The Occidental Hotel

A serviceable pub, you can do far worse than this place.
For lunch, as is normal in the city on weekdays you’ll be surrounded by office/​business men and again-​you could be surrounded by far worse. No unscrupulous types in my encounter.
The lunch menu is quite affordable and the portions fair. I didn’t starve and I was looking at a prestigious plate with 2 cm of it covered.
The food is not bad, and what you would expect for the price. A BLT here with chips for $ 8 is in my opinion far better than any poisonous, soggy and sad looking BLT you would get at any big name fast food franchise.
Bar staff are nice, alcohol prices seemed fair to me.

I wasn’t going to do it, but since I’d actually had my first drink of the night at the Orient Hotel over in The Rocks, fate dictated that I have my last at the Occidental. Besides, I had to walk directly past it on the way to the hotel so I really couldn’t argue.
What the Occidental lacks in grace and swank it makes up for in… well, I guess I’m not sure where it makes up. Situated in the heart of the CBD, it’s a dumpy little pub that’s well seasoned and not trying to impress. It just wants you to buy a few drinks and hang out for a while.
The bar was maybe a third full of what one must assume were regulars, as they were chatting it up with the bartender and each other across the bar. It was a fairly warm and humid evening so I took my pint out to a spare table by the sidewalk, as there was no AC inside to cool things off, or at least it wasn’t on. In addition to the haze of fresh smoke that lingered about from the other tables, the aroma of stale ash cans permeated the air, prompting me to finish my beer and get a move on.
So it wasn’t exactly a stellar experience. But where the Occidental did make a good effort in reasonably priced pints, and the bartender was a very laid back and amiable guy.
It’s good for a change of pace from the fancier watering holes scattered around the CBD, but it’s also probably not likely to be your go-​to pub.

There are some old school pubs in the city but you don’t get much more old school than The Occidental on York Street. Enjoy a drink out on one of the tables on the foot path as the stream of city folk walk by and smokers come out for a puff or two or perhaps you prefer one of the couple of bars inside. There’s nothing fancy about it but still has a bit of charm about it.
It’s popular with the after work crowd looking for something less pretentious than other places near by and with a bistro down stairs, a restaurant and accommodation upstairs you could really make a night of it!
The ‘Occi’ is a good old fashioned pub well worth stopping in for a drink.