01 November 2009

The Australian Hotel, The Rocks, Sydney, NSW

The Australian Hotel is a (what I'm told by Lonely Planet) a typical, Australian pub offering accommodations in the upper floors. This type of accommodation is very convenient and popular to travelers, as you can get trashed at the pub and stumble upstairs to your hotel (again, what I'm told. I wouldn't know anything about this sort of activity).

The Australian Hotel is located in Sydney's oldest district called The Rocks- it's up a hill from iconic sights such as Circular Quay and Darling Harbour, and filled with cobblestone streets and older British architecture. We sat outside for a bit with our first round of beers, but it was chilly despite the warm glow of the street lamps and we quickly moved inside. None of us had dinner, so with our second round, we ordered a pepper kangaroo pizza - marinated in native pepper with roasted capsicum & native berries.

I've never had kangaroo before, and being that we are in Australia, it seemed only logical to eat some kangaroo pizza....



Amazing. Delicious. Like eating red meat, but less fatty, a little more chewy and a great flavor. Why don't we have kangaroos in the United States? Can I import some, please? Australian Hotel, do you do delivery to NYC?

Not to mention the berries (native berries? What does that mean?) were a perfect addition to the saltiness of the sauce and meat, adding an after sweet-note. The roasted red peppers finished out your palette with a slight crunch and a fire-y complement.

The other highlight of the night was the amazing beer selection that the Australian Hotel had. On tap selection was lacking a little, but their bottle selection was amazingly extensive of all Australian beers. I forgot what my first round was, but my second was an unforgettable Akuna- lemon ginger beer. I've only had ginger beer while in Harlem, at Soul Food restaurants or Caribbean restaurants, and it's always been non-alcoholic. This was a delicious, potent, flavorful, alcoholic rendition with a bite! A bit intense, I definitely could not drink a six-pack...

...but it would definitely go perfect on a beach as Corona substitute, haha.

http://www.australianheritagehotel.com/index.html

4 Forks. I really wish I could have tried the BBQ emu pizza as well. I guess there's always next time :)

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