Abercrombie Hotel

Bars & Pubs

Och! The Abercrombie's been given a Glaswegian makeover

First published on 17 Mar 2008. Updated on 16 Nov 2011.

The trend for taking old Sydney boozers and covering them in stainless steel and plasma screens is over. And that's no small thanks to James Wirth and James Miller - the publicans with the Midas touch. Their formula is a simple one, and yet surprisingly, few have thought to do it up until now. Step one: take an old, run-down pub. Step two: give the interior a light gutting. Step three: fill it with tat. This recipe has worked for the Flinders, the Norfolk, the Carrington and now, the Abercrombie - the popular UTS haunt and former home to Purple Sneakers. Time Out held a candlelight vigil when the Chippendale boozer closed its doors last year and breathed a sigh of relief when Miller and Wirth opened it back up again.

So there’s a drink on the list called Rave Juice. It’s Agwa and Red Bull served with a glow stick in a bag. If that’s not a recipe for losing your virginity during O Week, we don’t know what is. There’s also a Berocca Colada - vodka, pineapple and Berocca topped with soda. It’s the cure and the cause, all in one drink. It’ll put a little b-b-bounce in your step, at any rate. The beer at the Abercrombie tastes a lot better, too: it’s fresh and crisp and a lot less like the strange I-can’t-believe-it’s-not-Coopers they used to serve back in the day. Order up with a shot of Stones ginger wine for a beer cocktail.

So while you’re drinking your beer or your Camel Toe (bourbon, peach schnapps, mint, lemon juice, ginger beer), you might also like to order some snacks. They’re a strange amalgamation of American roadside trucker food and British comfort food like toad in the hole and Welsh rarebit. Make sure to try the little deep-fried pucks of mac’n’cheese. They also do a double cheeseburger and - wait for it - Philly cheese steak. There are also pork ribs. And if you’re a total sicko with a taste for cardiac arrest, stick 'em up for the deep-fried Golden Gaytime. Eat your heart out, doughnut hamburgers of the world.

The Abercrombie has been given a Glaswegian makeover. And no, that doesn’t mean taking a torch to it and head-butting the debris screaming ‘ah'll see you Jimmah!' The fresh carpet is a light green tartan. The booths that run along the walls are covered in violently fluoro green tartan. There are pictures lining the walls of sporrans and dogs and a, er, naked lady getting chomped through the middle by a great white shark. Shelves of books line the walls (sadly, they’re glued together so you can’t actually read them, but they look great) and the pokies have been removed. The toilets are still in a fair amount of disrepair with their broken locks and toilet rolls balanced precariously on window-sills, but that’s part of the charm at this old Indie pub. Fingers crossed they bring back Purple Sneakers and all will be well in the inner west once more.

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Words by Myffy Rigby