#civicpub

I have played the game of 8 ball since I was in secondary school so many years ago when I moved to Canberra for the first time I was naturally intrigued when a classmate local told me of a pub in the middle of civic that is host to 20 odd tables. Naturally I thought he was exaggerating and asked the name of said pub to which he replied The Civic Pub. Trying not to re-enact the famous Abbott and Costello scene ‘who’s on first’ I took The Civic Pub as the literal name and went in search of this glorious pub to wet the whistle and shoot a game of stick. I must have walked past it a couple times because from the outside it just looked like a restaurant and nothing like the pool hall I was expecting. Eventually walking into Civic it was very reminiscent of a casino in that it had no natural light, the carpets had a very casino-esk look and old English tavern styled walls. It has been renovated at least once since then to make the first room of pool tables look more appealing with a little beer garden are so small only a handful of people could potentially be out there at any one time even though ive never seen it open or occupied. The main room of pool tables hasn’t changed a bit but in my opinion doesn’t need change. It looks like the poker pit at crown casino, very dark with no natural light and two screens playing jukebox music videos at either end of the room. They don’t have any in-house pool comps however they are associated with the ACT 8 Ball competition that operates all over Canberra. Located on the city side of Braddon it is ideally situated and the turnout on a Friday and Saturday night definitely backs this up with usually big turnouts. Civic Pub would be nearing the end of a north Canberra pub crawl and at this point after a few beverages and many games of pool it would not be uncommon for your party crew to have a few tag along characters as the people here are usually friendly and out for a good night also. Prices on beers are good for the area and the selection consists of the usual suspects but the food here is amazing. The selection on the menu and the ingredients used make it possibly my favourite place to dine. Couple the food and the beers with the pool tables and the dark ambience with candle lit rooms with couches and stylish chairs this place is the pinnacle of experiences to be had in the heart of Canberra.