Pub of the Week: The Lomond Hotel, East Brunswick
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The Lomond Hotel
Where: 225 Nicholson St, East Brunswick
Phone: 9380 1752
Internet: www.lomondhotel.com.au
SCORE: 14/20
MAY 2
VENUE: This is a pub that may well have been cryogenically frozen over its journey, from a first visit back in the 1980s to this week as nothing, basically nothing has changed.
Same family (Neagle’s), same small two sided bar on entering, sparse, (but not impersonal), front dining/music room, through to two slightly secluded dining rooms, clean, neat, inviting. Small trading area to the rear but this is still a pub of your youth.
Welcome to the Lomond on the corner of Nicholson/Blyth Streets, the wonderful 3RRR studios over one the road, with a range of smaller, interesting and diverse businesses opposite and home to a rich mix of workers and musos.
There aren’t too many like this; the triple story front, still old goldish in colour, reminds us that if the will is there, tradition can be maintained.
Enough of the prose. Looking for a good place to catch up and enjoy some good pub cooking at reasonable prices, then the Lomond is your venue. Sit in and enjoy the joyous sounds of local musicians, then three, maybe four times a week, the Lomond is your home.
The food and wine offering is traditional pub at fair prices. Entrees, such as calamari, tartare, salad, is $18; sweet potato and macadamia croquettes are $15.
Mains tell a similar tale;
– Chicken schnitty, fully plated, $23
– Thai chicken curry, jasmine rice, $20
– Fish and chips, $24
– Goats cheese souffle, apple/walnut salad, $22
This is uncompleted, good pub food at a very reasonable price. Indeed angus porterhouse, 250g, choice of sauce, chips/salad is $32.
Fine Carlton Draught is supported by some local independents and the pricing for wine is $10 per glass//$50/bottle.
Ever reliable (and forever on this list) is Chrismont Riesling, a beauty, at $10 per glass.
Tab: No (removed in last five or so years)
Pokies: No
HIGHLIGHT/S:
– Fish and chips, $24. Two big fillets, rockling, fresh salad, hot chips. Great, simple pub staple, fair price, big serve. Yes please.
Something Different to Eat: Not really, but it is rare that something other than steak is priced equally in a pub. Here, the Spanish seafood stew, jasmine rice is $32. Expect it to be generous and tasty.
Surcharges: None on cards.
Summary: Forty plus years, one family owner/operator in a suburb as diverse as East Brunswick deserves a standing O.
The developers that have stood outside the tram stop at the end of the #96 route and gazed longingly at this three storey mansion and imagined how many units could be squeezed in. The owners remain resolute.
In keeping with the lifeblood of music of this pub, its anthem could be Nick Lowe’s, ‘So It Goes’. Great pop song. It ticks over and over. Never missing a beat.
A pub to be loved is the Lomond.