Newtown Social Club, Newtown

387 King Street, Netown
Reviewers, Burger Bot, Joe Blogs, Southy, Macca, FOIL LOG!
Time of review: Arvo beers, evening beers

"Stay tuned"

The Newtown Social Club is a new kid in town and takes form in the site which was once the 'Sando' (Sandringham Hotel) on King Street. The sunbaked, cracked and flakey terracotta-salmony coloured exterior is much the same but the inside is completely different. We have a look at the Newtown pub that comes from the team behind Melbourne's Northcote Social Club.

Front bar featuring all the trimmings - eg, plywood. Newtown style.

We debated holding this review off until they actually finished the place but seems like we might be waiting forever. The death of the Sando, while it was sad for many, brought about the opportunity to freshen up the place. They did a lot more than that. The place had the back end, front end and all ends smashed out of it, with Newtown Social Club (NSC) now presenting a completely different vibe.

SPL reviewer FOIL LOG enjoying a beer in front of the out-of-place brick-in

The first thing you'll notice about NSC is the open space, which is great. All the dank little hidey-holes have been removed and there's a lot more light flowing through the place now, like from the new skylights in the back half of the venue. Note the 'energy rods' buzzing away above the bar as well as the 'exposed electricals light globes only' light fixtures - a must for any new fit out these days. On the down side, there's almost too much space in some areas, like with the gaping hole in the front when you walk in. "The front room is like a large entrance of wasted space, like a rug shop without rugs", said Burger Bot. We thought this would be the perfect place for a pool table [And just as we were about to publish this entry we took note that a pool table has just gone in, thank god!]. The remainder of the bar has an airy beer hall / cafe style thing going on with rows of small tables up back and some high tables in the middle to break it up a bit. There's a healthy plant wall up the back and a refreshed beer garden / courtyard.

Back area of NSC, lots of light, steel, plywood, contrast by plant wall

Much like a couple other pubs in the area (Newtown Hotel and more recently Marlborough Hotel, north end of King Street), NCS has adopted the stripped brick DIY interior fit out, taking away the paint and plasterboard to reveal tiles and bare brick. While it's a nice change from what was there before, we thought this "style of the times" is becoming a bit of a done-thing trend and some do it better than others. We were also disappointed to see much of the old interior tiles smashed off the wall. Our personal opinion here is they should have left the old pub tile work there. We're not big fans of their low budget brick, steel and plywood inner-west warehouse attempt as it looks a bit forced and fake. I guess you can't please everyone.

About as much of the old tiles (matching the exterior tile design) you'll find left at NSC. Shame.

On the beer front, things are okay but would have liked to have seen the prices slightly lower. Carlton Draught was $6, along with a few other tap beers, like the Young Henrys "Newtowner". Resches Draught came in at $5.50. We like the fact the the prices were round numbers at least. Also good to see an improved tap beer list (when comparing to the old Sando selection - although $4 Sando Lager was a laugh). To go with your beer, you can order up some pizzas, hot dogs or a little number from their sharing menu. We haven't tried the food there though so can't comment.

NSC menu, circa July 2013

The Sando was an institution to Newtown and Sydney's live music scene. We keep hearing that the live room is coming, but when? Must be some pretty serious work going on upstairs for it to take this long. It had better be good when it finally arrives ;)  The room that was there was perfectly fine, if not one of the better live rooms of the area. Definitely the old place's draw card. To be honest, we can't really see the current clientele, from what we've seen, supporting the live scene there, or at least the live scene that used to be there. The current crew can't seem to tolerate some music playing over the pub's sound system. When we got the volume turned on a second attempt, it was only a matter of 15 minutes before it was nudged down again. With the side room now bricked off and apparently no longer part of the hotel, where does one even enter this mysterious "it's coming, it's coming" live room? Must be some kind of vortex in the men's glossy black toilet cubical that magically transports you from ground floor to upstairs live room wonderland.

FOIL LOG ENJOYING BEERS IN FACE, TWO AT TIME! FOIL LOG THIRSTY!

It's hard to imagine how the live music component is going to be, when it arrives. With the new crowd and vibe of the place (all the old crowd seems to have been turfed/moved on), can't imagine seeing any metal or punk on the bill, just a bunch of hipster indie rock. The rougher edge that the Sando had was unique in that you couldn't really see those shows elsewhere. Just assuming here but expecting the live stuff coming to this venue is just going to be the same old stuff people can see anywhere else. Will they draw the numbers? We're hoping for the best. On a positive, at least with the tie to Northcote Social Club, we might see some decent touring bands come through (at the expense of some local acts?).

FOIL LOG enjoying a beer by the King Street window

In conclusion, the Newtown Social Club is not a bad pub/public gathering place, but it doesn't really do it for us at the moment. There's nothing really there. Yes, it doesn't smell like spew upon entry anymore, the beers are reasonably priced, there's some stuck on Spiderman monkey bars up the wall and ceiling to go with the designer "demolition" fit out, the food appears to be edible, you can catch some sport (AFL included) on the TV, and there is now a pool table.... but that's it. For now. If they had kept more of the pub-feel tiles in and didn't leave the place looking like a plain blank canvas, it would be cosier, warmer, more welcoming. How about turning the tunes up past 5dB? The empty beer hall/cafe vibe doesn't make us want to come back too often. BUT! Get that band room up and running and suddenly, who knows, the place might start really happening. Stay tuned. There's potential and we hope they nail it.

Newtown Social Club shut up shop at midnight sharp?

NSCweb: http://newtownsocialclub.com/