Potts Point sits at that slightly chaotic intersection where Kings Cross’s last remaining grit meets Darlinghurst’s polish and everyone’s dog is somehow off-leash and extremely well-behaved. And, right in the thick of it is Penny’s Hotel – where the pink-and-green tiles and velvet booths will give you reason enough to visit and update your social feed, while the midweek specials do the real recruiting to keep you actually fed.
Show Me The Money (Then Keep It In Your Wallet)
Mondays are for schnitzel people and parma people, and Penny’s isn’t making anyone choose – $18 schnitzels and $21 parmigianas, both served with fries, salad and aioli, running from 11.30am until 3. And then again from 5 till close. No time limit, no fine print, just very reasonably priced fried chicken all day.
Tuesdays belong to the steak frites: a 220g rump with golden shoestring fries, café de Paris butter and a proper gravy, for $25 from 11.30am. Feeling virtuous (or just hungry for more)? Add buttered green beans or a rocket and sundried tomato salad for $2 – cheap enough that saying no feels like the wrong call.
Wednesdays mean nachos and trivia, which is possibly the most correct pairing in pub history. Take your pick of vegetarian or beef nachos, loaded with guacamole, sour cream and jalapeños for $18, and upgrade to a $7 margarita if the trivia questions start going badly. They will. Bring a team, or don’t – either way, someone’s getting bragging rights by the end of the night.
Happy hour runs 4-6pm, Monday to Friday, and it’s doing a lot for a lot of people: $6 house spirits, $6 regular house wines, $11 large house wines, pints for schooner prices, and $15 house cocktails. It’s the kind of happy hour that makes “just one drink after work” a genuinely believable plan.
Who’s Penny, Anyway?
Not just a cute name. Penny was a real local who worked the laneway now named after her, and famously ploughed the money she made straight back into helping Kings Cross’s homeless community, going on to help build the community in Bourke Street Park.
It’s a properly Cross story – a bit rough, a lot of heart – and the pub that carries her name has taken that spirit and run with it, all pink-and-green Spanish tiles, plush velvet booths and floor-to-ceiling windows for prime people-watching.
Whether you’re after a proper feed on a school night or just an excuse to leave the office at a reasonable hour, Penny’s has quietly become the local doing the most for the least. Penny would be proud.
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