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After being boarded up for several months awaiting a new direction, Flinders St’s Taphouse hotel is reopening. The much-loved heritage pub, with its quaint triangular shape, will be relaunched this month under the auspices of Applejack hospitality group, which operates chic bars and pubs across Sydney from Surry Hills to Kirribilli.
The reopened pub will offer three-levels of Cantonese dining, featuring the food of ex-Merivale chef Patrick Friesen (Queen Chow), who is now Applejack’s culinary director.
“We were inspired by the great English tradition of leasing out pub kitchens and serving a style of food not normally associated with a pub,” says Applejack co-owner Hamish Watts. “So, we have utilised one of our greatest assets in Patrick Friesen, alongside new head chef Sam Ng, who has joined our team via Hong Kong to offer an epic Cantonese menu.
“Derived from our love of Hong Kong Cantonese food and Australian Chinese food, you can expect classics featuring local produce with a few local Hong Kong favourites.”
Dishes will include egg noodles with crispy pork belly, Chinese broccoli and chilli, stir fries, steamed barramundi with pickled chilli and black bean, prawn toast with sweet and sour sauce, and Shandong crispy skin chicken legs. Taphouse will also offer 20 beers on tap, with a focus on Sydney craft brews.
“The Taphouse is such an epic pub,” Watts says. “It creates a feeling of nostalgia and London vibes that you just don’t get in many Aussie pubs. It has amazing bones and we have exploited the best features.”
The pub has had a long history dating back to 1878. Originally named the Palace Hotel, even though it wasn’t exactly palatial, it was family owned until 1952 when sold to local beer giant Tooth & Co. It remained the Palace until changing hands in 2007, after which it was renamed the Local Taphouse, when it was restyled as a craft beer bar, then simply The Taphouse.
Recent years haven’t been so kind to the owners, with the last tenants going into liquidation this year with significant debts. Now renamed Taphouse Sydney, it has been refurbished to suit a new generation.
“It’s had a serious nip and tuck but without destroying its inherent beauty,” says Watts, noting the building’s original wood panelling and pressed-tin ceilings have been retained. “It’s a top to bottom refurbishment. Everything now works and looks incredible.”
The rooftop terrace has gained a fully retractable roof and has been painted in white and blues to give “urban city escape summer holiday vibes”.
Let’s hope the new pub is a winner for Applejack, which has had plenty of success with other refurbished venues, including Forrester’s pub in Surry Hills, The Botanist in Kirribilli and The Butler in Potts Point.
Taphouse Sydney
122 Flinders Street, Darlinghurst