Our inordinate fondness for small dog-eared, out-of-the-way, moth-eaten pubs is well documented, and that fondness was thoroughly invoked on walking into the Kauri on a sunny Sunday afternoon recently. The sign outside uses the 'Country Pub' angle and on walking in this is revealed to be quite literally true. From the Barrels and Hay Bales to the laid back attitude, this pub could almost have been plucked from country NSW and droppped on the edge of Blackwattle Bay in Australia's most neurotic city. We love pubs like this - they're the antidote to all that's stressful about Sydney life. Admittedly I'm probably spoiling the picture by sitting here with laptop and suit jacket, but noone seems to care, and that's as it should be. The food menu is italian, which fits with the cheap and simple image, and the beer selection is unpretentious Schooners pulled from a single 6-tap tree. The decor is, as already mentioned, well worn, including pictures of Dray deliveries in former days and classic tile walls lined with the accoutrements of country life, inclusing oil lamps, hay bales, saws and, slightly incongruous, a Welsh flag. Not that I'm complaining (as a Welsh Expat myself), it just comes as a bit of a surprise!
review by: Jason