Bank Hotel: Newtown

Okay, so you will often hear some of the rusted-on Newtown locals use the Bank hotel as benchmark for what went wrong with their idealised innerwest niche of the 80s and 90s. That is, they hate the fact that things change, that places progress...and yes, these venues discover good service and hygene! Too often I hear people I know (some I consider friends) moaning about how the sharply renovated Bank Hotel is not what they want a pub to be...these people are generally broke and can be found drinking at pubs that "resisted" change in the area. In fact there was a sense of joy among these folk when the Bank caught fire last year. Sad!

If you are of sound mind, do not have a chip on your shoulder and love restaurant quality food and excellent prices at the bar - then the Bank is for you. Since their multi million dollar and lengthy renovation some years back, The Bank has settled in to be, in my opinion, the best watering hole in the area. I can't bring myself to use the word pub anymore - if pub is what you are after, you wont have to travel too far to find an alternate establishment complete with crusty old carpet, smelly toilets and equally smelly locals who may even be keen for a fight.

At the Bank, you will find excellent service throughout, drinks that are often cheaper than their grotty old school rivals in the area and one of the best Thai menus in Newtown (a noteable achievement in a suburb that has more Thai restaurants than bus stops). If you end up here later at night or the weekend, you will find friendly but extremely good security, which combined with the overall cleanliness of the place these days, makes it a haven in Newtown. Don't worry about the moaners who complain about progress and whine about "gentrification", because these smelly, scruffy types will be elsewhere when you visit the Bank. If you want to surround yourself with people who shower every day, appreciate good service and fine food, then this is the place. You can bank on it.