The Clare Hotel

Update - The Clare is now "The Old Clare Hotel"  and they don't want pinball playing scum in there messing up their funky fresh new look. 
Actually, I have no idea if they have a pinball machine in there.  While I highly doubt it, I haven't peeked inside since the renovations, but click through to their website and I think you get the idea.
Another one bites the dust

The Clare is located at 20 Broadway, Ultimo.  Just a quick walk down from the Bus terminal near Central.

UPDATE: There is now also a The Champion Pub machine at this venue.


They have a good history of having Pinball machines at this location and currently there are two -  Austin Powers and The Getaway: High Speed II.  They are both 5 ball machines at $2 a credit.

The Clare is notable for its old lounge chairs and lamps style seating arrangement.  Not a bad place to sit around on an afternoon and drink a few beers.  The proximity of the UTS means a fairly young crowd most of the time.  Theres also a pool table.  But on to the machines.

I'd seen and played Getaway at a few places around town over the years and this one seemed like it was in good condition.  Don't take my word for it though as all my coins went into Austin Powers as I had not had a go of it before.

Again, it's in good condition and it seems like a fairly forgiving machine.  Looking  at the reviews on ipdb.org a lot of them are pretty negative, but most seem to centre around technical issues with the machine.  This machine seems in 100% working order though so a lot of these can be ignored.

The Austin Powers schtick started to wear a bit thin by the third movie but enough time has passed (for me at least) that I didnt mind the sound bites, some even raised a smile.  If you still feel the need to punch people in the head who ask you "Do you feel horny, baby?" then I'd steer clear of this machine.  Just play The Getaway instead.

I did notice that the "Fat Bastard" multiball had a very familiar dot matrix graphic to start it off.  It shares a toilet theme with South Park...

Overall I enjoyed Austin Powers (and The Getaway is worth a play as well) and The Clare is definitely worth a stop in on your next Pinball and/or pub crawl.