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Sunday, December 14, 2014

Mary's, Newtown

Bloody Mary with bacon and cheese at Mary's, Newtown

Who said cocktails can't come with a slice of grilled cheese and bacon? It makes perfect sense on a Bloody Mary, the spicy tomato juice protected by a lid of melted cheese. This bad boy comes to you from the crew at Mary's, Newtown- home of burgers, Metallica and deep fried chicken.

Inside Mary's, Newtown

So Mary's might have opened a new takeaway outlet in the city, but only Newtown allows you to eat-in and while away several hours with booze. The entrance still looks grotty, the interior is deliberately dark and gloomy, and the music borders on deafening, but that still doesn't stop the joint reaching capacity by 12.30pm on a Saturday. There's a steady trickle of families too - it's not unusual to see prams and toddlers wandering the floor on a weekend.

Jack Daniel's hot sauce at Mary's, Newtown

Service can be notoriously brusque at Mary's. We queue at the bar at 11.55am only to have one bar staff tell us sternly "don't you dare try and order food before midday". Mmmkay. Other staff members, however, go out of their way to be helpful.

Bloody Mary with bacon and cheese at Mary's, Newtown
Bloody Mary with bacon and cheese $18

But they that gives us more time to settle in with drinks, me with a Young Henry's cider and Suze with her Bloody Mary. We all try some of that Bloody Mary of course.

Sucking up that spicy tomato cocktail through a blanket of blowtorched cheese has to be up there as one of the craziest things you can drink. Then there's a drunken sense of bewilderment as you try to scoop up that melty cheese goodness with a straw. The curl of caramelised bacon on top is crazy delicious. And the pickled onion works brilliantly too. If you ever wanted a meal in a glass, this would have to be damned near perfection.

Delivering burgers and fries at Mary's, Newtown

The menu hasn't changed since my last visit, but novelty has never been high on the list of priorities here. The only thing that has changed is our appetite.

Double cheeseburger with trashcan bacon and fries at Mary's, Newtown
Cheeseburger and fries $14 
with extra patty $3 and trashcan bacon $4 

These days we're all about double burgers. A cheeseburger with fries will set you back $14 but throw in an extra three bucks and you've got a double patty. Trashcan bacon is mandatory, $4 for three strips of sweet and smoky cured porcine goodness - smoked on a clean trashcan lid if you haven't worked that one out yet.

Double cheeseburger with trashcan bacon close-up Mary's, Newtown
Double cheeseburger goodness

Getting your gob around that double-stacked behemoth is your biggest worry. That melting river of gooey cheese is the least of your problems. Pickle slices are exactly what you need to balance everything out.

Mushroom burger with trashcan bacon and fries at Mary's, Newtown
Mushroom burger and fries $12
with trashcan bacon $4

We've always steered past the mushroom burger on previous visits but word on the meat-free streets indicated this was worth making a detour. We succumb out of curiosity - but only after adding trashcan bacon.

Whoah. It's hard to beat the satisfaction of biting into a juicy meat patty, but sinking your teeth into this giant field mushroom isn't a bad consolation. The mushroom has a satisfying resistance with each bite, marked with an umami intensity that fulfils all your savoury requirements. Bonus points too for not squirting rivulets of oil like many other mushroom burgers we've tried.

DSC_7855-1411
Whole bird fried chicken $30

And of course there would be fried chicken. A whole bird ends up a decent-sized pile in our plastic basket. There's a terrific crunch to the knobbly batter. Make sure you drench it in hot sauce, siphoned into mini Jack Daniel's bottles on every table.

Mashed potato and gravy at Mary's, Newtown
Mashed potato and gravy $5

Round everything out with mashed potato and gravy. The mash is silkier than your sexiest bed sheets, smothered in a lake of gravy.

Dipping fries in mashed potato and gravy at Mary's, Newtown
Carb on carb action - chips dipped in mashed potato

There's no shame in carb on carb action. Dip your fries in that mashed potato and relish every mouthful.

Even as burger joints seem to opening up all over the city, it's good to see that Mary's is still holding her own.

