The Bob Hawke Beer and Leisure Centre is closer than you think

When meeting a friend at the Bob Hawke Beer and Leisure Centre in Marrickville, I chose to use public transport. Driving for over an hour and then struggling to find a park isn’t worth the bother and the pub is only a seven-minute walk from Sydenham Station.

Walking from Sydnenham Station

Looking out from the station, I take a moment to get my bearings. Across the way, I recognise the camel standing above the doorway to the Camelot Lounge. It’s years since I walked past the iconic music venue when exploring Marrick v ille for this blog, fully intending to visit one day. That day is yet to come.

Street art in Marrickville — Murals in Marrickville

A mural on the side wall depicts people in their finery playing and listening to music, chatting and sipping fine wine. We stroll past other familiar murals and a few new ones too. When I drove past the Hawke Beer and Leisure Centre, overflowing with patrons, one Saturday afternoon, I’d seen the mural of our ex-Prime Minister on a wall outside.

Arriving at Hawke’s on Foot

This time, when I arrive on foot, the 10m high depiction of the pub’s namesake, beer in hand and wearing a yellow T-shirt and black sports shorts towers over me.

Bob Hawke Mural in Marrickville — Outside the Bob Hawke Beer and Leisure Centre

At 12pm, the roller door rattles open. I step across a tiled “welcome mat” with Bob Hawke’s well-known statement: “Any boss who sacks anyone for not turning up today is a bum,” spelt out in gold capitals.

Well-known quote from Bob Hawke — Bob Hawke Quote

The Lucky Prawn

I feel like I’m stepping back in time. To a time when the local Chinese restaurant was the only choice besides the local club for eating out and the only takeaway besides fish and chips. There was no such thing as Uber Eats.

The first thing I notice is that on each table, set with white bowls, water glasses and sauce bottles, there’s a single red rose in a glass vase. Almost every table has a reserved sign on it. It’s Thursday lunch time. I soon learn that my conclusion – that there’s a function booked for lunch is far from accurate.

Chinese Restaurant in Marrickville — The Lucky Prawn

The Chinese restaurant, the Lucky Prawn, is popular, even on weekdays and soon fills up.

Above the open kitchen, I spot a huge golden prawn and lanterns decorated with bamboo shoots hanging from the ceiling. Around the corner I watch the chef at work through a fish tank shaped like a clam and framed in red.

Lucky Prawn in Marrickville — Looking through a fish tank

The Bar

Through the restaurant is the bar area where a range of beers, brewed in the next-door brewery are on tap. Not usually a beer drinker, I go for the Hawke’s mid-lager – when in Rome and all that! I raise my beer to a figure of Bob Hawke, seated on a bar stool, beer in hand.

Apparently, when the metro to Sydenham opened, groups of young women began crossing the harbour from Sydney’s North Shore to explore the Inner West. They came to “Hawkes,” but instead of ordering the usual pub drops of beer and house wine, sales of Aperol Spritz went through the roof.

The Pool Room and Backyard

In the pool room, black and white photographs of Bob Hawke playing pool and cricket and greeting sporting celebrities cover the wooden paneled walls. Wooden framed tennis racquets and other memorabilia hang from the walls and fill the display cabinet.

The Pool Room in the Bob Hawke Beer and Leisure Centre — The Pool Room

Through the pool room is the newly completed “Backyard.” We find a table under the shade of a large tree. Another mural, suggesting that we “shake hands with a cold Hawke’s” decorates the side wall. Apart from the occasional very low flying aircraft coming in to land at Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport, the area is quiet and peaceful.

Lunch in the Backyard

Taking a friend’s suggestion, we order fried rice and stir fried green beans. We also sample the Sang Choi Bao, prawn toast and cucumber salad. Apart from needing to add sauce to the rice, the meal is fresh and flavoursome.

The Lucky Prawn is known for its deep fried Viennetta ice cream, but the servings (whole or half a Viennette) are too large for us today. Instead, we order the mango pudding. It arrives in small metal ice cream bowls, the creamy mango dessert hidden beneath a swirl of cream topped with a glace cherry, the perfect end to a very pleasant lunch date.

I spot a family sharing a serve of the famous deep-fried Viennetta. They tell me that the last time they came, they ordered too much food and had no space for dessert. This time they made sure they had space, and “it’s delicious.”

More Quirk

Before leaving, I discover more quirk in the Ladies loo. Instead of musak, a male voice drifts from the built in speakers. Listening carefully, I realise that it’s a recorded cricket commentary.

The new backyard at the Bob Hawke Beer and Leisure Centre — The Backyard

The Metro has opened up Sydney

Back on the metro, I reflect on how the service has opened up Sydney. Marrickville suddenly seems so much more accessible. Now that I’ve broken the ice, I’ll be exploring more venues only a short walk from Sydnenham Station.

I might finally get to Camelot Lounge.