Sarah charles (Thewhereto)
We often pass through Sutherland on our way down the coast for a surf and also have a few friends in Jannali. On this particular occasion, we were here to try out the revamp of the Jannali Inn, which is now the Union Place Hotel, with a set of apartments above. Not far from the train station and right amidst the hub of shops and residential area in Jannali.
We would describe the Union Place Hotel as a boutique style pub or bistro, featuring a modern bar and dining area styled with exposed brick, brass elements, wooden booths and artwork adorning the walls. Reminiscent of a venue in Chicago, the theme they are aiming to emulate. There’s also sports bar facilities and an alfresco space with bright white tiling, greenery and white umbrellas. The outdoor area is perfect on a sunny day and also a great space to have a little get-together. We’d recommend sitting outside in the sunshine with a drink in hand. Perhaps a Pimm's which is on tap, it comes served with lemonade, ginger ale, lime, cucumber, strawberry, orange and mint.
If you’re just here for drinks, their cocktail list is great. We loved the “Aperol Gin sour” with Aperol, gin, agave and lemon, topped with rosewater petals and was a sweet and refreshing drink. They also have some specials, perfect for summer, such as the watermelon caprioska or a passionfruit white chocolate martini or even blood orange and ginger white sangria. On the regular list, our ever favourite espresso martini makes an appearance. The hotel also has a cocktail happy hour from 7-9pm Thursday-Sunday (members only) where cocktails are only $10 ($18 at full price).
We do recommend visiting for a meal too. The Union Place Hotel serves up some high quality bistro food. The house baked focaccia a great place to start, a round focaccia which is topped with cherry tomatoes, black olives and vincotto and served in the pan it is cooked in. The bread is thick and super fresh and a perfect start to your lunch. It is also vegan friendly.
We were super keen for the 500g Bistecca 500G Fiorentina Nolan T-Bone (from Gympie QLD Tender-Stretched) and as such could only fit in a few salads with it. The meat came served with the T-Bone and sliced into small pieces with a delicious red wine sauce. A quality piece of meat that was great to share between the two. It came served with a few super crunchy rosemary potatoes and watercress. To accompany, a side of green beans which were topped with a tomato based sauce and black olives (vegan and gluten free).
There are also a range of healthy salads. The tuna panzanella ruby salad was very enjoyable. The salad super fresh, made up of; truss tomato, cucumber, croutons, red onion, basil, capers, red wine vinaigrette.
The menu features a range of steaks, burgers, pastas/risottos and schnitzels as well as their pizzas. In keeping to theme, they have a "Godfather" sandwich and pizzas, especially their 18 inch pizza, which is about the biggest pizza we’ve seen come out of a pub kitchen, it looked incredible. This would be perfect to order for a party.
On the day of our visit, there was also a chef’s specials menu there was a squid ink risotto, sesame and sage crusted pork cutlet or a slow-cooked lamb shoulder and potato pizza. In addition, there were some vegan options; the fried cauliflower and sweet potato salad or an oven-baked red pepper.
We thoroughly recommend this venue for an amazing meal, drink in hand and catching up with a few friends. We’d love it if we had a local pub as good as this one.
Celiac friendly