The Exchange Hotel review: Historic Pinjarra pub gets a new lease on life and caters to local community

The humble public house isn’t just a place to swill a cold beer. They are community hubs where families can grab a good value meal, sporting teams can regale each other with on-field glories or failures, and friends can be toasted and roasted for their birthday or wake. That’s been the case since Sean’s Bar, arguably the world’s oldest pub in Athlone, Ireland, poured its first ale in AD900. And it’s also been the case since The Exchange Hotel, the oldest remaining hotel in the Peel region, began trading in 1871. Dubbed “the prettiest watering hole in WA” in the 1890s by then proprietor Thomas Howe, the Pinjarra pub flourished in the late 19th century thanks to postage routes and the Perth-Pinjarra rail line. The Exchange had enough custom back then that a second pub, the Premier Hotel, opened nearby in 1894. Flash forward 100 years, and the local institution had a drive-through bottle shop and TAB betting agency — both less sociable adjuncts, you might say. The venue slipped into disrepair until it closed in 2008. Recognising The Exchange’s historical significance, Shire of Murray purchased the property in 2012 but it wasn’t until 10 years later that Karl and Janine Bullers were trusted with reopening the watering hole. The Bullers have a track record in redeveloping significant pubs, having revived The National Hotel and Old Courthouse in Fremantle. The Exchange Hotel reopened in September 2024 to much excitement and clinking of glassware. And rightly so. The old pub gal looks a million dollars. Well, more than $8m — the rough figure put across the bar in grants by the shire and Federal Government. The new Exchange is a 21st-century pub with 19th-century bones. Three buildings, including the original doctor’s cottage built in 1866, form a U-shape encased in a new glass and steel structure. Modernist art and funky wallpaper adorn walls, while 100-year-old Guinness bottles discovered during the build take pride of place. There are nooks and crannies, crannies and nooks and halls, and exposed walls . . . it’s a maze. One of the bar staff joked that she regularly got lost during her shifts. The place to be on the sunny December afternoon we visited was in the beer garden overlooking the Murray River and the Pinjarra Suspension Bridge built by the army in the mid-1980s. Trees are still too young to provide much shade, the small grassed area needs less traffic and an outdoor bar probably requires more tradies on the job, and less enjoying a coldie on one of the bars. The Exchange is still a work in progress. The staff do well to find the right table number for food, and they seem happy to be working at this light, bright modern-historic, new-old hotel smack back in the heart of Pinjarra. (The Premier, meanwhile, probably has a rusted-on demo, and there are skimpies on Thursday nights.) As of June 2023, Pinjarra had a popular of 5743. You’d bet your Blundstones that many would be stoked that the Exchange is back in business. If you’re not a local, it’s not the worst place to stop for a refuel. However, to misuse the Michelin star system, the pub alone is not worth a trip. The food is fine — solid pub grub that hits the spot but doesn’t impress. The steak sandwich, for example, was good. Just good. For $29, you get a fangable 180g porterhouse on a garlic buttered Turkish roll with seed mustard, red wine caramelised onion, bacon, mixed leaves, tomato, cheddar and house-made aioli, plus a decent pile of very good chips. The onion jam was too sweet and the bread could’ve been toasted. I’ve had better, and I’ve certainly had worse. If I wasn’t being paid to write about it, I wouldn’t. Chicken wings, with ranch or buffalo dressing, are very tender, a little greasy and slip from the bone. You get eight for $19. Not a bad starter. The Exchange burger is a good pub burger that ticks boxes ($25). A brisket and chuck beef patty, plus cheddar cheese, lettuce, red onion, tomato, pickles and house-made burger sauce sandwiched between two halves of a crusty bun. Good. Not great. The chicken schnitzel with chips and salad ($25) had a perfectly crunchy panko crumb but the chook within was almost as dry as the kids’ sandpit in a corner of the beer garden. This could’ve used, say, a peppercorn sauce to kick it home. The salad was better than the usual token pub schnitty greens. The in-house pizza oven was kept busy making 10 different pizzas. We ordered the kids’ classic Hawaiian ($24), which transported a decent amount of pineapple and double-smoked ham. There was a decent char on part of the crust, but perhaps this needed one more spin in the oven. The portions are definitely “country pub” sized, so we saved most of the pizza for Ron (as in later on). Not that we felt like eating dinner after a huge lunch. And we needed room for dessert. The daily special was a summer citrus fruit bread and butter pudding ($14), which was served cold and had a lovely creamy curd with a citrus lemon kick. Beyond the lemon curd, some dates and a couple of edible flowers, I’m not sure how many summer fruits were in this otherwise commendable sweet. If I’ve damned The Exchange Hotel with faint praise, please ignore me. If you’re a Pinjarra local, I hope you’re enjoying the new community hub. There’s a lot going for it. If you’re passing through the area, pop in. The building is worth checking out and beer garden will only get better. The food is far from bad, the beers are cold, wine list unremarkable and, if you’re riding shotgun, you can try the spirits distilled on site. As far as value for money goes, it’s a fair exchange. The Exchange Hotel 14 George Street, Pinjarra OPEN Sunday-Tuesday 11am-9pm, Wednesday-Thursday, 11am-10pm. Friday-Saturday, 11am-midnight. CONTACT 9563 7000, exchangehotel.com.au BOOKING Yes THE VERDICT Historic regional pub restored to its formal glory, and then some. Modern family friendly pub with the bones of yesteryear. Book a table inside or take your chances in the beer garden. Pub classics, burgers, pizzas, daily specials . . . you know the drill. 12/20