1989 Kitchen and Arcade

Two guys are sitting down with beers and a burger between them. One gets up and asks, “Street Fighter?” Less than a minute later, a 16-bit synth track and the furious tap of plastic buttons drown out their voices. Welcome to 1989 Kitchen and Arcade.

Owner Ben Campbell wanted to honour “the golden age” of arcade gaming. You’ll see this in the kind of game titles and platforms available. Along with the rotating $1 per play, ’80s and early ’90s arcades (Street Fighter 2, rightly, will never rotate out), there’s a free N64 at the counter and a handful of board games. There’s over 16 classic playable classic arcade game cabinets to choose from – there just isn’t room for more (they come from owner Ben Campbell’s personal collection, who has 23 machines).

One wall is covered in retro movie posters, another in comic strips and the rest dotted with vintage posters and prints.

At the start of 2018, the cafe side of things was wound down in order to focus more on the bar offering. Beers are the main affair, and the spotlight is regularly shone on local brewers and producers. There’s also plenty of wines and classic cocktails on offer.

Food is anchored by burgers including an American-style cheeseburger with garlic aioli, and a more innovative sweet potato, haloumi and pineapple creation. There’s a healthier tahini-dressed brown rice or quinoa Buddha Bowl with cucumber, mushroom, sweet potato, crunchy chickpeas and kidney beans.