Exchange Hotel, Balmain

Cnr Beattie & Mullens Streets
94 Beattie Street, Balmain
Reviewers: C J Miller & Joe Blogs
Time: Friday night

"Exchange bow tie compliments with the staff"

In an effort to drink away the memories of a job he'd quit and finished up that day, Sydney Pub List member, Mr Miller, kicks off a mini Balmain pub crawl at the Exchange Hotel.

Welcoming you to an empty front bar are two bar staff dressed up like 1950s card dealers. A little too over the top, and Miller speaking from personal past experience, "you'd be pissed off having to iron a white pleated shirt and do up a black bow tie to go and work in a pub."

Front bar. Ridiculous bell object takes over the place.

The Exchange is nicely fitted out but really lacked any atmosphere on the night that we blew through. Our crowd were the first and pretty much the only people in the place, which was fine, but unusual for a Friday night. The drab rugby league on every TV didn't help much.

Rear bar of front room

The Exchange is reasonably equipped with it's rectangular island bar, serving up an 'okay' range of beers but nothing outstanding. A Carlton Draught was ringing up at $5.20, as was the VB. James Squires "Chancer" poured in at $6.90.

You can't help noticing the giant bell-shaped object hanging from the ceiling, possibly a ridiculous light pendant. There's a room/bar off to the side, closed on our visit, that looks fit for private functions more than anything. Up the back of the main room is a bit of a change of pace with a loungier area with couches and upholstered bench seats, a bookcase and dim sexytime lighting.
 

dark hidey-hole lounge area.

The Exchange is a good starting point for a Balmain pub crawl, with Dick's across the road (Dick's Hotel review), The Town Hall a little bit further up the street (Town Hall review here) and all the pubs along Darling Street. So that's why Miller picked the Exchange for as 'crawl starting point. "I still can't bring myself to go back to The West End (aka The Balmain) after they went contiki on the beer garden", he stated.

Mr Miller goes on to say, "Not a bar I would frequent, or ever again. They did have VB on tap though, which was surprising. It looks to cater more for the 'Stella out of a flute glass' type of crowd."

"Oh man, looks underwhelming." - Burger Bot

One of the crawl crew ordered up a pulled pork burger with appleslaw and chips and gave the order only a 6/10, saying the burger was a bit bland. Although it was noted that they ate the whole lot so can't have been that bad. "Appleslaw was more interesting."
There's a bucket load of pubs to choose from in the Balmain area and The Exchange is just one of them. That is, it isn't really a stand out. Going by the number of people witnessed there in the past on a Sunday arvo session, seems like it is a hit with enough people to keep the place going and keep the bar staff dressed like cashed up waiters. Your first challenge is finding your way into the place. All the doors turn out to be windows, evidenced by multiple people trying to push there way in (and out) via immovable glass.


Our little Balmain tour: [Exchange Hotel, Dick's Hotel, Town Hall Hotel]

 
Their webby: http://exchangehotel.com.au