Tonight we had tickets to see a show from one of my all time favourites authors, Ben Elton. I have read every one of his books at least 3 times. My favourites are Two Brothers, The First Casualty and Blind Faith. Gudge is a huge fan of his scriptwriting including Blackadder and Upstart Crow.
The show was at 7.30 at the casino so we had time to grab some dinner.
There's not too much I love about Tasmania's State Government, but of the few good things they've done is they provided us residents with tourism vouchers to boost local businesses during the quiet winter off-season.
We were talking our voucher to the New Sydney Hotel, THE quintessential Irish pub in Hobart City.
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| Photo courtesy of New Sydney Hotel We've had drinks there in their wonderful beer garden and have tried some small bites. But every time, service and ambience is excellent, from their open fire to their perfectly poured Guinness pints. |
Arriving at 5.45 without a reservation, we were snuck in on the proviso that we would clear the table by 7. I actually LOVE when this happens as it's almost a guarantee that service will be quick!
We start with a Coke for Gudge and a Swinging Gate Pet Nat for myself.
We order the 300g Porterhouse, chips, salad and pepper sauce for myself.
Chicken Parmigiana, chips for Gudge as well as Buttermilk fried Chicken to share.
My steak was fantastic! Perfectly medium-rare, nice char, and THICK! Great crispy chips. Salad was a dressed lettuce mix as the salad (which I'm so-so about at a $2.50 extra charge) and a lovely and peppery gravy. I'm totally happy to give this 9 out of 10 for $42.50.
Gudge really enjoyed his Parmy, noting the delicious smokiness of the ham.
We left very full, satisfied and happy. Headed to the casino with time enough to throw $20 into the pokies and head to the auditorium for an excellent show, surpassing all of my expectations. If you have a chance check out ANYTHING from Ben Elton, you should. He also seems like a lovely man.
