The following was penned sometime in 2019.
It had to happen some day - out of nowhere here we are again with a little pub review. And here we are again at The White Cockatoo - several years later after our first visit. The place has changed somewhat you would say, almost unrecognisable. Safe to say we've been out of the game for a while and posting these blogs is no longer second nature, but what hasn't changed is an appreciation for a good pub, a good burger and a cold beer. I'll keep this fairly brief, here we go.....
Peter's Cock underwent an overhaul a number of years ago now, we're quite late to the party. They've really opened the place up, which is immediately obvious the moment you enter the front bar doorway. There's also some major surgery gone on around the side creating a sunny beer garden and dining area. The pokey old dining area, from what I can recall at least, was a boxed in room for smashing massive birds (I mean, schnitzels). Now that area is opened up more and you'll find a bright purple topped pool table for the stick'n'ball folk to enjoy.
The front bar has ample room with high tables and stools aplenty. As you swing around the bar (show us ya nice metal wears and mirrors, by the way) you'll land your two thirsty feet at the kitchen and overlooking a couple of areas to park your arse. I write this from a perch in the beer garden overlooking the stairs to Petersham train station. Something kind of nice about enjoying the sun and watching a train-shaped world go by you.
Tap beer selection pretty good. Take-aways fridge also not bad. Craft beers for the most part. Ridiculouschnitzel menu items of yesteryear replaced by non-corpse (see previous review) meals. Burgers, check. I ordered the beef burger and grabbed a pint while I waited. My pint of Stone & Wood was $10. Jesus' Daughter, is that normal these days? Am I that old and out of the loop?! Didn't spot our benchmark beer, Carlton Draught, although I wasn't really looking.
The burger - now don't get me wrong, the burger was not bad but for $20 I was looking for more quality. I couldn't finish it or the fries it came with. Cut the quantity, increase quality.
On a side note, as I plug this text into my phone by tapping on its screen, I wonder how bars operate their music these days. Are iPods even a thing anymore? 'Back in my day' they had to operate a radio or record player with a crank handle. A small boy (or girl) was hired to do the job. Are they just hooking up to “the cloud” now? I'm imagining a bucket load of Spotify playlists called "Pub Rock", "Front Bar 80's", "Music to sink piss to, mix 5" and "Get ready to eat". This is no comment on this pub, I was seriously just wondering. Enlighten me.
Fairly friendly pub, family friendly too (noting for self). Plenty of room. No jerks, at least today.
Overall, not bad. Like what they've done with it but where can you get a sub-$20 meal these days?!
Later.
