For a while, I thought I'd gone back in time. The jukebox was belting out 70s rock classics and it all seemed to click together. The bells is not a modern, clean-as-a-whistle bar, but an honest to goodness
pub. It's got a real pub feeling too, which made me think back to when I was a kid and my grandparents kept a pub in South Wales. The floor was the same, the walls were the same and the music seemed hardly different.
It's more than that though. The Bells doesn't seem phoney like some other bars I could name. It's just a straight-up pub, take it or leave it. Want food? They'll knock you up a toasted sandwich, but you won't get it served with a rocket salad. I've developed a soft spot for the place, overshadowed as it is by the Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel across the way. On our review visit we sat at a table outside the Bells and watched the world go by. Across the way the
Bay was doing a brisk trade. The Bells had about 10 punters, including us. Shame on you - try it out!
review by: pubguide staff