A Guide to Sydney’s Pubs and Bars for Drunkards and Cheapskates

MISS PEACHES

Newtown. The Little America of Sydney.

And I don’t say that as an insult, if you’ve been to the US, then you’ll agree. Just walk down King St at any given time, head through any door that takes your fancy and you’ll be treated to some of the best food, drinking holes and stylish shops to be found in Sydney.

Sure, you may be shaking your head, believing that basically all the world’s problems stem from the land of the free and home of the brave, but let’s face facts: if you were given the choice of travelling to New York for free or anywhere else in the world, which would you do?

Exactly! New York.

As much as we like to hate on America, we sure do love their food, music, and style. Some might even call that hypocrisy, but I call it the same thing our yankee friends call it: Freedom.

And if that’s the kind of freedom you’re looking for, then Miss Peaches has the food, the music and the style you’re after.

Just as the best part of America (see: Canada) is hidden up top, so too is Miss Peaches. Placed above the Marlborough Hotel, a curving staircase (with a beautiful logo splayed across the wall) will lead you up and into one of the coolest spaces in Newtown.

It’s quite a simple set up: to your left is a cosy couch area, the balcony, tables and chairs. Straight ahead you’ll more tables and chairs and the stage. And to you right is the kitchen, separated by a wall with old wooden fence posting nailed to it, and the bar.

Now, first off, let me point this out for the cheapskates: drinks are slightly cheaper downstairs at the Marly Bar. Not by a huge amount (anywhere from 50c to $1) but cheaper is cheaper.
That being said, Miss Peaches is simple a better place to enjoy your drink. Not only do they have a wider range of more artisanal beers and cocktails, but it is just a better space. It’s the old argument of small bar vs trendy pub, and in this case, small bar absolutely wins out.

You’ll also have access to Miss Peaches kitchen, which, for lack of a better word, is orgasmic. Offering up the Soul Food classics of mac & cheese (the proper stuff, not that plastic shit from a box), fried chicken, catfish & chips, gumbo, and all the other things we love to have our doctors hate us for eating.

Throw in regular performances by an old style swing band and some of the best soul/funk/blues music playing through the speakers at any given moment, and you’ve got yourself one great bar.

It really feels like it should be in a dilapidated shack somewhere in Deep South, USA, not on the main strip of Newtown.

Amazingly though, despite being above the rather rauty and crass Marly Bar, the crowd isn’t made up of the same hooligans (I say it with love) – instead it consists of a well-behaved and jovial bunch of people, so unless it’s the usually busy nights of Friday/Saturday, you’ll be able to get in and relax with no problem.

You can shake your resentful fist all you like when it comes to America and words like ‘war’, ‘tourist’ and ‘made’. But there should be no negative connotation with the word ‘American’ sits alongside words like ‘food’, ‘bars’, and ‘music’.

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WHEREZIT?!

Miss Peaches

201 Missenden Rd, Newtown (Upstairs)

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There Will Be Beer | Daniel Prior