Old Joe's

If you’re nostalgic for the days when milk bars brightened up every suburb, then Old Joe’s is the place for you. With Cronulla beach right across the road, this gem of a restaurant provides a perfect spot for locals to hang out with some hearty food and a well-earned drink. Even from the outside, you can’t miss the eclectic mix of colours and winking lights within, promising to show you a good time. 

On a weeknight, the restaurant is nearly empty, besides two people playing an animated game of ping pong and a few couples sitting outside. From our table, we notice that the bar looks well-stocked enough to render all the surfers on the beach nearly comatose. Then before we start to wonder where all the staff were hiding, the ping pong players reveal themselves as the waitress and a bartender taking advantage of the calm. 

The menu is full of re-vamped milk bar classics, including desserts, and it’s a struggle to decide on a mere three dishes. Our entree of battered calamari is light and tasty, served with a creamy aioli. By the time the mains arrive, the surrounding tables are filling up with families and young guys glued to the soccer game on TV.

The wagyu burger comes with a gorgeous blue-cheese sauce, and the pickles on the side work perfectly inside the burger instead. While the seafood pie initially sounded quite unappetizing, it turned out to be a winner, with deliciously buttery mashed potato on top and a sweet, slightly fishy filling. 

After we finish our soda waters (alcohol is a luxury for the unemployed) and pay the bill, we make our way to the ping pong table. Here we work up quite a sweat running after all the balls that fly straight past our rackets. We may not be the best ping pong players in the world, but we know how to eat, and Old Joe's certainly gave us good reason to indulge in our talent.