May 22, 2011: Sporting Club Hotel

Update 31/12/2014: The Sporting Club has renamed itself The Charles Weston Hotel. Very little seems to have changed otherwise.

The opening up of Sunday night as a pub-club option has given us a few places to try out that don't open on traditional pub-club Monday nights. Towards the top of the list was Brunswick's Sporting Club Hotel, a cute backstreet pub that we visited briefly for Carla's vegan drinks. It's a bit TARDIS-like, with much more space inside than you expect - there are about 4 different rooms and a decent-sized outdoor area, which means it's pretty easy to find space for a large group.

The five of us ended up claiming a room all to ourselves and having our own private dinner party. The menu is more Spanish or Mexican restaurant than local pub, with a wide selection of tapas and a range of Hispanic-inspired mains. Cindy mixed and matched two tapas dishes: champis (marinated mushrooms stuffed with goats cheese and dill, $8) and bravas (classic double-fried potato chunks with spicy sauce, $7).

The mushrooms were a simple dish done very well - an excellent combo of tender mushies and salty cheese. The spuds were also pretty impressive, but Cindy had buyer's remorse by the end - a bowl of these is better shared than taken on solo.

I opted for the vegetarian enchiladas (soft tortillas filled with a spicy bean veg mix, onions, tomatoes with guacamole and coriander, $15).

The tortillas were toasted just to the point of crispiness and stuffed with a decent filling made up predominantly of beans and potatoes. With a good smear of guacamole and sour cream, these hit the spot nicely. I'd have liked a spicy salsa to accompany them as well, but the filling had enough flavour to ensure that the chilli kick wasn't missed too much.

The Sporting Club is a nice local pub - you probably wouldn't cross town for the food, but it's done pretty well, isn't too expensive and is served up in a pub with a nice, relaxed atmosphere. There's an open fire, friendly (if slightly hard to catch) staff, and plenty of space to spread out.

____________

Only Fitzroyalty seems to have blogged about the food at the Sporting Club, although he visited on their special paella night.

____________

Sporting Club Hotel
27 Weston Street, Brunswick
9380 8777
veg starters $5-$9, veg mains $15-$16
http://www.sportingclub.net.au

Accessibility: The Sporting Club has a flat standard-width entry and plenty of space inside. Ordering and payment takes place at the bar. The toilets were easy to get to, but were just ordinary sized cubicles for men and women.