A night at the pub

Last night Hn, Ae and I took Ye out for drinks and a meal to thank her for hosting us during our stay in Broome last August. It was Ye who suggested the venue, Carlisle Castle Hotel, located in the narrow back streets of Newtown.

I found the hotel reasonably easily but was worried about my chances of finding a car parking spot within distance of it on a Friday night. To my amazement a space was available right in front of the hotel.

I feel for residents in the area whose extremely narrow streets are clogged with parked cars and the width of the space left over in between them amounts to little more than a back lane leaving only sufficient room for one car to be driven on the street proper. It is not possible to pass a car travelling in the other direction down these two way streets unless you can find a break in the parked cars into which to manoeuvre your car. Selfishly I didn't feel any guilt at adding to the congestion by driving to the venue.


The hotel is a rabbit warren of rooms and drinking, eating and gambling areas all of them modernised. The atmosphere last night was lively and noisy and the restaurant patrons ranged from families with young children in tow to adults in small and large groups.

We weren't aware that the restaurant had been written up in the Sydney Morning Herald's Good Living supplement only two weeks ago. Ye ordered Whiting Fillets, Ae selected Potato Gnocchi, Hn chose Lamb Fillets and I stuck with a Rump Steak, pepper sauce and mashed potato. All four meals were excellent. The prices for meals and drinks were quite reasonable.

Whilst the hotel was very noisy in the way these establishments always are when heaving with customers our evening was enjoyable and we are keen to try it again for a week day lunch when the ambiance, minus the families, should be more relaxed.