Hotels
The London Hotel
Best time to visit is hands down a Thursday for their epic $12 steak nights because the steaks are gooooood. With the London you have to get in quick because it packs out really quickly but it is worth the rush/wait. A really nice, clean, simple place for catching up with friends over good grub and drinks. They often have pop-up food places here too…one summer they had lobster rolls served upstairs that I still have dreams about. The area is nice, small streets which always remind me of London, Notting Hill to be precise, and it is a quiet neighbourhood. If you want a quiet one or just some great pub grub Hotel London is your place.
As expected for a Paddo pub - stylish, buzzing, decent drinks menu and gastro pub style menu at Paddo prices. Weekday meal deals are a nice surprise though. Good place to stop by if you're in the area and want something reliable, nothing so special it's worth travelling for though.
It seems that whenever I travel around the back streets of the cities in Australia I seem to find a pub with the name London (though the London Tavern in Adelaide is hardly on a back street). I quite liked this pub. It had a quiet ambience about it, which is not surprising considering its location. Mind you I have also discovered that back street pubs are not necessarily less crowded than their cousins on major roads, however they still have an atmosphere that isn't replicated elsewhere. There was even a nice courtyard out the back, which is always a good thing. The only draw back was that I ended up talking to my friend over the phone, meaning that I wasn't able to fully take in the ambience of the place.