Paddington Woollahra RSL Club

The best thing about Paddo RSL is this is where they hold Big Bingay events. It’s like bingo, but its hosted by a drag queen and involves dirty songs and lots of cheap alcohol. Did I mention cheap alcohol? Don’t forget to yell bingay and not bingo. That is if you can actually see the numbers.
Pub food is also cheap and you can join the oldies downstairs for a meal before the show gets on the road. Parking is usually free on street at night, or buses go straight to the city.

You’ve got to love a cheeky RSL dinner and beer on a quiet Sunday night. The Paddo lot do a good steak and the drinks are all at super low prices. Sitting on Oxford Street opposite Paddington Town Hall, you’ll find a low-​key dining room, open-​air drinking area out the front and even a few function rooms upstairs. I actually did a couple of yoga classes once upon a time, and now they seem to offer a range of other classes too, including swing dancing and kung fu. Open for lunch and dinner seven days, all main meals are served with chips and salad, so embrace the mood and get into the schnitzel, eye fillet steak or lamb cutlets. No wonder they’ve been keeping the Paddington locals happy for more than 50 years!

The Paddington RSL on Oxford St is well named. It’s an RSL, in that it looks like an RSL from the outside, is priced like an RSL, you have to sign in like you do at RSL’s and the décor inside is pretty much what you’d expect from an RSL. And to top that off, it’s in Paddington.
SO if you’re after what an RSL has to offer and you’re around Oxford Street then certainly head in to the Paddo RSL. It’s not bad either. There’s plenty of room to sit down and enjoy a drink or a meal from Claudes Bistro or maybe even a game of pool or flutter in the TAB or pokie room. You may even be lucky enough to grab a table outside and watch a game on the tele as you keep one eye out people watching on the street.
Paddington RSL. That pretty much sums it up.

For the old’s only? I’m curious, as the only time I have been here was to catch up with my Gran for lunch. She said the food was good & cheap, and she knew the chef. The food was cheap, and although I could only see 1 chef in the kitchen, it was served quickly, and of mediocre taste. I’m imagining the microwave is the second in charge.
The vibe was awful, tasteless and felt as if I’d walked into an old aged care facility with pokies — although what more could you ask from a RSL club? Silence was a positive I guess…
Positives:
Cheaper drinks (but still not as cheap as some happy hours or out of the way pubs)
Large menu (although, rule of thumb, the larger the menu the crappier the food)
Meat raffle (but, who really wants to be seen to win this?)

One of the funniest things I have ever seen in my life was at the front doors of Paddo RSL club. For those who aren’t familiar with Returned Servicemen’s Leagues clubs, they are venues dedicated to the memory of the ANZACs– fallen soldiers from both world wars. They have specific rules and regulations like signing in when you go there, no headwear allowed, and a minute’s silence facing the West at sunset. In exchange for these things you get cheap food & drinks, usually a meat raffle, badge draw, bands, lawn bowls or similar. They also always have «pokies» or poker machines to bring in revenue (I think some of their revenue goes the the Lions Club charity but I could be wrong about that).
So I was passing the Paddo RSL at about five to 10 on a Thursday morning, and like a scene straight out of South Park there were about 20 oldies– I’m talking purple hair and zimmerframes– crowded around the doors waiting to rush the pokies (it was obviously pension day). This joint is not just death’s waiting room though, they have bands, yoga and all sorts of fun things for the young and funky. Just don’t get run over in the doorway on pension day morning.

In a street dominated by the trendy and expensive, Paddo RSL may seem a little out of place, but in reality it’s a haven of old-​school club culture. If you’re heading to Oxford Street for a night out, there is a less-​than-​small chance that you’ll be heading here, but if you’re wandering around and fancy a quick, un-​fussy beverage, then why not pop in. If you’re from further than 5kms away then you’re free to come in, but you will have to join if you’re from the area and you don’t have a member with you — but that will only set you back $ 5.50 (not even a schooner in most Oxford St venues).
If you do suffer from bar-​snobbery, then this place isn’t for you, but if you don’t mind the odd, cheap beer in a place where the carpet was laid around the same time it opened (it’s around 50 years old), then this would appear to be the ideal location! It features all the RSL staples — TAB, Keno, Pokies, intoxicated locals — and is also home to Klaus’s Brasserie (
), which offers plenty of the usual reasonably-​priced club fare, alongside a number of pricier options — including a $ 25 Wiener Schnitzel, which I assume is good, considering the chef’s name (stereotype much? Yes.).
It’s not classy, it’s not flash, but it serves the same beer as the much more expensive places!

Gotta love a good Aussie ‘Rissole’ and the Paddo is a refreshing, down to earth departure from the trendy Oxford Street bustle. It feels kinda compulsory to order a club squash and dine out on club grub aka roast of the day or chicken parmy. But Klaus’ Brasserie steps it up from usual run of the mill club fare, as winner of Best Club Tucker award for 2011 and finalist in the Savour Australia Restaurant and Catering Awards for Excellence in 2011. Go the authentic Vienna Schnitzel (served up by the German chef himself) with mash or chips and lashings of fresh salad. And a side of creamed spinach if you’re feeling piggy. Then get into the real club spirit and have a bet, dabble in some keno or even a tap on the pokies. Come on a Friday night and try your luck in the meat raffles. Come to think of it, who needs Vegas when you can get you’re gambling fix right here in Paddo?