Fenway Public House: Woden's local pub delivered to your door

For the foreseeable future, not a lot of Canberrans will be wandering along Bradley Street opposite Westfield Woden. Which is a shame. If you haven’t been there for a while, you might not recognise the strip, which has been transformed from a carpark into a vibrant pedestrian district, a place to meet up with friends over great food and drinks or just people watch … which is a bit tough at the moment.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy some pretty spectacular culinary offerings from the businesses there, delivered to your door.

Amidst the bright and shiny new eateries, one brick building stands out: Fenway Public House.

With its eye-catching green exterior and large glass windows revealing lots of beautiful foliage inside, it’s hard to miss and instantly captivating.

Baseball fans will twig to the name of this pub, a nod to one of the best-known baseball parks in the US and home to the Boston Red Sox. And they will appreciate the menu’s occasional references to the park’s iconic Green Monster, a 37-foot-2-inch-high left-field wall famed for preventing many a home run at Fenway Park.

Head chef Katherine says that the pub’s owners are big sports fans with a particular soft spot for baseball and the Red Sox, “hence our green monster mural and hashtag. A lot of our sauces play on the Green Monster theme”.

Deep inside the spacious pub, large screens display major sporting events for sports fans. Fenway’s relaxed, rather Zen environment, its inviting nooks and outdoor spaces bring in the romantics and the young corporates (when not in lockdown).

While Fenway is definitely eye candy for the Instagrammers, it also caters to families. Before COVID-19 changed how we do things for a time, Fenway planned to be open every day over Easter and they were excited to host an outdoor Easter egg hunt.

When it comes to Fenway’s menu, Katherine says “we are basically two restaurants in the one venue and incorporated into the one menu”.

That means you can go classy or casual.

The menu is chock-a-block, so it is sure to have something scrumptious to fit everyone’s taste. The ‘classics’ feature pub meal favourites like schnitzel, ribs and rump steak. In winter, Fenway’s potpie is popular.

A la carte meals or ‘monster mains’ include lamb shanks, eye fillet and salmon. Vegetarian dishes and several mains can be modified for vegan diners and there is plenty of choice with gluten-free meals. Not only has Fenway matched each monster main with a wine, they’ve also suggest a beer to pair it with.

You don’t have to order a huge meal. Grab some small bites, bar snacks (such as nachos or wings), a burger or select from a large range of pizzas.

In the kid’s menu section, each meal comes with a small drink and an ice cream cone.

Cheese or antipasto share boards are popular with cocktails, and Fenway will be expanding to a mezzo platter featuring a selection of tapas and small bites.

During summer, breakfast is on offer from 8:30 am to 11:30 am.

A separate function area upstairs caters to groups or meetings of up to 25 people.

My lunch is a burrito bowl: a squeeze of lemon over a bowl bright with shredded lettuce, tomato, red onion, avocado, black bean, tofu bean and corn against wild rice and smoky chorizo, with tortilla crisps.

Generous chunks of chorizo fill every mouthful with bursts of spiced meat. The tofu bean is a real surprise. Its unique texture and flavour are nearly my favourite part of this dish along with the golden crunchy wedges of fried tortilla crips. These are so yummy and moreish I eat them by themselves.

When the quarantine is ended, visit Fenway Public House at 9 Bradley Street in Phillip.

Fenway is doing takeaway 7 days a week from 12:00 midday to 8:00 pm.

Ring on 02 6281 6333 and place order or use Menulog, Ubereats or Deliveroo.

Check out their website or follow them on Facebook or Instagram for updates.