The Courthouse

The Courthouse

Key - Summary Information - Bar

Name: The Courthouse Hotel
Address: 38 Abott Street, Cairns, Queensland 4870, Australia
Phone:(07) 403-18672
Cuisine Type: Pub Style – separate kitchen.
Price Range: No Cocktails, small wine list, $4.40 to $6.00 per beer.
Beers: Beer - 10x tap beers, 19 bottled beers
EftPos/Credit Cards: Yes, all accepted
Parking: Nil - street parking only
Disabled Access: Main entrance not at street level, some stairs.
Deals: None known
Dress Code: None known. Tidy Casual.
Smoking: Yes.
Overall Rating 6 out of 10
Drinks: 7 out of 10
Service: 6 out of 10
Ambience: 6 out of 10
Value for Money: 6 out of 10
Reccomended: Yes. Take your mates.

No web presence.

Review:

The Courthouse is an impressive establishment, and aptly named being the former Cairns Courthouse. A lot of hard work and money have gone into lovingly restoring the old building and turning it into a nightclub/sports bar in the centre of the Cairns nightlife district. A truly fantastic job has been done on the restoration of the Courthouse. The original marble has been retained where possible, and the facade has been kept in place. The marble colums, coat of arms, and exceptional flooring really make this a stand out venue. In keeping with the style of the building, the Courthouse is not air conditioned. The Courthouse grounds at the front of the building facing Abbott Street are used as an an outdoor viewing area to take in sports games, and also house an outside bar and bbq that is put into action for big games to handle the large crowds. There is a huge outdoor screen complete with projection tv and good sound for the games. Also, the Courthouse shows movies outdoors during peak tourist season.

The Courthouse is associated with the Cairns Resort by Outrigger and is in the same building as the resort, however it is open to, and easily accessed by the public. Patrons can enter through the hotel, or from Abott Street. There are security staff usually working at the Courthouse and they are friendly and very professional. Enetering the Courthouse from Abbott Street, patrons are required to walk through two rooms of seating before entering the main bar area. Off the right hand side before enetering the bar area is a gaming area for those who like the pokies, and to the left is an area where you are able to order snack foods. Unfortunately when we were there, there was a one and a half hour wait to order a bowl of fries. It is fair to say that it was a busy night, however that seems a bit ridiculous, and essentially our only option was the sausage sizzle outside for $2.50 a banger, but that didn't really take our fancy.

The main bar area has two separate rooms off to each side, one of which houses open air seating that is utilised by the restaurant that operates from the same premises. The other area has pool tables, however this was closed for a private function when we were at the Court house. It was easy to get a seat inside, even the couches were free as most people were there for the sport and were seated outside, watching the action on the big screen. The Courthouse is set up as a sports bar/nightclub and has four televisions, two side by side on two walls, in the main area. On each wall one television will be playing sport, while the other plays music videos that each feature advertising at the end of each clip. The music was mostly recent hip hop and R&B played at a fairly high volume, not the place for a quiet chat, more a place to come for a big night out. Whie inside it is not possible to hear the commentary to the sport because of the music, however the commentary to the sport fixture is available outside.

The Courthouse bar is an elliptical bar in the centre of the room with service available at any point from the bar. The bar serves beer, wine and spirits, however we were advised that there were no cocktails available. The Courthouse has 10 beers availalbe on tap, including XXXX (both Gold and Bitter), Hahn Premium and Light, Tooheys New, Tooheys Old Dark, Becks, VB, Stella Artois, and Carlton Draught) and 19 bottled beers available. The tap beers range from $4.40 to $6.00. Unfortuantely when we were at the Courthouse they were serving beer in plastic cups which wasn't that good, however this was probably due to the large numbers of people there to watch sport, and would be because the drinks were being taken outside for watching the game.

Overall we enjoyed the Courthouse for what it was, a sports bar come nightclub featuring hip hop and R&B in the Cairns scene. This bar is reccomended to those who are seeking a fun night out with a younger crowd. A good place to go to enjoy a few beers and a bit of music.

Revisit:

Just a small addendum to our original review, we recently revisited this establishment and can advise readers that there is a sepcial on Friday nights at the Courthouse. All beers are $4.00 per bottle. Not the best value in town and this might account for the lack of punters, if you're looking for a quiet sports bar to watch the footy, this place is one to consider if a quiet place is what you are after.

While the staff were very friendly, and helpful in putting on the game that we wanted to watch, you are strictly informed by signs all over tables that absolutely no food can be consumed on the wonderful leather couches that are perfect for watching sport from, being placed right in front of a big screen rear projection TV (not the best definition, but good enough) as they are. It gives you the impression that the establishment consider that they are doing you a favour by allowing you to go there and purchase alcohol and food. Newsflash, this is known as the hospitality industry, be hospitable, and if that is too much to ask, at least be hospitable to the customers.

We didn't consider that the prohibition on food was very responsible given the availability of comparatively cheap booze that you are encouraged to indulge in. Although the kitchen was open, and we ordered some passable fries and tempura battered fish, we were informed that should we wish to have cutlery we would need to move to the 'dining room' because it was against Queensland's anti-smoking legilsation to allow us to use knives and forks to eat our food.

I beg your pardon? Eating in the bar in a civilised manner is against legislation? Perhaps one day someone might be able to tell me how this works, however for now I am content to wonder how on earth the government can possibly think you need cutlery to smoke a cigarette, or that somehow, if you don't have cutlery to eat food in the main bar area, this may, or may not, have some relevance to smoking. If anyone out there knows the answer to this conundrum, please feel free to comment.

There was no reason to revise our original review of the Courthouse.