Guess who's back. Yep, The Lansdowne Hotel is open again. Forlorn fans will remember that the Lansdowne closed in August 2015 with plans to redevelop the site into a performing arts school. That proposal eventually fell through. Enter Jake Smyth and Kenny Graham (co-owners of Mary's and the Unicorn Hotel) and you know how it goes... they all lived happily ever after.
In addition to reviving the Lansdowne as a live music venue - the former upstairs dining room has been converted to a performance space that will fit 250 people - the menu has also been given an overhaul.
Lansdowne Hotel dining area
The dining area is now constrained to the ground floor bar area, with seats for less than 50 people. There's a pool table in one corner and a dartboard right next to it.
The bar with $10 lunch options on the blackboard menu
The bar is serving up beer on tap as well as cocktails at $16 to $17 a pop. Food starts at 12pm with pizzas and pastas only available at dinner. Pizzas are also served up on weekend lunches, including a Mary's burger pizza. All the pizza dough is made in-house, a process that takes 48 hours.
BBQ cheeseburger $17
The all-day Classics menu includes a Mary's-style bbq cheeseburger that comes with an optional $3 trash can bacon add-on. It's wrapped up in greaseproof paper and set sail on a boat of satisfyingly salty French fries.
Beef patty, melted cheese, pickles and bbq sauce inside the cheeseburger
If the burger doesn't grab you, there's a fish finger sambo, caesar salad and the Korean-inspired "fire chicken" nachos. Vegetarian and vegan dishes are all clearly marked, including a cauliflower mac n cheese, eggplant parma and chopped salad.
Mie goreng $10 lunch special
If you want maximum value for money (and you miss the ol' $7 specials from 2011), head over at lunchtime and get your mouth around one of the blackboard $10 lunch specials. On the day we stopped by, I picked the mie goreng over the pork lasagna. Because mi goreng.
Mie goreng could so easily be a disaster in the wrong hands but the version is umami central. There's a hefty whack of savoury spiciness in every bite of this muddle of noodles, vegetables, pork and fried onions. We're talking ideal hangover food. Or wake-me-up sustenance. Trust me. It's good. You probably won't need that extra scoop of chilli sauce at the pick-up counter either, but go for gold. Your tastebuds deserve to party.
Steak frites $10 lunch special
And if the steak frites is on the $10 menu, just do it. Go on and order two $10 dishes if you can't decide. I did.
Steak perfection
The 250g Rangers Valley steak with chips and cafe de paris sits at $28 on the standard menu. The $10 version is a cracker. We're talking juicy flavoursome steak cooked to grunt-worthy perfection. The cafe de paris butter on top is sweet as, too.
Welcome back Lansdowne. We missed you.
The Lansdowne Hotel
2-6 City Road, Chippendale
Tel: +61 (02) 8218 2333
Opening hours
Monday to Saturday 12pm-3am
Sunday 12pm-12am
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Mary's, Newtown
yas $10 steak!!
ReplyDeleteThey were still behind hoarding when we left town, so good to see what they've done with it. I'm seriously craving steak frites for some reason. Hubba hubba!
ReplyDeleteGreat to see the Lansdowne back open again. That steak frites looks pretty good and a bargain at $10.
ReplyDeleteMie goreng for lunch? Definitely!
ReplyDelete