Close Menu
Honi Soit
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Trending
    • Antisemitism review puts universities, festivals, and cultural centres under threat
    • Macquarie University axes Sociology, cuts more jobs & courses
    • UTS elects new Chancellor
    • Out of the Deep: The Story of a Shark Kid Who Dared to Question Fear
    • Prima Facie: Losing faith in a system you truly believed in
    • Jason Clare seeks replacement for ANU Chancellor Julie Bishop after $790,000 expense report
    • ‘If you silence someone or shush someone, you can get out’: SISTREN is an unabashed celebration of black and trans joy. Is Australia ready?
    • Mark Gowing waxes lyrical on aesthetics, time, language, and his new exhibition ‘This one is a song’
    • About
    • Print Edition
    • Student Journalism Conference 2025
    • Writing Comp
    • Advertise
    • Locations
    • Contact
    Facebook Instagram X (Twitter) TikTok
    Honi SoitHoni Soit
    Saturday, July 12
    • News
    • Analysis
    • Culture
    • Opinion
    • University
    • Features
    • Perspective
    • Investigation
    • Reviews
    • Comedy
    • Student Journalism Conference 2025
    Honi Soit
    Home»Culture

    The ultimate resurrection

    Come down to this bar before Mike Baird returns to finish what he started
    By Isabella BattersbySeptember 19, 2017 Culture 3 Mins Read
    sketch of Lansdowne Hotel facade
    Art: Ann DIng
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    After lying dormant for two years, the Lansdowne Hotel has been brought ‘back from the dead’. Jake Smyth and Kenny Graham (owners of Mary’s and The Unicorn Hotel), have transformed the storied pub on the corner of City Road and Broadway into the go to destination for students, music lovers and burger/pizza enthusiasts. Since its resurrection on 15 June, an occasion celebrated with the likes of Sam Margin (the Rubens), Hayley Mary (The Jezebels) and Freddy Crabs (Sticky Fingers) taking the stage to announce the new and improved venue’s arrival, there hasn’t been a slowing in music legends passing through its doors. Nor has the line to get in on a Friday night shortened, much to my impatience.

    The Lansdowne Hotel first opened its doors in 1933 and was a well known place for men to gurgle down as many beers as they could before closing time, a practice then known as the 6 o’clock swill. As time went on it became somewhat of a haven for musicians, students and other characters within the
    Chippendale area.

    Before its temporary closure in August 2015, the Lansdowne drew hungry USyd students with its $10 lunch specials and ridiculously convenient location. The new owners have brought back the $10 lunches, which includes a chuck steak and their own version of ‘mi goreng’ which is a little bit healthier than the instant kind you’d normally eat after you spent your paycheck on rent.

    What’s even better than the cheap food, is the cheap gigs, which rarely push you back more than $12 for a ticket. Next week The Jezabels are taking the stage every night until Sunday, followed by Deep Sea Arcade on Friday September 1, Fazerdaze on September 2, and the absolute legends that are The Gooch Palms playing in October.

    The new and improved pub has pool and dance poles downstairs, with a smoking area filled with plush lounges and old Playboy posters, that are also (apparently) plastered on the roof of the men’s bathroom. Upstairs you’ll find the stage and the dance floor, which is an intimate space that allows music lovers to be within centimeters of their favourite singers. There is also another bar upstairs, where you can easily quench some hard-earned thirst from moshing too hard to Palms (guilty) or Ciggie Witch (guilty again).

    The only downfall about this place is the beer pricing; $7 for a schooner of VB is saddening to any student. But it’s late lockout time of 3:00am, the naughty 80’s vibe, and it’s more than friendly staff makes up for the extra few cents one has to spend on drinks.

    As a student that has spent at least one night of my weekend at The Lansdowne since its opening, trust me when I say that it is without a doubt one of the best pubs in Sydney right now. If you want to have a cheap lunch (and maybe a sneaky beer) in between classes go to the Lansy! Or if you want to have a boogie on a dance pole and see a great band, with an equally great crowd, go to the Lansy!

    I’ll probably see you there.

    Bar drinking drinking holes Lansdowne live music pub

    Keep Reading

    Turning Kindness Into Strength in ‘A Different Kind of Power’

    Dark Mofo 2025: Big, Weird Tassie Christmas

    Night Mass, MONA, and the Cult of David Walsh

     “Like diaspora, pollen needs to be scattered to different places to survive and grow”: Dual Opening of ‘Germinate/Propagate/Bloom’, and ‘Last Call’ at 4A Centre of Contemporary Asian Art

    Akinola Davies Jr. on ‘My Father’s Shadow’, Namesakes, and Nostalgia

    The Anarchy 1138-53: to play or to plunder?

    Just In

    Antisemitism review puts universities, festivals, and cultural centres under threat

    July 11, 2025

    Macquarie University axes Sociology, cuts more jobs & courses

    July 11, 2025

    UTS elects new Chancellor

    July 8, 2025

    Out of the Deep: The Story of a Shark Kid Who Dared to Question Fear

    July 8, 2025
    Editor's Picks

    Part One: The Tale of the Corporate University

    May 28, 2025

    “Thank you Conspiracy!” says Capitalism, as it survives another day

    May 21, 2025

    A meditation on God and the impossible pursuit of answers

    May 14, 2025

    We Will Be Remembered As More Than Administrative Errors

    May 7, 2025
    Facebook Instagram X (Twitter) TikTok

    From the mines

    • News
    • Analysis
    • Higher Education
    • Culture
    • Features
    • Investigation
    • Comedy
    • Editorials
    • Letters
    • Misc

     

    • Opinion
    • Perspective
    • Profiles
    • Reviews
    • Science
    • Social
    • Sport
    • SRC Reports
    • Tech

    Admin

    • About
    • Editors
    • Send an Anonymous Tip
    • Write/Produce/Create For Us
    • Print Edition
    • Locations
    • Archive
    • Advertise in Honi Soit
    • Contact Us

    We acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. The University of Sydney – where we write, publish and distribute Honi Soit – is on the sovereign land of these people. As students and journalists, we recognise our complicity in the ongoing colonisation of Indigenous land. In recognition of our privilege, we vow to not only include, but to prioritise and centre the experiences of Indigenous people, and to be reflective when we fail to be a counterpoint to the racism that plagues the mainstream media.

    © 2025 Honi Soit
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms
    • Accessibility

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.