We had dinner tonight at Amy’s Restaurant in Flanagan’s Hotel for the first time. Flanagan’s is the Kalgoorlie Miner watering hole, but it’s the first time I’ve eaten there. Apparently it was formerly called the Union Club Hotel.
I don’t know why the name changed. Flanagan is presumably the miner who discovered gold with Paddy Hannan to start the Kalgoorlie rush.
The meal was terrific. Juliet had snails in garlic sauce followed by king prawns wrapped in pancake. I had spicy emu sausages followed by turkey rissoles.
We were very impressed with the style of the place. It’s a relatively small, historic ornate room. The fittings and decorations are all tasteful.
The restaurant is named after English aviatrix Amy Johnson (pictured), who became the first woman to fly from Britain to Australia in 1930. Photographs of her adorn all the walls.
I read her brief biography on the back of the menu and online, but can find no record of her visiting Kalgoorlie, so the dedication to her is curious.
While browsing I found this link to an early biplane flight in Kalgoorlie, which occurred in 1915. There was a crowd of 3000 people at the racecourse for the demonstration.
Hi I worked at Amys for a couple of years. Shirley Johnston, the proprietor of Amys is or was a Pilot. She told me that in its Hey Day, Amys was well know for its fresh seafood. It was so fresh because she used to fly to Esperance daily to pick it up in her own plane. Regulations change though, and she had to stop doing it. It is named after Amy Johnson, as Amy was a bit of an icon for Shirley, being the first woman to make that flight. The similar last name though, are just coincidence.