Royal Hotel Richmond

The next stop on this leg of the Royal Tour was the final one in Greater Sydney.  Unless you count the Blue Mountains.  In which case it would be the second last.  But I don’t.  So the last Royal in Greater Sydney was the Royal Hotel Richmond.

By the time we had finished our beers at Camden and made our way up to Richmond, it was getting closer to a more reasonable hour to be cruising through pubs.  It was around noon by the time we rolled in and this time we were far from the only ones in the pub.  We sat in the front bar which was pretty nice.  The previous evening’s NRL game was on the TV, there were comfortable stools, and the whole place had a welcoming, wood-panelled type vibe.

There was also a decent, although not amazing, selection of beers on tap to choose from as well.  Even though it was around lunch time we didn’t see anyone else getting food so we figured we’d just wait for a late lunch at the next stop.  So after finishing our beers at this pleasant, but firmly middle of the road Royal, we got up to leave.

And that’s when we realised we had sorely undersold the Royal Hotel Richmond.  While looking for a back door to provide a shortcut to our car, we realised that the amount of the pub we had seen thus far constituted maybe 10% of the entire pub.  We walked back to discover a massive atrium type bistro area.  There were tons of people with tons of delicious looking food.  We immediately regretted our decision to eat at the next Royal, but by that point we were locked in schedule-wise.

However, another great feature (and a first for the tour so far) was a full-on gift shop.  There were t-shirts, tote bags, coffee mugs, you name it.  John decided he would take advantage of the opportunity to get him some Royal merch.  I decided I would rather pass at the time and then begin regretting that decision almost immediately upon leaving.  So I guess I’ll just have to keep my fingers crossed for merch moving forward and continue to quietly resent John for his better decision.

So with that quiet resentment just getting underway, we drove off into the Blue Mountains for the next stop on the Tour.

Royal Stats

• Town/Suburb: Richmond, Sydney, NSW
• Population: 5,482
• Date Visited: Friday, May 5, 2023
• Visited By: Cory, John
• Beer Sponsorship on Sign: None
• Beer Consumed at Pub: Balter XPA
• Price of Schooner of Said Beer: $9.50
• Unique Award: Royal with the Best Gift Shop
• Tour Progress: 21.3% (29/136)