A Church, school, pub, club, these are places of worship for the spirit, mind and soul…so let’s throw in tastebuds for good measure. Remarkably one of Sydney’s most loved spots on the North Shore has been all of these since 1878.

Remember Sounds on Sunday? We do (kind of…). A neon pink sign  says “if these walls could talk”. Mmmm we are thinking that perhaps the Greenwood Hotel should keep schtum.

Over the last few months renovations have taken shape at The Greenwood Hotel at the hands of designers SJB Interiors, Loose Leaf and The Plant Room. A giant aerial leaf sculpture adorns white rafters in the Chapel Bar like a floating fascinator. The north beer garden is strewn with fairy lights and cheery yellow and white umbrellas, along with a new outdoor bar. Your bubbles to bench seating is now a speedy affair. Everywhere is bursting with (plant) life as architectural sculptures, plantings and light fixtures create more intimacy within the sandstone structure.

Big venues rarely offer norm-breaking cooking  preferring ‘crowd pleasers’ but The Greenwood surprises thanks to Group Executive Chef Brad Sloane and Head Chef Sam Matthews whose combined resume includes  Marco Pierre White at The Belvedere and Club Mayfair in London along with acclaimed Riverview Hotel. This is restaurant dining not pub grub (albeit with a buzzer). Shares of S&P calamari, field mushroom arancini and bloody Mary salmon tacos are creative. It’s easy to go back for more if it weren’t for their famous salads that would challenge a poke bowl for feistiness. A crispy duck leg sits on top of crunchy red cabbage tumbled with orange hazelnuts and Lentils. Their signature BBQ sesame chicken arrives with bean sprout coriander friends. Order the shepherd’s pie – it’s a cylindrical golden tower topped with peas and lashings of eggplant puree.

There are beers, wines and cocktails. The classics are all there but with a creative twist. We have a feeling these walls are talking. So many lives have been enriched in so many ways that it’s new lease on life (and plants) will see this North Shore gift carrying on giving for generations to come.

The Greenwood Hotel
Greenwood Plaza – 36 Blue St, North Sydney
Opening hours: 
Mon – Fri: 12 noon to late
Saturdays: functions and events
Sunday S*A*S*H: 2pm – 10pm
https://greenwoodhotel.com/