Paddy Maguires, Cnr George & Hay Sts, Haymarket

Paddy Maguires, Cnr George & Hay Sts, Haymarket

Monday 6 August, 2007

Tonight the who's who of Australian performing arts came out to celebrate the 7th Annual Helpmann Awards. Hosted by the hilarious Jonathon Biggins we knew we would be in for a treat - especially as there were live performances from the cast of Miss Saigon, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Hedwig & the Angry Inch, Billy Elliott, Australian ballet and the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

Beforehand, we decided to grab a quick bite at Paddy Maguires inside Capitol Square. This site is largely occupied by Asian food outlets however we opted for only non Asian offering tonight. The description on the website states,

Paddy Maguires Pub occupies a jewel of a restored early Australian Pub complete with a huge range of International Beers. Indoor, sidewalk and atrium dining areas and Gaming facilities.

So, what's the attraction I hear you ask??? Well, that's a really good question. However, I just didn't feel like Asian food tonight and this was really the only option next to the Capitol Theatre. We sat out in the arcade and not inside the pub. Even though you can no longer smoke inside pubs in NSW my dinner buddy pointed out that the pubs would never really be able to get the long term smell of cigarettes out of the carpet. Using Paddy Maguires as an example I would have to agree.....

The menu is standard of a pub bistro with burgers, calamari, steaks and schnitzels. You order and pay at the counter or bar but this was a challenge as the staff seemed more concerned with chatting amongst themselves. After standing there for several minutes we asked one staff member if we could order and she just looked at us like we were a massive inconvenience. The other staff member was busy serving other guests and made a point of explaining that she would get to us shortly. What the@?!

We ordered our meals and were provided with a buzzer. I ordered the sirloin steak with chips & salad and my dinner buddy opted for the chicken schnitzel with chips & salad. After a short while the buzzer went wild and we popped inside to retrieve our meals. The plates were seriously large and we heaved them back out into the arcade.

Overall, the food was OK. For a pub bistro meal it was pretty good. The meals weren't cheap with each main around $20 but the servings were large and the sides were ideal. My steak was cooked to order and I was pleasantly surprised - it was tender but the quality was average.

We didn't stick around after we finished our meals. The Helpmann's were about to start.

Paddy Maguires - Cnr George & Hay Sts, Haymarket - (02) 9212 2111