The Roxbury Hotel

You know what? The Roxbury’s a nice pub. It’s not flashy or cool or possessed of any obvious gimmick that says “must go here”, aside from the regular comedy shows that are probably the reason that you’ve visited the grand dame of St Johns Road, if indeed you have – but it’s just a really nice community hotel in a great location, smack bang on the border between Camperdown and Glebe. The staff are friendly, the meals are inexpensive, the drinks are standard but decent (they’ve got some good wines, and the bar staff know their cocktails), and they have a hilarious smokers' area in the glassed-in courtyard right in the centre of the pub, which becomes a hipster aquarium during breaks in the Wednesday music trivia. They’ve started doing more live entertainment – cabaret and music – but Comedy on the Rox is their flagship event, offering touring comedians and some decent-quality open mic. It’s not the hippest place in Sydney, but it does what it does with style.