Perth:

I was expecting to like this a lot, and walking through the door, it seemed good- traditional-looking, interesting looking beer, doggy greeting, wood-burning stove.

Things channged though; my beer was distinctly below-par, a bit vinegary, and we were asked to move upstairs, because of the smoke from stove drifting into the room- storm Ali was in progress outside. I don’t think that was the actual reason: smoke was present upstairs too. I think that in actual fact, they wanted to close the downstairs bar to move upstairs.

Upstairs had a different vibe: it’s a music venue, and a bit on the grotty side, which probably works really well and has the right feel if you’re seeing live music on a Friday night and it’s full, but on a Wednesday afternoon, it just felt a bit grimy, and it felt like we were intruding on a semi-private session, the dogs became annoying, and the bogs were swimming in water (but there were free condoms). Don’t get me wrong, I like pubs to be “lived in”, but something here didn’t work for me.