Mary's Burger in the kitchen at Mary's, Newtown
Mary's burger (with lettuce and tomato)

Double cheeseburger with trashcan bacon and fries at Mary's, Newtown
Double cheeseburger with trashcan bacon

Bar and menu at Mary's, Newtown
Downstairs bar

Mary's Burger and cheeseburger at Mary's, Newtown


Mary's on Urbanspoon

Mary's
6 Mary Street, Newtown, Sydney

Opening hours:
Monday to Friday 4pm-12am
Saturday 12pm-12am
Sunday 12pm-10pm


Related Grab Your Fork posts:
Mary's Newtown (April 2013)

Burgers - Pub Life Kitchen at the Lord Wolseley Hotel, Ultimo

27 comments:

  1. OMG that drink looks like a heart attack waiting to happen!! Still haven't tried their burgers, its on the New Year's Resolution list :)

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  2. Sorry, put me in the I Don't Get It category. The mushroom burgers may be a lot better with bacon, but without them they were very poor. I do confess that I am on the outer for so-bad-it's-good unhealthy food. I don't eat to die.

    Add the over loud music and that's a deal breaker for me.

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  3. Hmmmm i dunno about a cheese and bacon cocktail lol :p but fried chicken? yes please!

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  4. Ohh that double cheeseburger!! It's kind of a crime I haven't made it to Mary's.

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  5. Mary's burgers kill me everytime. Especially with that mash! Ditto for the barb & carb action!

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  6. No other way to have their cheeseburger than to double the patty with trashcan bacon!!! It was nice to finally meet A & C too!

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  7. This post almost killed me with deliciousness! That bloody mary - what Homer dreams are made of. Woohoo!

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  8. Not very fond of Bloody Marys but this one looks hard to resist.

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  9. So glad I got some carb on carb action in (over the weekend) here. It is delcious, exactly as you describe. Also, I dream about the Bloddy Mary here, but will have to be content with your snaps of Suze's drink!

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  10. aww man look at those babe-licious burgers! come to mommaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

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  11. Whoa Bloody Mary with bacon and cheese... that's crazy. Only at Marys! And LOL at mash being silkier than your sexiest bed sheets! That mash is pretty awesome!

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  12. Whoa, does cheese and bacon actually work with a Bloody Mary? I can't envision it...but perhaps those more adventurous can.

    As for Mary's itself, I could totally get myself some of that fried chicken again. Dayummm

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  13. Hard core carb action for sure! I had to double take that bloody Mary, but upon thinking about it I can see how that would actually totally work!

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  14. i totally need a blowtorch just to melt cheese and remake that awesome bloody mary

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  15. "Don't you dare try to order before midday." - Really? With an attitude like that, I'd totally skip this place. Add the loud music and the gloomy lighting and it sounds like my worst nightmare. Gladly leave my place for others who may enjoy that type of experience!

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  16. The food looks great but the drink? meh~~ :) I want one of those burgers.

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  17. That bloody mary with bacon and cheese...damn that's epic stuff!

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  18. That's taking a bloody mary to an entire new dimension, almost makes it a cheese burger. Still need to try Mary's, hopefully soon.

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  19. Apart from the frightening service and music so loud you could lose some hearing, this place looks funky and original. Now I want to start my day with a spicy bloody Mary with all the toppings and how good does the fried chicken look! xx

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  20. Woah that bloody mary is one crazy drink but it's good to hear it tasted nice :P A shame about the attitude of the bartender - good service makes the world of difference!

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  21. Dear Helen,

    Grotty with deafening music and a shitty attitude - sounds like one big trash can to me.

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  22. i love that drink! omg!!!! really miss this place!

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  23. This looks amazing and I’m salivating just looking at your pictures.

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  24. You got me with that bloody Mary photo! This is definitely going on my MUST TRY list. And those burgers...those burgers....someone just kill me now, I'm suffering....(I just had salad for dinner. SALAD. In an attempt to claw back my weekend calorie blow out)

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  25. My mates and I went to Marys the other night and the wait was SO long for a table we had to leave!
    I can see why now though, the food looks SO good!

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

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  26. Gaaah, this place was a "maybe" on my last visit to Sydney! I feel like I missed out so baaaaaaad!

    I want all of the bacon and all of the fried chicken!!!!

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  27. You can't beat a classic burger like this! I'm yet to try the Mary's CBD joint, but do quite like the Newtown vibes!

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