Allan Smithy's Guide to Inner West Sydney Pubs

The singer/songwriters takes us through a crawl of his favourite local haunts.

Posted By Pile Rats 8 years ago

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Allan Smithy (aka Matt Amery) believes the ultimate way to come up with a new song is to keep things simple, take the dog for a walk, grab a beer, let the inspiration flow. And it would appear that’s just what he has done for his new tune, The Streets. Smithy is true-blue, and so is his music, which is why we love it. Produced by Liam Judson, The Streets is an honest, down to earth account of Western Sydney life, told by a man who knows. He’s even given us his five best spots for a bit of alcoholic inspiration in the Sydney Suburbs. Check out the clip for The Streets below, and underneath that, Smithy's five favourite watering holes.

ALLAN SMITHY'S GUIDE TO INNER WEST SYDNEY PUBS:

If you live in Sydney and you don’t live near the beach (or a pool) it can get pretty shit in summer. Hot days, sleepless nights, and back sweat. For me, the only respite from the summer sizzle is to stroll down to the local pub, sit in front of the air conditioning and sink a couple of beers. Here are a couple of pubs you should try on for size:

The Eveleigh Hotel

Some people move to Bondi for the beach, or Surry Hills for the cafés, but I’d move to Chippendale for The Eveleigh Hotel. I want to be a local there so badly. It’s kind of like being on the set of Cheers; everyone knows everyone with good chat going on left, right and centre. But there is also trivia on a Thursday, and it's dog friendly. There are dogs inside the pub! I wish I could drink there everyday. It is the perfect pub.

allan smithy eveleigh

The Forest Lodge Hotel

forest lodge hotel

I once had a schooner at The Forest Lodge Hotel. It was called the Spartan and it was 12.5%. For beer that is a BIG number. Try knocking back a couple of them on a Friday afternoon. I did… and I was in bed by 7:30 PM. And this is the amazing thing about The “Flodge,” - it always serves up something different. They have different unique beers on tap all the time so every time you walk through those doors you can try a beer you have probably never heard of, and if it’s the Spartan, you probably wont remember.

allan smithy forest lodge

The Rose Hotel

When you live in the inner city space is a premium, and The Rose has a bunch of it. This is a mega pub. It’s a labyrinth. There are rooms that I have never and will never enter. What’s upstairs? I don’t know. I just sit in the MASSIVE beer garden, or at least try to. It would seem that half of Sydney has the same idea as me. It has good food, good trivia and good beer so it makes sense. I tried to take a photo there the other night, but I couldn’t get a seat in the beer garden. So here is a photo of me in front of a mirror adorned by candles. Still pretty nice.

The Welcome

***Disclaimer: This used to be my local***

This pub is ace. It’s small (and cosy), has a fireplace, and lets you sit inside with your dog on a hot day and sink beers while you watch the cricket. I once asked Rob (the bartender) to join my band after a thousand beers. I can’t remember what happened from there but the offer still stands Rob.

allan smithy welcome1

The Duck Inn

Think of this one as the little curve ball. If The Rose is too full for your liking, or if you just like a quiet bar, take a little stroll and head to the Duck Inn. What can I say I like the place? Cool décor and nice drinks gets me every time. Just a good little place to go, if you feel like a drink and a chat (who doesn’t).

allan smithy duck inn