First Look: An Irish Stout and Live Music Bar Moves Into the Old Manly Boatshed

Last September, the Old Manly Boatshed poured last drinks on a final night of ’80s riffs and inebriated singalongs. News that the underground stalwart would close was sad for Manly locals, who mourned the loss of the sticky-floored venue that owner George Burgess had run for nearly 40 years. But on Friday May 15, the beloved space reopened as The Gopher, an Irish bar and live music venue.

Manly hospitality mainstay Matt Clifton is the co-owner and designer, with experience opening neighbourhood venues like Donny’s and The Cumberland. And as with any change made to a local institution, Clifton and The Gopher were met with some scepticism – but the queue snaking down The Corso till 2am on opening weekend suggests it’s been a hit so far.

“I think everybody appreciates that it wasn’t what some people thought was gonna happen,” Clifton says. “Which was gut it out, get rid of live music, change all around. It’s still kept quite a lot of the original essence – it’s just had a spruce.”

The Gopher is named for the Gopher Gang, a group of Irish lawbreakers who were influential in Hell’s Kitchen from the 1890s to 1910s, and inspired by modern-day New York bar The Dead Rabbit. It sounds like something you might dream up with your friends one weekend: open till 3am, free live music all weekend, an honours board on the wall for the first people to drink 100 pints in the bar. All that charm’s there and more – with little hand-drawn notes on the menu that say things like “bartender’s favourite”, and tap heads hand-carved from wood.

“I like creating things that are a little bit more experiential or transformative,” Clifton says. “Where you walk in and it takes you to a different place.”

The Gopher’s light fixtures were sourced from Bulgaria, Germany, the UK and Canada, while Clifton sourced the early-1900s milk glass lampshades from 16 different countries. He hand-drew that honours board and found a tiler to nail his vision for the slanted tiling in the bathrooms.

Despite the focus on stouts and the late-night singalongs, Clifton is aware The Gopher won’t be seen as your typical Irish pub.

“It’s my version,” he says “I don’t really call it an Irish pub, but I call it sort of Irish-themed ­– or an Irish basement bar with live music. Otherwise, you get called out and people say, ‘Well that’s not really an Irish pub’.”

Food is share-style, with a mix of hearty snacks and mains you’d find at your local. Pork and fennel sausage rolls with a whisky-spiked tomato sauce, maybe, or a Scotch egg wrapped in Cumberland sausage and black pudding. There’s an Irish spice bag and a salmon, smoked cod and white fish pie served with buttery mashed potatoes and a leek-and-herb sauce.

Look past the hand-crafted beer taps and find something fun – a whole page of the menu is dedicated to the fire-topped Hell’s Bells cocktail. In The Gopher’s version, 12-year Redbreast whisky meets Sazerac rye, Tasmanian butter vodka and chocolate bitters – then it’s lit on fire. It’s heady stuff – each person is only allowed two each night.

Custom glassware sports the bar’s logo – a capital G, that’s coincidentally placed at just the right height for someone to split said G if they were to drink a stout from the glass.

Expect acoustic sessions to get the night started, followed by cover bands breaking out the hits. Head down stat to catch a rendition of Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again, grab a Kilkenny and begin your quest to join The Gopher’s 100 pint club.

The Gopher
40 The Corso, Manly

Hours:
Tue to Thu 4pm–late
Fri & Sat 4pm–3am
Sun 4pm–late

gophermanly.com.au
@gophermanly