SydneyPubGuide.net contributors Jason and Trent have now adopted the Garry Owen as 'best darts venue' without a doubt, after an excellent Tuesday evening of darts, beer, pizza and conversation over at Rozelle's Garry Owen Hotel. Settling into an empty upstairs bar, we played game after game on the great board, and heaped a stack of cash into the jukebox for a quality night of 70's classics. Hunger struck, and as the Bistro was closed, our friendly barman was not only kind enough to let us order pizza in, but smilingly recommended a good pizza spot and even dug a menu out for us. class! I have to say, the service was absolutely spotless throughout, and we love the atmosphere here. Our only complaint is that it closed a little early, forcing us back to Pyrmont for a final game or two before closing time
review by: Jason

A classic peninsular bar downstairs, surrounded by a cadre of crusty locals, no pretensions, good classic twist taps, a TAB and a pleasantly moth-eaten feel. The garry Owen is a good spot. We like it. Then again, we do have a soft spot for pubs in the classic sense, the ones that reek of the stale beer trodden into the carpets, old dust and Winfields. Hey, it even has Lingerie Waitresses, if you turn up on the right day. The Garry Owen is a two-level spot - upstairs is a quiet little room with a balcony (locked when we visited), a dartboard, a jukebox and a pool table, as well as some vintage bar taps sitting ornamentally in the corner. Out back is a simple tile-floored bistro, minimally furnished, not in the studied pretentious minimalism of your Darling Harbour Bar, but the necessary minimalism of a good solid cheap eaterie, with a neat, but not overly fussy menu. Friendly staff add help, down to the point of lending me the 'private' darts when I found I'd forgotten my own set. Now I may be getting this place confused, but I was told a while ago that the G.O. is haunted. Checking in the old 'Sydney Pubs' book I find yes, the resident ghost is called Elizabeth, a woman murdered way back in the early days of the pub, apparently by a former publican. She apparently likes to mess with the pool table and jukebox, and would seem to be a music lover. Well, if this story has a grain of truth at least she has a good solid pub to haunt. It's a friendly spot, very much a singlet and stubbies place, so maybe not the right place for a modern lady, but we certainly like it, and we may well be adding it to our darts 'n' pool list in the coming weeks. We checked it out on a Saturday afternoon after Rozelle markets, and it was fairly quiet - but as we were leaving we could see it had started to fill up with bantering blokes ready for a few late-arvo schooners. I found myself regretting having brought the car and being stuck on the one-schooner limit. We'll certainly be back.
review by: Jason