sun and shade, some shelter from the rain and heaters from the cold.
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| One corner of the beer garden |
The Courthouse is certainly popular with the locals and out-of-towners. There is never a quiet day or night at the Courty, especially on a sunny day. Whether it be watching the footy, listening to the tunes or slipping out to the side pinnie-cave for a couple of games on the pinball machines, the Courty is a pleasant little haven just a stone throw away from the busy King Street. Maybe that's partly why it's so popular - it's off the main drag but easily accessible.
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| Just four of the pinnies available in the dimmly-lit pinball cave |
Your Honour, a final note from our witnesses.
Tip tap tap, the stenographer takes this down...
Macca: "If you're into all things AFL, you're in the right pub. It's a good pub."
Simone: "Yes, education", she says while pointing to the AFL player posters on the wall. "Also, a note to our Adelaide readers, the music and vibe (post-football) is reminiscent of the Cranker (Crown & Anchor)."
The Verdict is handed down. There was some conjecture about the final rating for this establishment. Some argued for 3.5 while others for 4. If you were to drop in to the courtyard on a busy day expecting a seat and your luck ran shit-out for seating availability, you would perhaps rate the lower mark. Food not fantastic either. On this review outing though, we overruled these negatives, given that we had an enjoyable afternoon in the front bar (despite our team losing the match we were here to watch). There has also been other times just enjoying the relaxing and chill time of the front bar and surrounds, and overall, we rate this a pretty good, no-nonsense pub, and that ladies and gentlemen is why we rate it 4 schooners. We at Sydney Pub List will reconvene here again soon.
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