Friend in Hand

You know those pubs that you encounter in country towns, especially around the centre of the country, where the décor could be accurately described as “kitsch junk shop explosion”? That’s pretty much what Glebe’s oldest hotel has going on, with every wall emblazoned with some piece of eyecatching frippery, including a working model train puttering around just below the ceiling and the hotel’s well-loved cockatoo ready to swear at you upon entry. Family owned and run, it offers a friendly working-class vibe: standard tap beers and cider, good value pub grub for around $10 a meal, and entertainment that runs from the standard (meat raffles) to the kooky (their regular Wednesday night crab racing) to the unexpected (life drawing classes) and the awesome (their regular Thursday night comedy show Mic in Hand is without doubt the best open mic in Sydney). In a city where too many pubs are determinedly fancy, the Friend in Hand is refreshingly old-school.