The Flynn Review: Revamped Pub Dining & Happy Hour in Sydney CBD

Looking for a Sydney CBD pub with great food and drinks? The Flynn has a revamped menu by fine dining chef Justin North with steak frites and prawn rolls to noodle salads, pizza and cocktails. Plus details on their generous happy hour deal!

The Flynn has been a popular pub on Bligh Street ever since 2012. On Friday nights it can be teeming with people with after work gatherings but on this Tuesday night after the Easter long weekend it is fairly quiet. The megapub is located next to the Sofitel Wentworth Hotel.

The bar has undergone a $2M revamp and the sports bar's menu has also been revamped by fine dining chef Justin North (of Bécasse). While you can still get a steak or a chicken parmi, you can also order other things like healthy salad or noodle bowls, prawn rolls and other offerings that you would find in a restaurant than a pub. There is also table service at the restaurant now.

One of the biggest draws at The Flynn is the generous happy hour which is between 5-8pm every night and features $12 spritz cocktails. We didn't really see this until after we ordered cocktails though!

We start the matcha melon fizz which is Midori Melon liqueur, Junmai sake, matcha and fresh lemon juice that packs a sweet punch. I order a non alcoholic version of the Strawberry Coconut Margarita has coconut cream, strawberry puree, agave nectar and fresh lime juice which is quite sweet and fruity with coconut on the outside. The alcoholic version usually contains El Jimador tequila and Cointreau.

One of the most popular dishes is the grilled split prawns. There are three very large king prawns split in half and grilled with a delicious chilli, miso lime garlic butter and plenty of chives on top. This comes with three slices of focaccia. The prawns are cooked perfectly and the garlic butter is absolutely drinkable and moreish. You want to use that focaccia to soak up that butter.

The prawn bun is also very popular. The prawns are chopped up and well seasoned with lemon kewpie mayo, celery and chives with a very soft, lightly toasted brioche bun that is buttered on the outside. I personally would like a little bit more filling, but that's just me (it's a chronic problem that I have with seafood rolls). The prawn rolls come with French fries on the side. Make sure to ask for aioli or tomato sauce on the side for the fries.

The tuna noodle bowl salad is made up of a good amount of raw yellowfin tuna cubes, half a fanned out avocado, cucumber, green tea soba noodles with a light, fresh sesame dressing and a sprinkling of furikake on top. This is tasty, healthy and a substantial size so good for sharing.

The 250g Riverina black Angus rump camp MBS2 steak comes smothered with a delicious Cafe de Paris butter. It is cooked medium rare as ordered and is served sliced with a big mound of chips. The butter really brings the dish together and even Mr NQN who doesn't usually eat a lot of steak really enjoys this. Just save some of that bread for that sauce or mop it up with the chips. I did ask for the chips to be very hot but unfortunately these were not very hot at all.

Normally, we tend to not order pizzas unless we're at a specialist pizza place but I was curious to see what these were like. The pizza here is a rectangular pizza, but the crust is very good with a nice puffy crust edge and a soft centre. The topping is made up of spicy sopressa, balls of Italian sausage, black olives and mushrooms and is very moreish. I think I stopped at three pieces (but wanted more!).

There are two desserts on the menu: an Affogato and a cheesecake. It's a little too late for coffee for me so we go for the cheesecake. It's a rectangle of cheesecake that is very light and fluffy, so it's not your thick, traditional baked cheesecake. It comes with a berry compote as well on the side and is coated in Oreo crumbs. Mr NQN polishes this off leaving behind a tiny sliver.

So tell me Dear Reader, do you often go to places for Happy Hour? And do you eat at many pubs and if so, what do you usually order?