The Old Fitzroy Flickr

So I dropped by The Old Fitzroy, that eccentric boozer in Woolloomooloo, a month or so ago. It was my first visit since the mid-noughties when a whole era came to an end on the day they took the (then) very hip laksa off the menu. More recently the Old Fitzroy has been acquired from the Pasfield family by hospitality entrepreneur Jaime Wirth, on the strict understanding that nothing would change, lest an ancient Irish curse be enlivened, causing the appointment of receivers and Brian McFadden to be played on high rotation.

This time I was there ostensibly to see The Cripple of Inishmaan performed in the pub’s indie theatre. The play was a tour de force in the hands of a top-notch Australian cast, but it did occur to me that if I were Irish (phew) I might resent the way that a timeworn theatrical trope depicting my co-ethnics as bucolic morons, continues to delight audiences. Father, I confess I was also undercover at the pub. I’d heard and read great things about the Old Fitzroy’s kitchen, helmed by a star chef, Nicholas Hill (ex-Sepia, Quay and The Ledbury), and I thought The Real Review readers need to know.

And yep, plus ça change etc. Those gnarly old men are still there, telling fibs at the tables in the downstairs bar, sitting among the signs and wonders on the raw brick walls, clutching schooners or a house red, with a couple of gnarly old dogs snoozing at their feet. The staff remain fabulously unpatronising. But hang on, something about the old pub menu looks different. Gee, I had to wipe my specs. Cauliflower cheese tart? Chopped liver with blood orange mustard and dripping toast? A schooner of devilled pigs’ tails? Dory and chips with mushy peas? Treacle custard tart?

Breathe out dude. This is exciting.

Hill is certainly a gifted chef, with impressive credentials, who can be trusted with flavours. But how do you pull off the challenge of serving up restaurant-quality food from a squeezy pub kitchen, to a gritty audience of staff and punters with highly evolved b—shit detectors? It might be like watching Fred Astaire on a skateboard.

Cauliflower cheese tart at the Old Fitzroy The Old Fitzroy Instagram

And it is. This is arguably Sydney’s best gastro-pub – a term I haven’t used since 1993. The crunch of those breaded and deep-fried devilled pigs’ tails (AUD $12) announces the lush cartilaginous interior: a captivating mosaic of skin, fat, tendon and meat; and naturally those porky bits are presented in a schooner glass. Then there’s a lovely, light cauliflower cheese tart (AUD $18), made on buttery pastry (none of your sinister industrial pub pastry with an aftertaste of bad breath here) and John Dory, with chips and mushy peas – a fillet of firm, flaky fish in a brittle non-greasy golden batter, which comes with joyfully uneven (i.e. hand-cut) hot chips and a heaped spoonful of mushy peas, pimped with a splash of vinegar for acid balance (AUD $27).

At dessert, please note the goodies you’ll want to befriend: a ‘strawberry biscuit puff’ atop a scoop of olive oil ice cream – a dish which, without having an obvious purpose in life, is really good (AUD $15), and a treacle custard tart made on lard (AUD $12) designed to enthral anyone who identifies as English and who had a thing for their nanny.

As for The Old Fitzroy’s wine list, while it isn’t going to wow the connoisseur readership of The Real Review, it’s very serviceable, with all the usual pub suspects in various colours. There’s also some minimal intervention gear such as Shobbrook Riesling and Ochota Barrels, for the true believers.

Speaking of the usual pub suspects, on the night The Real Review visited, we spotted a couple of infamous former Kings Cross detectives, no doubt reminiscing about SP bookies and the brothel madams they’ve known and loved. Great playwright and Old Fitz regular, Louis Nowra, was fighting vainly the old ennui, sans Coco the chihuahua. And there was another local, off his medication, doing tai chi movements.

But the big story is really about the startling return to form of the kitchen at The Old Fitz. Be sure to visit before Fred Astaire rides off on his skateboard.

Rating: 25/30

• How good was the food? 8/10
• How good was the wine list? 3/5
• What was the service like? 4/5
• Did the atmosphere work? 5 /5
• Is there an X Factor about this place? 5/5

The Old Fitzroy

• Address: 129 Dowling St, Woolloomooloo
• Phone: +61 2 9356 3848
• Email: hello@oldfitzroy.com.au
• Website: oldfitzroy.com.au
• Open: Monday – Saturday 11:00–12:00; Sunday 11:00–10:00
• Price: Bar food $8-$14; lunch/dinner menu $17-$28