The Duke of Clarence Tavern, Sydney

Back in May, Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella blogged about an 18th century inspired British tavern called The Duke of Clarence.  One look at this post and I knew that this would be just the kind of place that Tim would love, so I sent him a link to the post.

Fast forward a few months, and we were planning a trip to Sydney.  I had forgotten all about The Duke of Clarence, but Tim remembered - and luckily he did.  We booked in for Sunday roast at The Duke of Clarence during our trip, and loved it.

The Duke of Clarence is tucked into a laneway behind Clarence Street in the Sydney CBD.  It was created by the owner to mimic a ye olde English pub, and a lot of the materials in the tavern were brought over from England, snapped up at the sales of fixtures and fittings from closed pubs.  The result is a dark, brooding and rather masculine atmosphere which is very effective:

My favourite area in The Duke of Clarence is the library, featuring bookshelves packed with old editions of books, fat sofas and a fireplace.  In winter, this would be the place to sit: 

For our Sunday roast, we were tucked into a cosy corner booth, and were straight away set up with a glass of rose and beer respectively.

We went with the Roast Beef ($26), served with gravy, baby carrots, broccolini, peas, beef fat roasted potatoes and a pillowy Yorkshire pud with a perfect hollow for pouring in the gravy:

If you like roast, you can't go wrong with this hearty offering.  Tim added pigs in blankets (sausages wrapped in bacon) for an extra $2.

We have stomachs of cast iron, hence could not resist the dessert menu.  Our waiter recommended the doughnuts, but we could not go past the Eton Mess ($12):

This traditional English dessert of smashed meringue, strawberries and cream was given a modern twist here with St Germain elderflower mango and Persian fairy floss.  It was devine - need I say more.

We stopped to try out the sofas in the library before leaving, where one of the friendly waiters tried to tempt us with another drink.  Unfortunately, we had to leave the cool, dark embrace of The Duke of Clarence for the bright sunshine of a hot Sydney day so that we could make the most of our weekend.  However, we would definitely go back.

The Duke of Clarence

Laneway, 156 Clarence Street
Sydney NSW 2000

Ph: 02 8999 3850