Royal Cricketers Arms

Bar Bar Food Booze British Eat & Drink Pub Bistro Steakhouse

Jackie McMillan
May 7, 2014

Thirty minutes and thirty years from Sydney is a pub where strangers talk to one another, and Bar Manager John Mundy uses common sense and conversation to enforce the rule of law. Over a malty pint of Old Speckled Hen ($11.50) you might enquire after his glass jar of Pickled Eggs ($1.10/each). You can eat “the manager’s hangover cure” doused in Worcestershire and Tabasco at the bar, or experiment with John’s “English breakfast in a bag” by dipping them into pork crackling pounded into dust. It’s the kind of pub you’ll feel right at home in, whether you’re a regular propping up the bar, or a city slicker on the back verandah, cooing over sunset reflected on a neighbouring house across a field of swaying paspalum, while live act Imogen Clark warms up. Staying next door at Atura, I also wandered up during daylight hours for lunch. While I tucked into traditional Toad in the Hole ($21), baking three good-quality English pork sausages into a Yorkshire pudding, with mash and onion gravy; my dining companion flexed his cooking prowess on their new, high-tech grill. Balancing James Squire The Chancer ($9/pint) in one hand, he perfected grill marks on his Grass-fed Sirloin ($27/250g) with a wide grin. Grain-fed beef and Snags ($20/3) are also available.

Royal Cricketers Arms
Cricketers Arms Road, Prospect
Ph: (02) 9622 6498 mycricketers.com.au
Pub Bistro, British $$-$$$

REVIEW: Karen’s Diner Top Ryde

Arts & Entertainment Eat & Drink Scene

Swagatalakshmi Roychowdhury
June 28, 2022

I am not going to lie, walking into Karen’s Diner, which is reputed to have the worst customer service in the city, can be nerve-wracking. After several minutes of nervous pacing and scrolling through the reservation confirmation with clammy hands, a Karen turned to serve me. Rolling eyes and sass made up most of her demeanour, which finally put me at ease. As I looked around, I realised I was not the only nervous one in the diner. Many of customers were similarly hesitant to order their food, all of whom were understandably unwilling to invoke the Karens’ wrath but equally keen to experience what this place was all about.

An evening at Karen’s Diner was a fun experience indeed. From aggressive pushes of food on the table to constant f-bombs and booing at customers, Karen’s Diner was a vibe.

The diner decorations were also quite beautiful. Seated at a high-top table with a table full of has-beens next to a comic plastered wall we watched the customers heading out to play the Wheel of Misfortune. Misfortunes that could land you anywhere between model walks to the not-so-fun spicy shots.

I ate a meal called the “Royale Karen” alongside sips of a cocktail called the “Sour Karen” – listening to Good Golly Miss Molly playing overhead. The food was good, but it could have been better.