Review of The Duke of York

Review By Laura Fazekas

The Duke is a pub type club which has cemented its place as a great DJ hotspot in the west end of Adelaide’s CBD. The Duke is not located along the main clubbing precinct of Hindley Street, rather sitting lonesome a few streets south. I’ve been to the Duke on many occasions, whether it be for pub crawls, 18th birthdays or just to start a long night out.

The line is usually long from about 10pm, so avoid getting there late. Usually the VIP line is longer than the general admission line, which can get confusing. But while standing in line you get talking to the others around you and eventually one of the door girls will come up with a clipboard, asking if you want to be a member. I’m not sure if the membership is worth it, considering the line up is long anyway and the drink specials are already awesome inside, but nevertheless I signed up and now my phone gets bombarded with text messages a few times a week.

Once you get to the front of the line, and pay the cover charge, The Duke is pumping. Loud dance music, people dancing and few people sitting down. You can tell already the crowd is quite young, probably 18 (if that) to 23 at most. This may be because there are always great up and coming DJs playing in the 3 main rooms, the drinks are cheap and the place is always busy.

As you head to the bar through the sea of teenage girls, you take in the atmosphere of the place. It’s pretty standard pub style decor with wooden floors and furniture, decorated with a few TV screens displaying Duke ads and a couple of pokie machines.

As I said, the drink specials are quite amazing, with $3.50 base spirits and $5 pints frequent. So you grab a drink (or 2) and usually head to the outdoor beer garden, which is huge! The beer garden has plenty of long bench seats to share with others and a few keg tables around the place. There is always a local DJ up the back, pumping out the latest dance tracks.

The atmosphere outside is quite relaxed and a bit quieter than the hectic inside: a great place for talking or just to drink and chill. And after a while, when you get a bit peckish, The Duke does awesome cheap wood-oven pizzas to order all night long! They are great to share round or to eat all to yourself after drinking up a storm.

Overall, The Duke is always a great place to start the long night to get into the mood and the cheap drinks, and then move on before it gets too crowded and loud. It’s also a great venue to watch big live sports events at any time of the night with a good atmosphere. Although The Duke is a little out of the way, slightly young in crowd and has a typical pub layout, it’s still a great electric venue to get you ready for a big, loud night with a bunch of friends.

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