With a glorious wine list, a cracking range of tap beers and an acclaimed chef on the pans, the Dry Dock – fresh from a meticulous revamp – might just be Balmain’s best pub.
Balmain pubs are a national treasure. Many date back to the days when this inner-city harbourside suburb was a working-class stronghold, and over the decades they’ve served cold ones to blaggards and laggards, plebs and celebs. The bare bones of the modern Australian Labor party was even born over – probably – one too many inside the Unity Hall Hotel on the main drag.
Today, the suburb has been ruthlessly gentrified and much of the pubs’ rich histories have been erased, either left to disintegrate through neglect or pressure-washed back to little more than their sandstone foundations. But the Dry Dock, which sits close to the harbour foreshore and claims to be the oldest still-operating pub in the suburb, has taken a different tack.
By the time it landed in the hands of hospo veterans James Ingram and Mike Everett, the heritage-listed Dry Dock had been sucked of much of its soul thanks to layers of unsympathetic renovations. With their years of experience, including James’s hand in creating the heartfelt Bob Hawke Beer and Leisure Centre in Marrickville, they set about restoring the old girl with hand-picked art, customised furnishings, perfectly pitched soft lighting and an eye for patina and texture. Two years later, they – along with hospo design maestro Bianca Isgro – have crafted a space that’s not a kitsch or pastiche throwback to the venue’s original form, but a loving homage that nudges it gently into the now.
Add a kitchen led by former Felix and Rockpool Bar & Grill chef Ben Sitton, a glorious wine list, a range of tap beers that has something for everyone and four separate spaces that cater to all comers, and the Dry Dock is making a bold play for the title of Balmain’s best pub.
James and Mike – the latter a longtime Balmain resident – were adamant that the Dry Dock would have a sense of inclusivity and neighbourliness from the minute it swung open its doors. To that end, the venue is divided into four sections, which means you can use it in any way you choose, depending on your group size, the time of day and your mood.
The restaurant – a sleekly designed, leafy atrium lit by skylights – is where you want to be for truly exceptional Josper grill-led eats. The Lounge Bar is all squishy leather chairs, with a working fireplace and the warm strains of jazz floating in the air. The Public Bar is, of course, the heart of any proper pub, somewhere to pull up a (beautifully custom-made) bar stool (with a back!) or a small table and order a few beers, a bottle or a plate of oysters.
Finally, there’s a discreet sports bar. The pub’s pokies have been mercifully turfed, but this cosy nook is dedicated to patrons who want to watch the races or big games.
Publicans everywhere take note: your tap beer selection should tick a box for almost every person who comes through the doors. The Dry Dock sings from that hymn book: the staff can squeeze out a schooner of Carlton Draught, Reschs, Guinness, Hawke’s Lager, Peroni and Yulli’s Brews Seabass, among others. For those who can’t find a friend on tap, the wine list – designed by ex-Rockpool Bar & Grill and Bennelong sommelier Christiane Poulos – is a sight to behold. The by-the-glass list is scattered with all sorts of jump-on-them gems, including a racy little muscadet from France’s Loire Valley, and some outstanding chardonnays and pinots (gris and noir) from considered Australian producers such as Ravensworth, Artemis and Thousand Candles.
Giving the drinks a wide berth? The written non-alc list leans towards the beer-ish, Heaps Normal end of the spectrum. But if you ask the bar team to make you an alcohol-free mocktail with your favourite flavour profile, they’ll magic something up that’s properly delicious. You could stick to the obvious suggestions (Spicy! Herbaceous! Fruity!), but why not swerve a little and see what happens (Purring! Meadow! Businesslike!)?
Check out some of the finer design details. The art has been lovingly collected by the team, and more will be added as they find new pieces that fit with the theme. The slim floorboards in the front public bar are original, as is the interior sandstone, which begs for hands to run over it and feel its warm, textured topography. In the Lounge Bar, designer Bianca Isgro found an untouched 1960s carpet on eBay and turned it into a prettily patterned rug.
It's this sort of generously thoughtful touches that separate the Dry Dock from your average slapped-together pub reno, and all but guarantees it will continue to be cherished by the suburb for decades to come.
