The Arms…at Newport

So anyways, the other day at a friend’s place, I talked about the plan- to try somewhere different for lunch or breakfast on a weekend…and, in the process, explore a little.

Some weeks it might be just the 3 of us, sometimes, with friends- but it had to be somewhere new and everyone had to contribute to the decision.

‘But what if we just want to go somewhere we’ve already been?’ asked Miss 16- a notorious decision avoider.

‘Yeah, what if we just want to be close to home,’ asked Mr T- an even more notorious decision avoider.

‘I’ve thought of that- we get one repeat choice each month,’ I assured them.

This weeks choice was made by friends- brunch at Newport Arms Hotel. Their Miss 16 and our Miss 16 complained about losing their Sunday morning lie-in. For our Miss 16 it was something about a One Direction concert and a late night. I had to remind her that it was us out there at Moore Park waiting for her.

The Arms. The last time I was here was nearly 30 years ago. I was young and caught a train and two buses. We sat on the grass and drank a lot. It’s changed a lot since then…I’ve changed a lot since then.

These days, there’s astro turf and tables and shade and playgrounds and a really family friendly vibe.

One thing that hasn’t changed over the years, is the view.

The menu for brekky has all the basics, plus a few more.

Both Miss 16’s had the mixed watermelon juices- and debated about sneaking the jars out.

Miss 16 declared her avo smash with feta and heirloom tomatoes on sourdough ($16) to be the best avo smash she’d had.

Hubby had something called an Arms sausage roll ($17)- a messy, drippy combination of chorizo, fried egg, tomato and leek confit, chipotle aioli, grilled cheese and probably something lettuce-y. He said it was good. I wondered if there was anything more that could possibly be fitted on the roll.

I had the brekky roll ($12)- a more modest combo of bacon, egg, avo, lettuce & tomato. Our friends had Big Breakfasts all round ($18).

Getting There

Ok, Newport is a long way away…what am I talking about? Anywhere on the coast from where we are in North West Sydney is a long way away. We drove, but if you have access to better transport, you can catch buses…the details are on the website.

If you are driving, you’re pretty well going to head north towards Palm Beach. Allow an hour on a Sunday.

The Verdict?

I had been in deadline hell, but after enjoying that view for a couple of hours, the words flew. Our friends loved it and both Miss 16’s declared it was worth getting up at the ungodly time of 9am for.