Darlo Bar, A.K.A. Royal Sovereign Hotel
Editorial
Across the years at this Sydney stalwart, the décor has been tweaked, the staff has changed and one or two new lagers have started charging through the lines. But, the Royal Sovereign Hotel, as it is properly named and never known, does now what it has always done. It provides a second, much noisier home to locals.
But even if your mail doesn't bear the postcode 2010, you'll feel at ease here. The Darlo's drinkers will not look at you with that hardened, territorial Aussie pub stare that says, “get out, transient trash.” More than likely, they'll strike up a conversation.
While on the face of it there's nothing particularly special about a place whose interior furnishings look like the result of a tipsy spree through an op shop, the Darlo is special in that evokes something about the extraordinary Sydney suburb for which it is named. It's a big old stew of every sort of person.
In this neighbourhood spirit of tolerance, the bar might let you order take-away in if you ask nicely.
Don't expect cocktails here. Just hope that the fresh-faced young backpacker who may be pulling your beer knows how to clean his lines. He probably does. For all its camp accessorising, the Darlo is, ultimately a pub. As such, the religion of beer is revered.
SM King, April 2010
User Feedback
Your Feedback
0 User review (add yours)