In March 2026 the restaurant is open 7 days a week. Lunch 12pm til 3pm and Dinner 5pm - 9pm…read more Looking at The RSL's menu for their "Red Poppy Brasserie" in March 2026 is a bit of a sad experience. RSL's were always a place where community could go to get a low priced meal and be together. However here, a gluten free burger will set you back thirty bucks. A side of veg is thirteen. Granted, running costs are off the wall everywhere, but it seems it would be better to embark on lower priced options and more of them, and service the community with adequate marketing. There are motels and a hostel basically next door. It's time to change with the times, even if it's Uber Eats and similar. The ambience is not enough to justify the high prices, even if the cause is. While some of the specials look good at $15-16, they're not marked with allergens, so it's too much effort there when there are many easier options nearby. It's not the only RSL with this issue, but someone could lead the charge and modernise them.

We throughly enjoyed our dinning experience at the RSL in Katoomba. I had never visited a RSL but…read morewas greeted warmly with open arms. Roy was a delight and explained RSL's process. We ordered bruschetta, T-bone steak, prawn curry with naan, and bread pudding with butterscotch sauce. The service was quick, the food was delicious, portions large, and a great value. I especially liked the bread pudding with vanilla ice cream on the side. Everyone we met was a complete delight. We didn't visit the slots or bar area. If you are hungry while in Katoomba stop by Katoomba's RSL. If you see Roy make sure to give a friendly nod or smile.

You take a dogleg through the door, and it's like entering artisan heaven…read more If you love the feel of expertly turned and carved woods, not to mention the glowing, warm colours, this is your place. Showcasing the talents of amazing artists from all over Australia, this store is a little, quiet bit of calm and beauty. While I can't ever imagine being able to afford the handmade furniture (I wish), there's a range of small items too. Bowls with the nubby surfaces still left on the edges, smooth chopsticks made out of a selection of native woods, chopping boards and boxes with tiny little drawers in them. A couple of my favorites were the articulated fish, yes, made out of wood, which bent and swam in your hand and a set of salt and pepper grinders that felt like they'd been made specifically to fit my little mits. A testament to creative people and the wonders they produce. Beautiful.

So good to find this terrific Gallery filled with quality Australian timber craftspeople's work…read more Beautiful pieces from small items great as gifts and for overseas visitors to take home- up to tables, mirrors and cabinets which would be perfect to add to any home. The Gallery is a calm and welcoming space with the aroma of timber and furniture polish setting the scene as soon as you step inside. A place which supports our Australian crafts people deserves my support!

We're so lucky to have a cinema like this in Katoomba. All the latest movies and some of them on…read morethe huge iMax sized screen. The cinema is always clean and the staff are great. Definitely worth visiting if you're in Katoomba

Cinema of the architecture-as-parking-lot variety. With an Imax screen…read more I'm more inclined to hit Glenbrook cinema rather than this big, blaring complex, but it's perfectly reasonable (and cleaner) than many of its type. The Imax screen is horrendously large, and the seats in the main cinema not ideal for those inclined to vertigo. I've managed to not throw myself off as of yet. Maybe that's 'the edge' they're talking about. Hmmm... Actually, 'the edge' is also the name of the short Blue Mountains themed film they play here a couple of times a day and seems to be mandatory viewing for all visitors, perhaps under threat of being strongarmed out into the real bush and abandoned there if they refuse. I've managed to avoid it myself, and the website plugging it as 'an opportunity to witness this amazing place without the need to leave our comfortable 'stadium' style seating' does not bode well. I'm not the Hollywood blockbuster type, so am not the ideal audience for this place. I know plenty of others are, and they are independent, a rare beast these days.

Up the hallowed stairs and you enter the Temple of Artworks on Paper…read more You smile and nod at the discreet staffer, tapping away behind the tiny desk and gaze at the artworks on the walls in a barely restrained frenzy. Mixed media, etchings, amazing folding screens made out of decorative papers, photography. Lusciousness. My favourites this visit were a long thin Japapanese print, delicate and simple and beautiful beyond belief. I was enjoying some shadowy watercolours that looked like they'd been done in Japan too, all sumi ink on washi paper when I realised with a start they were of Blackheath escarpment. It's quiet and earth-toned and you kind of feel like you should move in slow motion, or maybe tai-chi your way through the rooms. While original art is a little out of my buget at the mo, most of the works were between the $300 and $1000 mark, and there was a bin of photographs from about $70. They have helpful info up about some of the techniques used and I could stay there for hours, just soaking in the beauty.