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Circa Lounge

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No flourishing tea garden on offer at the Circa Lounge, but art deco flourishes, a spacious beer garden and great, cheap food makes this bar a desirable locale.

Editorial


The name Tea Gardens Hotel conjures up a certain sense of colonial grandeur: a touch of oriental mystique and verdant, floral surrounds. That's exactly what was initially planned when Alexander Gray was granted a licence for this Bondi Junction hotel back in 1854. It was supposed to be surrounded by summer houses, luscious gardens and even a quoits pitch. Things didn't exactly work out that way, with no gardens being built, as the heavily-built up shopping mecca of today's Bondi Junction reveals.

The majority of the heaving hotel is disappointing in terms of offering a beautiful sanctuary form the city. However, take a wander upstairs to Circa Lounge, and things get a tad more promising. Less plasma-screen heavy than downstairs (it only has one) a great horseshoe bar is accompanied with several original art deco design touches. The spacious spot is scattered with ottomans and lounges, and features a large balcony beer garden, allowing drinkers a perfect vantage point for perving on the hustling shoppers below.

There's nothing fancy about the beer or wine lists, but prices are cheap, and there's even a daily dose of cocktail hour to keep everyone in the mood. Food is spot on pub fare, with awesome portions, including battered fish and chips, chicken schnitzels and sirloin steaks. So there may not be a flourishing garden on offer, but the locale is pretty damn lush nonetheless.

Stephen Russell, February 2010

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