The Republic, Sydney

69-73 Pitt Street (cnr Pitt and Bridge streets), Sydney
Reviewers on board: Burger Bot and Joe Blogs
Time of review: Lunch noms

"Multi-level lunch special business, zombies by Terry"

It was a nice, sunny 27 degree day in Sydney and what better way to enjoy a lunch out of the office than with a cold refreshing beer. Sluuurrrrrrppppppomnomnomsssspaaaahhhhhhh.


On this occasion we found ourselves at The Republic ready to check out the wares and goodies and stuff. Although we were originally heading for an open rooftop courtyard of a pub down the road, which we found closed when we arrived, the view from the 1st level bar and open windows of the ground floor Republic bar served us well enough for this occasion.

Sitting wedged on a small block on the corner of Pitt and Bridge (or Bridge and Pitt if you're that way inclined), The Republic offers a refuge and escape for the corporate-hub workers near by. We can't speak much about its night life (having not been there during that period) but by day this place is "business at the front and business at the rear" No mullets here, just business. Drinking business, eating business, business business, topless statue business. Wait, what?

Booby business

Beer things
There are a few liquidy beer things on tap here, pretty much what you get over most bars -  Coopers Pale, Carlton Draught, Pure Blonde, Tooheys Spew, and Cascade Pale Ale to name a few. Cider drinkers will also find Bulmers on tap but in the ground floor bar only. The selections are fine here, no major quarrels, however we did find the price to be a little north of where we'd like it. We're told by Terry (more on Terry later) ordering a Carlton Draught will see you handing over $5.40, which isn't too bad, but drinking a Coopers Pale as we did on this occasion will cost you $6.30. The Cascade Pale was a tad more again at $6.50. On a previous visit a round of three drinks was $20. Bullshitmate.

Food stuff
The food stuff is available throughout the establishment with service to the ground floor and 1st floor. There's also a function room on the 2nd for "special occasions" and a dining room on the 3rd. Upon arrival we found no room in the front bar (aka "VIP Lounge" - what's with that?) and so headed up one flight for the 1st floor bonanza where we were met with plenty of seating and grabbed a spot by the window overlooking Pitt Street and the Bridge Street intersections. Pleasant enough. Approve.

Food specials! Lucky for us, we rolled into the Republic on burger special day. Burger Bot's mouth hinged wide open with this news and artificially fabricated droid saliva came out. The moisture got all over his circuits creating a bit of a "tickled fancy" situation. Sparks sure did fly, but all patrons eyebrows remained intact. Phew. He was excited to say the least with this burger special news. Monday and Tuesday offers up $12 steaks, Wednesday is for $10 burgers ("award winning" apparently), and Thursdays and Saturdays are reserved for $10 schnitzels. Two of their finest $10 burgers are ordered immediately.

The Burger - normally $16, today $10

Burger Bot's Not So Big Bangin' Burger Review
A surprise it was! For $10 you get a great value burger, consisting of the usual suspects but with the added bonus of bacon, beetroot relish and a special tomato sauce (Terrry... This is tomato right?) Complemented by the right amount of fries, this lunch is the right amount of right. Right. Speaking of views, I had the pleasure of watching Blogs chowing his way through the burger's sizable pattie (maybe doesn't have to be so big considering all the other goodies). Anyway back to the pretzels, so he's chowing away with those saucy digits and I'm so sure I hear a little bit of a sing song coming through the teary bites "whhhhoa whoa sweet burger of mineee" lets leave it at that. Bot out.

Venue Hoojah

Upstairs isn't much to write home about, not much to talk about there. It's a spot to eat a cheap lunch special first and a bar to buy beer second. After we finished up our burgers it was time to head downstairs to the VIP bar. Yes, apparently their main, front bar is for "very important people". Ahhhh, that's nice isn't it?! We are all very important. Along the way a quick stop is required to the "facilities" and it's all good. No dribbles, over-flowing paper towel bins or overwhelming urges to spew with the sight and smell of the little boys room. No qualms.

The vibe in the main bar is pretty cruisy. It's open and airy and provides a good street-level view out onto the street. Perfect for a Summer beer with a cool breeze. The bar has a bit more on tap than upstairs and there's more fridge space for zombies. Oh, we didn't mention the zombies? Yeah, the fridge upstairs is for keeping zombies and human body parts. A sticker on the front reads "188 persons" telling us so. We wondered if this was whole human bodies or heads only. Keep the fingers separate from the toes and the legs from the arms. We believe there's a work experience barman named Terry. He's often mixing up the old heads with the new ones. They should be on separate sides of the fridge! Terrryyyy! (*Queue end-credits of a show called "Terry". There's a mistake on an order where Terry has put a zombie finger on a 'no-finger' burger and the other staff can only have a laugh about it. "Ohhhh, Terrrryyyy!" Zoom into Terry's face with a big dumb 'oh sorry, I stuffed up' grin as he puts his thumbs up and a round frame comes in from the sides of the tele to close in and form a circle around his face with the title of the show appearing over the top - "Terry!" Candid laughter). Whoa, we got a bit side-tracked there.

Also at street level you'll find a compact betting area tucked into a corner adjacent the sportier feeling bar, ATM, floor boards under foot and some limited seating on the foot path out front. Keep on the look out for Terry and watch he doesn't mistake a zombie finger from the fridge as your ice. Terrryyyyy!

Website: www.republichotel.com