Hmmm, not this is an interesting review... I can't see myself coming here on a busy weekend evening, but I still feel compelled to give it four stars based on my Sunday experience.
Essentially some friends and I stopped in here for a drink after leaving Mum's for lunch as it's on the way home and a friend of mine likes the whole Lebowski theme, although I can't say it does much for me. Initially I tried one of their speciality cocktails for the moment, a Frangelico Sour, which... I just have to say, yum... it tasted like the winter version of an amoretto sour and really worked in my opinion. I had actually assumed there weren't many drinks I could try here due to a blasted intolerance of lactose, but upon having a friend query them I was given the glorious news that they have lacto free milk which in turn opened up the drink menu to a far further potential.
Speaking of the drinks, this place features heavily on White Russians... even if they aren't your thing it's probably worth trying one of the more creative varieties, there's surely something that would hit the spot. Beyond that a friend of mine ordered an Old Fashioned, and on this instance at least it was made with the proper care and attention which was appreciated. They also do a selection of bottled beers, with a few creative options, and draft beers that were unfortunately far less creative but suitable. (Think Estrella, Staropramen, etc.)
There were only a few people in here at the time, post lunch on a Sunday, but the staff were quite happy for use to literally lounge in one of the restaurant booths casually drinking throughout the afternoon... what was supposed to be stopping in for one on the way home ended up being a few hours of banter and drinks, to the point where we ordered some sliders succumbing to hunger down the line. Now here was the real surprise... the chicken sliders and slider burgers were soooo good! (With a side of buffalo sauce for the chicken sliders, naturally.) I can absolutely see myself in here ordering these again on a day that isn't so busy... the only downside being that they can only be ordered in groups of three, i.e. if a group of you wanted three chicken and three burger sliders you have to order two sets of three rather than a cheaper order of six split down the middle, etc. They did let us upgrade the included tats to "devil's" tats however, which was appreciated. (We also tried an order of the chilli cheese sliders, which were fine and definitely as advertised, but I wouldn't order these over the chicken or burger sliders personally.)
The service on this instance was also spot on, not invasive but just the right level of attentive... I'm not sure how it would be if it were extremely busy, but on this instance there were no complaints for the service department. (Extra points for them charging my friend's phone behind the bar; most bars tend to do this, but it's appreciated all the same.)
I actually like the layout of the place, "dude" stuff aside... personally I just tell myself it's a regular bar and ignore the Lebowski references, but if that's your thing I suppose it doesn't hurt. The only real downside to me in regards to the building itself was the restroom... it looked like it had seen better days and didn't match the apparent cleanliness of the rest of the bar/restaurant.
I can definitely see why this place would be too much for some, and again I can't see myself pushing my way in here on a busy evening (I've seen it heaving at times), but come another lazy weekend afternoon I think I could have done far worse this time around... so, with that in mind, I'm throwing them a four star bone for now... I'm sure I'll be back once or twice over the course of the year so I will update accordingly based on further experiences. read more