To wit: Go there if you must but don't eat the food.
If you are reading this blog just to find out whether the AB is worth going to for dinner, you can stop now but for the remaining reader please read on.
I can't remember if it was Oscar Wilde or Bernard Shaw but you know the type, who said when the pre Raphelite school of painting emerged "where have all those milk white women with heavy auburn hair and slender necks been hiding" or words to that effect. Well the Ancient Britton Nouveau (because there had been and ancient Ancient Britton) emerged about 3 years ago in a lather of faux communist vodka posters like a great many other pubs in Sydney at the same time.
It has Kentucky Fried Chickened itself and now styles itself the AB. It has evocative posters about vodka on the windows and I thought it would be a kind of dark and interesting meeting place for disillusioned ex communists brooding over their Stolichnaya.
Have you seen that wonderful advertisement at cinemas about Stolichnaya where there is a red line of marching vodka bottles which takes over the world to a catchy marching tune.
Dragging myself away from vodka I have to report that the AB is a very large pub. It has It has 4 distinct areas. Noisy bar in the front room slightly less noisy beer garden (here the soviet overtones work well, high blank walls on 3 sides and the door into the pub on the other wall and an inexplicable long trough along one wall) the other two areas are quiet but a bit like distant gulags they seem strangely desolate.
We sat in the beer garden which had mood lighting so we only actually saw the dishes we ate when Janet's camera flashed. I can't remember why we decided that would be the best place (don't you wish I had stuck to a short review!)
We shared two entrees duck pancakes and salt and pepper tofu. The duck pancakes looked deceptively good.
The duck itself was good but the pancakes!! Pure stale burrito.
The salt and pepper tofu was actually good. The tofu was soft and juicy and there were plenty of tiny fresh chilli slices.
I thought it would be bad but no it was the only good dish we had.
We also had a jug of beer!! That was a mistake.
For main course Dave and I had lamb cutlets.
They were properly cooked nice and pink but tasteless. Not entirely tasteless said Dave who wanted to be fair. The vegetables looked ok but were as the song says just backdated, watery bok choy and a few tiny tomatoes.
Janet and Stephen had chicken cantinas which sounded a bit South American and was billed as organic. It was served with rice and fresh coriander which was unexpected and if it was organic I would suggest that the AB buy from a different supplier. It was soft and watery in the way that industrial chicken is. It was edible, says Stephen.
We did not stay for the desserts which included apple pie but were totally forgettable. Although to be fair as Dave would say the jug of beer may have contributed to that decision.
Now don't you wish I had stuck to my usual brisk and brief report?
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