After dating two girls who both came from Kurrajong in the Blue Mountains (I wonder what they put in the water up there?) I couldn’t help being curious when I recently went past the Kurrajong Hotel in Erskineville. Sure, they probably named the pub after the tree and not the locale, but still – it never hurts to explore all your options.

While I didn’t discover any new girlfriends when I popped my head in I did find a great, traditional Aussie pub, complete with tiles, art deco features and a massive middle bar that dates back to the six o’clock swill. I also discovered something else: namely a Spanish kitchen that offers a relatively authentic tapas menu.

I go back on a Saturday night with two friends of mine and find an eclectic crowd in the pub. A group of lesbians sprawl over each other on the sofas on one side, a group of gamblers shuffle chips at a poker table up the front, and some footy fans are glued to the TV screen. Amongst all this there’s a man in a wheelchair (apparently a local) who proceeds to put on a strait jacket and then escape from it while writhing on the ground. Now that’s entertainment.

We order some Carlton Draughts (we don’t want to get fancy in a pub like this) and, after watching the wheelchair guy escape (I have to admit, he’s pretty good – he managed to extricate himself within a minute or two), we order the Spanish meatballs, some patata bravas (potatoes covered in a creamy chilli tomato sauce), chorizo cooked in cider and some calamari.

Erskineville might be a long way from central Madrid but you wouldn’t know it from the tapas. The calamari is tender, the meatballs spicy and it’s good to see people cooking chorizo in cider rather than just serving it as is (I hardly ever link to food blogs, but one that has a lot of inspiring chorizo cooking ideas – including with cider – is the charmingly named Bitchincamero).

The only other thing to mention is that the service, from the bar staff to the people we dealt with from the kitchen, is friendly. If you’re in the area then the Kurrajong Hotel is certainly worth popping in.

Kurrajong Hotel. 106 Swanson Street, Erskineville. Phone 9519 3609.

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Now it’s your turn – how do you rate the Kurrajong Hotel?

Kurrajong Hotel - Erskineville, 4.3 out of 5 based on 7 ratings

 

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1. Rose of Australia – Erskineville
2. Hotel Steyne (Round Bar and Moonshine) – Manly
3. Riverview Hotel – Balmain
4. Exchange Hotel – Balmain
5. The Welcome Hotel – Rozelle