the bar at the lord nelson brewery hotel

on my last day in sydney i had a whirlwind tour of the city which ended at the lord nelson brewery hotel in the rocks. the rocks is one of the oldest parts of sydney. it was here that the first fleet of convicts arrived with captain arthur phillip. the gentrification of the area sometimes makes it hard to imagine what it’s history was like. however, in the little alleys there are steel cut outs of captains narrating the history of the area. there is also a museum which unfortunately i was unable to see.

the lord nelson brewery hotel was established in eighteen forty-one. the downstairs bar has that slightly distinct yeasty smell that is customary of beer. the walls are adorned with interesting snippets of history about the hotel. as it is famous for it’s brews i figured it would be best to try one of ales. l picked two pale ales for me to choose from. the one that i chose was the colour of a pale honey and tasted like mead. the ale also determined my lunch choice of tempura ale battered fish and chips with wasabi mayo. it didn’t seem quite right to be eating a chilli and crab spaghettini with shaved reggiano. i also asked for my chips to be swapped with peas.

the fish and chips arrived in rather enormous proportions (more on the lines of what you would expect in the us of a). i must confess that in general the three times that i ate out in sydney, the helpings were really generous. i think though that two battered fish's is a bit excessive. i wasn’t able to finish all of my fish but it’s probably the best fish i’ve had in quite a while. the slightly bruised peas were excellent as they retained their shape and texture and were fresh. 


perhaps the wasabi mayo could have done with a little more kick.