PJ's Irish Pub74 Church St
Parramatta, Sydney
PJ's Irish Pub is a big place that has old world character. It's been around a long while - circa 1923 - and the beautifully maintained timber, fireplaces, fixtures and fittings exude charm. It's easy to see why it's heritage listed as well!It's an all round venue. It has a casual relaxed home away from home feel. On Friday and Saturday nights the upstairs floor (and outdoor covered balcony area) comes alive with music and a real party atmosphere. It's also popular for functions, hens nights and events. However, there's so much space and so many different areas in this place that there's room for every taste.
PJ's attracts lunch time diners, the after work crowd, party goers and anyone who likes a decent meal at decent prices in a nice place.
Our first starter was the chicken wings with blue cheese dip and celery. They arrived very hot, and kept their heat well, and they were very tasty. The wings seemed to have been basted with something while cooking - and whatever it was it was good!
They went extremely well with the creamy blue cheese sauce that fortunately was subtle and not overpowering.
This salad had plenty of juicy plump prawns - they didn't skimp - and a giant prawn on top.
It was lightly dressed and turned out to be a refreshingly light salad.
Our next dish was again a heartier one. It was New Zealand King salmon with seasonal vegetables and soy, ginger and sesame dressing.It was a decent chunk of salmon that was perfectly cooked and the vegetables (beans, broccoli and asparagus spears) and chips were also nicely done too! It was almost like salmon on a raft.
The dressing was lovely too - nicely tangy but not overpowering.
Getting back onto the lighter courses, a lovely, fresh and colourful salad arrived.
It was billed as haloumi and quinoa salad but it also came with roasted pumpkin, rocket, beetroot and lemon oil.
This was an impressive dish.
It was one of the most colourful meals we've had and the combination of flavours was also great.
You could order it for the wow factor alone if you wanted to, but you'd probably still end up loving it for the taste anyway in all likelihood!
On our wander around PJ's Irish Pub we spied the impressive pizza oven they had - so we had already decided we wanted to try one!
We chose the double smoked chicken wood fired pizza with baby spinach, caramelised onion and piri piri sauce. It looked impressive, smelled delicious and it tasted just as good! There was plenty of topping on a lovely base and the flavours were great!
We decided to end the meal with a few of the desserts on offer. First up was the traditional banoffi pie.
It had a pastry and caramel base topped with fresh banana and then plenty of fresh cream.
The pastry was great and the combination of caramel and banana was again a winner as it almost always is!
They didn't forget the fresh cream either - it came with heaps which was great.
A garnish of strawberry quarters at the side and a sliver of banana on top capped it all off.
PJ's Irish Pub was great. It's not pretending to be anything other than a pub, but it certainly has food that is better than your average pub grub.The quality, quantities and prices make this a great place for a decent meal.
The place also has a great feel to it as well - nice and relaxed.
Sir and Mlady dined as guests of PJ's Irish Pub and the Iris Group. Special thanks to Aimee for showing us around and looking after us. Thanks to Iris Group Operations Manager Paul Devine for his time. Thanks also to Patrick Kemkemian for arranging our visit.
