Monterey- New Newtown Local

I’ve lived in Newtown on and off for most of my adult life and what I love most about it is how almost everything is close by and easily accessible. Busses, good food, the library, supermarkets, great coffee, cute retail stores, parks, the zoo, and even my roller derby training venue. The only thing that had been missing for me was a good local bar. Not that Newtown lacks bars at all, with several different variations on sports bars, and a downtown local. It was just more that there wasn’t anywhere cool and relaxed that I would want to go and hang out at, rather than sitting in the corner drinking my cheap jug of beer.

That all changed a few months back when Monterey opened on the corner of Rintoul and Riddiford.

Run by Joe of Kreutzberg Summer Cafe fame, the place has quickly become my local. The quirky interior, with an amazing blue mural, no windows, and the original 70s carpet that adorned the restaurant in a previous incarnation as a bad asian restaurant, combines with friendly service, a great range of drinks and homely, delicious food to make a winning combo.

The first time I visited, in its opening week, I was really struck by how much Monterey reminded me of the suburban bars in Brooklyn, New York, with menu options such as macaroni cheese, hot wings and Cajun fries, and a relaxed, local feeling, different from bars in the central city.

The menu is now even bigger and caters for all tastes, which heaps of great vegetarian options as well as a killer steak sandwich.

As well as the good food and great drinks, which include a great freshly squeezed lemonade, the atmosphere is warm and inviting, with board games, jazz records on vinyl, and paper and pencils on all the tables for you to draw and write with (the results of which are sometimes photographed and posted on montereypapertrail.blogspot.com).

Such has Monterey’s popularity grown in the few months it has been open, that it is now open for lunch Tuesday to Sunday.  If I am any indication, it now has a loyal local following as well as lots of patrons that come in from other suburbs and the city. I recently moved house so that I am less than a minute away from Monterey and I’m not embarrassed to admit that my new flats proximity to Monterey was one of the deciding factors.