City Weekly "Durty Nelly’s does Irish with elegance." Neil Clements - August 9, 2007 "A step away from Oxford Street, Durty Nelly’s began life in 1854 as the Rose & Crown, catering for trade from the recently opened Victoria Barracks. Today, the street-level saloon has the relaxed ambience of a traditional Irish local with its long, L-shaped, black marble-topped bar, varnished wooden floor and sage-green walls bedecked with framed art prints and low, bronze-brown, pressed-metal ceiling. Further back lies a cosy parlour featuring black-painted wooden alcoves and red-hued walls in Victorian style, replete with an artfully photo-strewn map of Ireland astride a handsome cast-iron fireplace.  On Sunday afternoons there is a traditional live music set open to all comers in this intimate, homely space. The loyal clientele ranges from late twenty somethings to whoever is in the mood for a welcoming chat and a little Gaelic ambience.  The chatty, personable staff know how to pour an excellent pint of Guinness, and this place is among the top-selling Sydney outlets for the venerable dark stuff.  Up a portrait-covered staircase to one side, the elegant split-level restaurant is redolent of a print room from the Irish Georgian era.  On the narrow balcony out in front, you can reserve one of the two-seater tables behind the iron-grilled façade, sip, eat and watch the world pass by. Two-course menus are from $37.50 per person, and three courses from $47.50, with an entrée of Irish whiskey-cured ocean trout and mains ranging to five-spiced roast salmon, roast chicken breast and chargrilled sirloin steak. This is a perfect meeting or dining place close to the city, Aussie Stadium and the Sydney Cricket Group, and the restaurant also caters for events such as the Melbourne Cup and – naturally – St Patrick’s Day."   Durty Nelly’s Where:  9-11 Glenmore Road, Paddington Tel:  9360 4467 Open:  Monday-Saturday 11am-midnight.  Sunday noon-10pm Domestic beer:  from $4.50 Wine: from $4.90 Spirits:  from $5.70 The vibe:  sociable, relaxed, authentic back