| The Sandringham Hotel, Newtown |
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| Written by Administrator | |
| Thursday, 15 November 2001 | |
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Sandringham Hotel, 387 King St, Newtown , Ph: 02 9557 1254 The Sandringham Hotel, once a cultural centre in Newtown is now reduced to.......? I actually ride past the Sando everyday, and from the outside they have done a great job with the recent renovations. They actually replaced the old tiles with heritage "pub" looking tiles - thumbs up. More pubs should do it. Unfortunately, the outside is really as good as it gets. Recently the Sando underwent a major renovation and basically the pub no longer knows what it wants to be. It seems to be some confusion between a pub, a restaurant and a coffee shop. Oh no! I just realized what it was: it looks like an newly renovated RSL club......The running theme throughout seems to be Mexican/Spanish - the toilets have signs saying' Senoritas' and 'Senores!' The bar at this point has not been completed, but basically there are five sections to the pub the main bar area: the pokie area, the pool/entertainment room, the restaurant, and another room upstairs which can be used for a private function (as it was when I visited).The main bar has nothing but chairs and tables and they are of the coffee shop variety - that new laminex-style table with a bad Ken Done Mexican image on them and metal-backed (brushed chrome) chairs. These tables go out through to the restaurant area (which leads to a small beer garden). To the side is the "entertainment" area of the pub with two pool tables, a couple of video games and a big screen TV running Fox. As stated, I never saw upstairs due to the sign stating private function. The walls are painted in a sort of plain beige, something that won't conflict with those wonderful tables. This pub is as far removed from the Sando of old as it could be. Let me now tell you about the one-time cultural and musical centre of Newtown. Yes the Sando was old, run down, small, dingy, but on any given night or weekend it had a crowd that would have made this new pub jealous. The Sando was a musos pub, and every day and night there was a band playing and usually they were free. This is where The Whitlams started, Roaring Jack, Frenzl Rhomb played there, The Shouties (and Bernie Hayes) and who could forget the Spurs for Jesus with the chicken wire. The stage was nothing more than milkcrates with plywood on top, but no one cared, and everyone had a great time. And there were only a few pokies. Now we have a place void of soul, filled with old people. Most residents of Newtown refuse to go there because they feel betrayed and lied to. There is a backpackers' just up the road so they will probably get a few Irish backpackers hanging out there, but generally, everytime I walk past, it really isn't that full. Maybe the pokies room is full! This is one place that due to pokies has turned its back on live music - oh sorry, on Friday and Saturday they do have those sort of one- or two-piece bands with a drum machine belting out covers. May my memory live forever. Slight Re-review post bands 14th August 2003 The Sando has been playing bands now for the past six-twelve months so some friends and I decided to venture in when we saw Marty (from The Church) was playing. The band room is situated upstairs above the kitchen and pool/games room and not being the biggest place would probably hold 100 people. Here there is a small bar they set up and on this day there were tables and chairs set up. Not sure if this is a regular setup or not, but it definatly restricts the crowd to approx 70. Overall not a bad place to see a band, not sure if there is a difference in the beer price as we were buying our beer downstairs in the main bar and bringing them upstairs due to the fact that there is no Squires Amber Ale on tap upstairs. So will I be back to see a band here at the Sando? I think yes. Beer Serving:
What's in a Bottle:
Micro Brewed Beers: None Seating Arrangement: Mainly chairs and tables, some stools and tall tables in the entertainment room, and you can sit at the bar. Food/Type: Tapas style menu Pool Tables: Two Poker Machines: Yes, tucked in the front corner. JukeBox and Selection: Didn't see one Decor: Plain, beige-like, nice from the outside. Crowd: When I was there: old locals but most Newtown people refuse to step in the place. Operating Hours: Not sure Live Music: Psuedo live music TAB: No Other Entertainment: No Surrounding Suburbs: Camperdown, Enmore, St Peters, Erskineville. Only registered users can write comments. Powered by AkoComment 2.0! |
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| Last Updated ( Saturday, 22 January 2005 ) |
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