The Comfortable Chair
96 Lygon Street, East Brunswick
The Comfortable Chair, or ‘Comfy Chair’ as it’s affectionately known, lives up to its name. Nearly every inch of the establishment is fitted out with an old and comfy couch, similar to a giant share house lounge room. Patrons can rest their weary bums on the weary sofas and travel through time.
Well, almost. The walls are papered with newspaper and magazine pages from the 1940s through to the eighties. When conversation lulls, a gaze at the wallpaper will provide excellent inspiration. There is the front page of The Age declaring ‘Sir Winston Churchill is Dead’, and stories following the 1954 Royal Tour accompanied by photographs of a youthful Queen Elizabeth under captions such as: ‘It gives the nation a great feeling of pride to see her Majesty smile.’ There are antiquated ads for cigarettes and the latest movies like ‘Catch 22′ and strangely non-antiquated articles detailing the debate on whether to pull Australian troops out of the Vietnam War.
Alternatively, you can travel back to your childhood as you place your beer on a table that is actually an arcade game; said games including Donkey Kong, Space Invaders and Galactica. All to a soundtrack that spans almost as many years as the wallpaper.
Drinks start at $3.50 for a pot of Coopers pale ale and go up $13 for their range of Cocktails. Tapas plates start from $6.50 and Pizzas from $5. Thursday is student night with jugs starting at $6.50 between 5-6pm and increasing in price as the night wears on. So make sure the first round is on you
THE CROWN
Lavendar Hill
Clapham Junction
London, United Kingdom
In the interests of research GO pulled up a bar stool with Brisbane native and London local Jen Botting to chew the fat about her local pub.
JEN>> Our most geographically local is Mish Mash, the nightclub we live above. We tend not to go there too much because the music is bad and we get it every Friday and Saturday nights til 2am!!
GO>> So where do you go most often?
JEN>> The Crown. It’s just down the road from us and is a classic English pub. I love it for the fireplace and big comfy couches that I’ve been known to fall asleep in!
GO>> And your usual order?
JEN>> Well, I’m a bit of a cider fancier myself (although I gather this makes me something of a chav). Myfavourite is Weston’s organic cider, which, as well as being all organic and therefore good for you, is ridiculously alcoholic at 6.5%. Actually, I think the whole ‘organic’ element probably nullifies the chav factor!
GO>> What’s a chav?
JEN>> Oh God, I was wondering if the term had reached Australia yet! Your classic chav is basically Vicky Pollard from Little Britain, It’s all about the tracksuits, ciggies, council housing, boozing it up and accumulating ASBOs (anti-social behaviour orders).
GO>> Ah, all is clear.
