The Sydney Morning Herald logo
Advertisement

The CTA Business Club

Myffy Rigby
Myffy Rigby

Chicken schnitzel at the CTA Business Club.
Chicken schnitzel at the CTA Business Club.Dominic Lorrimer

Contemporary$$

I'm sorry to let you in on the following, for completely selfish reasons. Well, one selfish reason, really, and that is that I don't want anyone to know about this place. You know the spaceship building in Martin Place next to the MLC Centre? That building that looks like it could have taken off around the same time as Buck Rogers? That's the CTA Business Club – one of Sydney's best-kept secrets.

Few places are left in town that hold the same kind of allure. Oh, there was once the New York restaurant in Potts Point – famous since 1953 for rumoured clandestine meetings between Labor and union heavies – and the Oceanic Cafe fed the hungry hordes of lower Surry Hills crumbed cutlets and meatballs for decades. Sadly, both these living legends, along with their excellently old-school menus, have shut their doors.

But the CTA is still going strong. The idea is the building, which looks like a space mushroom, is familiar and odd enough that any business traveller will recognise it no matter how lost they get in the city and they'll be able to find their way back. And there are reciprocal memberships all over the world from the Chittagong  Club in Bangladesh to Club Vina del Mar in Chile. Yeah, I'm a little obsessed.        

Advertisement
The interior of the CTA Business Club remains proudly '60s style.
The interior of the CTA Business Club remains proudly '60s style.Dominic Lorrimer

Witness the D.R Davies bar – a scarlet dream of plush banquettes and unobtrusive golden light from original fittings. You're going to be ordering a VB on tap, or maybe a glass of chest-hair-inducing local shiraz. Or maybe just a shot of Jameson. Doing a few clandestine deals over lunch? Why not drink all three at once and make an afternoon of it?

Such is the untouched late-'60s grandeur of the place, it feels like a moment from Peter Sellers' The Party, minus the baby elephants and guns. Artist John Kaldor likes it so much he once held an entire exhibition within its wood-veneered walls. An unused cocktail bar with original glass fittings, elbow padding and psychedelic aquamarine carpet is pretty much a series of forgotten memories waiting to happen.   

The dining room is everything you'd expect. Camel-coloured vinyl seats, marble-topped tables and the type of salt and pepper shakers you find only at your nan's (who eats that sawdust pepper? I have never worked it out).  Plus, there's nothing quite like seeing a tiny retiree in the corner reading a newspaper that's bigger than she is. Even better when the lunch ladies check on her by yelling over the counter. "MRS WASHINGTON! ARE YOU ALL RIGHT,  MRS WASHINGTON?" while Mental as Anything  are playing in the background.        

The rib-eye steak at the CTA Business Club.
The rib-eye steak at the CTA Business Club.Dominic Lorrimer
Advertisement

No, they don't seem to believe in resting their rib-eyes or T-bones here, nor seasoning them before cooking but that's all in keeping with the vibe of the place. When your food's called away, you'll go up to the friendly lunch ladies and collect your meal, which will likely come with mash (distinctly Deb-ish), vegetables (peas and carrots – no mucking around) and gravy (distinctly Gravox-y). It's total bistro comfort food.  

Please don't ever go changing, the CTA Club. And you know what? I don't think it ever will.

Pro tip Downed too many house reds? Rooms upstairs are only $137.50 for members.
Try this A rib-eye steak with all the trimmings
Like this? Consider checking out another beautiful example of Sydney architecture, only with a much more expensive steak at Rockpool Bar & Grill. Corner of Hunter and Bligh streets, Sydney, 02 8078 1900 

Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox.

Sign up
Myffy RigbyMyffy Rigby is the former editor of the Good Food Guide.

From our partners

Advertisement
Advertisement