Tannic Teeth

I acknowledge it has been a while since the last small bar review because life seems to have its way of insisting to apply more attention to where it’s needed most.

So it was refreshing that to get back into a small bar late on a sunny afternoon in Fremantle.

Mrs Brown is the name. And she ain’t as boring as she sounds.

As the story goes Queen Victoria had a little thing for a Scottish servant called John Brown. Perhaps it was more than the companionship he offered or how he fiercely protected her. Either way, Vicky and John became something of an informal item, hence her name Mrs Brown. The location of the small bar (not the late monarch) is on Queen Victoria Street. The location of the bar is a good enough excuse for that name, I say.

You could be forgiven into thinking that this place brings back memories of The Stanley. In some ways it does.

There is a Flipside burger bar next door, and patrons are welcome to bring food over.

Even decor of the bar feels the same. Shabby-chic. Retro meets federation. Have a squiz at the portrait of Mrs Brown and spot the 10 modern elements. Check out the crazy welded lighting feature or play with the magnetic words. It’s mature-age fun.

Wines appear from across the international board, there is one tap beer and the rest are well selected bottles. A top range of spirits crown the shelves, Hendrick’s Gin appears to make an impromptu feature along the stairwell wall.

Grab a burger from next door, sit down with a G & T and watch the world blur by.

Mrs Brown

241 Queen Victoria Street

North Fremantle

P:  9336 1887

Monday to Saturday – open to midnight
Sunday – open to 10 pm.

One of the greatest things about showing someone around your city is you get a chance to view things from a fresh(er) perspective.

Fremantle was revived in the old terraces and quirky shops.

The chilly spikes of morning eased to the rounded lull of a winter sun.

Beer and Kangaroo under an olive tree with great company.

But it’s only going to be for a nine more days, I feel too guilty being a tourist in my own town.

At the risk of sounding like a troglodyte or social misfit with a strange phobia for bars and open places for not discovering it earlier, but Little Creatures Freo is one very decent place for a good pint and feed. And to be totally honest with you, this was only my second time there. I admit it, in times when petrol prices were reasonable and politicians truthful, I never felt the need to venture so far south for a beer, pizza and drunken social interaction; good thing I was finally dragged along by happen chance for Nachos and 3 pints before having my mid-afternoon bliss called short by the prospect of serving equally drunk customers myself.

Obviously brewery fresh would be facetiously suggesting otherwise here; you can see, hear and smell the beer being brewed, reminiscing times back in the winery; Nothing quite like the look of a 318 stainless steel vat in full ferment glinting in the morning sun. Food and Beer is tops, as would many staunch advocates of the place attest with their returning patronage. The Bright Ale tasted was live with fruity, floral characters, balanced well with malty roundness and not-so-bitter hopped finish. The Pizza (hot sausage, olive and roasted capsicum) was of fresh ingredients not overly topped or scantly sewn- the base was perfect and not oily-and much better than many so called ‘Italian’ restaurants of Perth. The staff are quintessential Freoians through and through, hippyesque, chatty, veritably high on life (or other substances for that matter) give service in genuinity of good vibes. It gives the place it’s unique spell that once cast over you, you’ll probably return.