Overview
Australians love big things. There are more than 150 big things across the country — from the five-metre high can of Tooheys New that crowns a pub in the outback town of Cobar, to the controversial Big Bogan of Nyngan, 190 kilometres northwest of Dubbo.
Now, Hawke's Brewing is throwing its hat in the ring with the unveiling of a big gold prawn at the Bob Hawke Brewing and Leisure Centre. Named Shane Prawn, this huge golden structure has been erected to coincide with the restaurant's shift to opening for trade seven days a week.
"It's been a fun seven months since we opened the doors of The Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre but we all thought it was time to take it up a notch and move from five days of good beer, good leisure and Chinese meals to a glorious, non-stop, seven day," says co-founder of Hawke's Nathan Lennon.
Jessie Ann
The prawn weighs a whopping 120-kilograms. Sporting spindly prawn arms and bready eyes, the eerily realistic-looking statue is situated right above The Lucky Prawn counter where you can order the 80s-influenced Australian-Chinese dishes that the Hawke's crew has created with the help of Nic Wong (Cho Cho San, Bodega).
"We're incredibly grateful to everyone who's helped make the journey so rewarding, so to give some love (and hopefully luck) back to the community with a large, golden, waving prawn is the least we can do," Lennon continues.
The change of hours now means the brewery and restaurant are open from midday on weekdays and 11am on weekends, so you can kick your week off with next-level prawn toast, san choy bao, honey king prawns and the mother of all nostalgic creations — deep-fried Viennetta for lunch or dinner.
The James Adams
The Bob Hawke Beer and Leisure Centre is located at 8–12 Sydney Street Marrickville. It's open midday–10pm Sunday–Tuesday, midday–11pm Wednesday and midday–midnight Thursday–Saturday.
Top image: Nikki To