The Lucky Hotel - Newcastle

Our party visited The Lucky Hotel with great anticipation after experiencing a fabulous meal here in 2014. Should have been warned by the fact the place was deserted at lunchtime on a Friday, when it was heaving on our first visit. This meal, for a party of three was, as far as we could tell, the worst Newcastle has to offer, with uninterested, bored staff. The only Riesling on the wine list was not available, so our second choice, a Moselle at $50, was served lukewarm, but did become quite nice after we let it sit on ice for a while. The ribs, which we had so enjoyed on our first visit and two of us ordered, came lukewarm on the outside and cold on the inside. When we took them to the server, obviously expecting the meal to be replaced or fixed, she immediately went into a long and obviously well-rehearsed speech about how they are cooked and put in a warmer, and while the staff could microwave them to make them to make them hot, it wasn't recommended as it would dry them out. So, obviously not cooked on the day as advertised. Based on this disappointing advice, we decided to proceed with our cold ribs. What a mistake! They were not only cold, they were greasy, and the sauce/marinade was obviously out of a jar. Advice to the cooks (I doubt they were qualified chefs)-Weber's Bone Suckin' Sauce is really nice if you are unable to find, or lack the skills to make your own recipe. The ribs were served with limp chips with gravy drizzled around them, a side of coleslaw, a very dry bun and a sad half pickle perched on top of the sorry lot. The third of our party decided on the rump as it was the ONLY steak on the lunch menu, also a poor choice, chewy, despite being ordered medium-rare, and not very tasty, the mushroom sauce (at an extra $3.50) was fatty and low in mushrooms and taste, and the meal actually came out five minutes after the cold ribs, I guess they actually had to cook the meat. Guess we should have read the Tripadvisor reviews rather than rely on a positive experience three years ago. To add insult to injury, a tall, bearded cook came to the kitchen window, crossed his arms and glared at me as we were finishing our drinks after having given feedback to the server. Overall, a poor end to a fabulous week of great meals in our week's visit. Newcastle has much better to offer.

Fantastic atmosphere, fantastic food and great service, The Lucky doesn't disappoint. The food is delicious, we were a large group that shared a couple of entrees (the spinach dip = amazing), the mains were generous in size and tasty. I can highly recommend the nachos. Great venue ! The busy bar make it an all round great venue for a meal or just a catch-up !

Great night with a group of friends. Staff were very knowledgable and helpful. All share plates that we ordered we delicious. Cocktail jugs were unique and tasty.

I persoanlly found this self rated restaurant to be well over rated.. The so called smoked meat was pretty tasteless to me. The beef short rib fatty and not fall off the bone tender.. Fries and coleslaw... boring. I left a fair bit on mine. I did not consider this good value for money nor worth going back for

I have tried the Restaurant twice now for lunch and 2 fails in my opinionThe American Inspired menu seems enticingI found the food disappointing as did the kidsThe menu reads well though when it eventually turns up it is bland deep fried 'food'Lacks the authentic flavour and the desire to want to finish every last mouthfulThe children's menu was not exciting and they left most of their mealsthe Mac and cheese seems to be a signature dish though is bland stodge Watching most patrons with their meals, it seemed I was not the only one underwhelmed