Fortune of War Hotel
Editorial
Now I always take these 'first pub in the city' honours with a pinch of salt, usually because there's at least five other pubs making the same claim. Nevertheless, this Rocks pub does indeed profess to be the longest continually licensed watering hole in Sydney.
I'm not totally convinced, but it certainly is old school. Tiled walls, wooden beams on the ceiling, and stained glass panels surround a u-shaped bar in the centre of what's quite a poky little room. The patterned carpet probably does date back that far, it's so daggy!
The Fortune may not lay any claims to be a cool style bar, but what it does do with a fair whack of character is old world charm. This is a proper pub with 15 brews on tap - the kind of place you come after work to vent the day's drudgery and console yourself with good company. The bar staff are always cheery and good service comes naturally.
If you're drinking solo you could do far worse then peruse the pub's walls. A vast amount of historical learning is proudly displayed, walking you through a wealth of Sydney's nautical past. Perhaps those claims are genuine after all?
Stephen Russell, March 2010.
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