Endeavour Tap Rooms

Brewery, bar and restaurant Endeavour Tap Rooms opened in January 2017, in the building that once housed Sydney’s oldest colonial hotel.

Dating back to the 1800s, the venue operated as prominent watering hole Seaman’s for much of the 19th and 20th centuries. Fast-forward a few hundred years and the space is now owned and operated by Ben Carroll and Hamish Watts of hospitality group Applejack (The Butler, The Botanist, Della Hyde). Ben Kooyman and Dan Hasting, the boys behind Endeavour Vintage Beer, also own a share.

The collaboration was in the works for quite some time (the two Bens are old friends from school). However, it was finding the building that really allowed the dream to flourish. The heritage space has been completely refurbished by Welsh + Major, an architectural firm with accolades for transforming historical sites into contemporary spaces. The interiors are pared back and modern with art deco references.

The menu puts an Australian-pub spin on American barbeque, making it a little less stodgy and sauce driven. The kitchen is headed by Sam Tingle, a former sous chef at The Butler and self-confessed meat-smoking, vegetable-pickling fanatic (the Tap Rooms has its own Yoder smoker).

But it’s the beer that takes centre stage. On site there’s a 600-litre brewhouse, eight tanks and, in the bar, four key lines and four rotating taps. Brewer Graeme Mahy uses all-Australian ingredients for the pale ale, Australian ale and other brews. On tap, there is also rosé and an “Australian Negroni”, using local ingredients. The locally sourced wine and cocktail lists were created by Applejack’s Lachy Sturrock.