Simon Haslam
Forget about the sort of session that would land you in the court house, we’re talking about live music sessions on Friday nights, a proper lunch or dinner with workmates, family and friends, or a few drinks after knock-off time at the Courthouse Hotel Mullumbimby, now fully renovated and back in action after the February 2022 flood.
There are many vegetarian and gluten-free options at the Courthouse Kitchen in the pub, whether you’re after arancini, prawn cutlets with lemon and dill dressing, lamb and rosemary triangles served with Asian slaw, or perhaps a more substantial meal such as Southern Fried Chicken, steak, or Asian-style pork belly.
I can see that the menu still contains my (vegetarian) longtime favourite, the zucchini, mint, haloumi and pea fritters served with relish or vegan tzatziki and Asian slaw, or my second-favourite, the green risotto (which can also be served gluten free and with chicken and chorizo for the non-vegetarians). All kids’ meals are $10 and there’s plenty on the menu kids will enjoy.
The pub has seen many closures over the last two years, says manager Simone, ‘first as a result of continual COVID lockdowns and then the pub underwent a voluntary closure so we didn’t have to enforce rules that patrons be vaccinated upon entry.’
‘Then, after we got through COVID, the pub and bottleshop flooded in February 2022. It was knee deep through everything and caused a lot of damage. We did our best to open the bottleshop to the public for limited hours while cleaning out the mud, ripping up the floors, and putting everything back together, but the pub itself was closed for six months to recover.’
However, the good news is that the pub is now back open four days a week, Wednesday to Saturday from 10am until close. They have a new chef, a new menu, and all the equipment in the kitchen is brand new. The kitchen does lunch from 12 till 2pm and dinner from 5.30 till 8pm.
There are ‘happy 2 hours’, 4–6pm, with $5 schooners. ‘We would love to see some support from the town and start the see the place thrive! We are putting some live music on Fridays for patrons to enjoy,’ says Simone.
The drive-through bottleshop is open regular hours from 10am till 7pm Sunday to Thursday and 10am till 8pm on Friday and Saturday.
Courthouse Hotel.
33 Burringbar St, Mullumbimby.
Ph 6684 1550.
