Sydney Park Hotel - Newtown

The Sydney Park Hotel is one of those pubs that you 've driven past, or walked past multiple times and thought that looks pretty cool to check out , yet you never do because you 're never in that part of town for long, just passing through on your commute. Well, that changed on Fathers Day, as I popped in with the wife, my old man and my kids for a well earned frothy chop or two, following an afternoon across the road letting the kids go wild in Sydney Park. The fist thing that struck me was just how homely and relaxing the vibe was inside the main bar. Not pretentious, no overly deafening modern music where you gotta shout to be heard. Just a really chill, laid back enviornment. It retains it 's historical value with (clean) old school tiles on the walls, and you can imagine the setting being very similar if you were transported back to the 60 's, 70 's and 80s when the venue was most likely frequeted by the workers from the brickworks and various factories nearby. You could see the dodge, Neddy Smith, Roger Rogerson also drinking heavily in a bar like this. The pub has a great range of craft and standard macro lager beers on tap, and a healthy range of tinnies and stubbies in the fridges. Very much like most pubs in Newtown. My old man was pleased to have Guinness on tap. Sadly, didn 't eat this time around (except for a bowl of chips) and they were very nice. The menu looks inviting, and with the kids loving the park across the road, I 'm sure I 'll find an opportunity to come back and try their well advertised counter meals. Staff were friendly, approachable and nice, just adding to the overall chill vibe of the venue. Awesome pub at the very southern tip of Newtown. I think it 's practically Erskinville at that point, but definitely a place I 'll come back to.

I always have a soft spot for these railway pubs, particularly since they offer you an opportunity to have a quick beer before continuing your journey, that is as long as the train isn't overtly packed to the brim with commuters on their way home. Talking about home, I found this pub to be rather homely, though they did actually have some rather nice beers on tap as well. The staff were pretty friendly, and it was a quiet and relaxing place to sit for a while.

If you don't know I'm vegetarian so my reviews are limited but I just had the best mushroom burger I've ever had here. Portabello mushrooms,herbed Mayo,haloumi. I would post a photo but I ate this delicious beast in less than 5 minutes. Get here.

Nice atmosphere and friendly staff, with good selection of beer. Food menu started off interesting, but has lost any flare resorting to standard pub fare that you can get in any pub in Sydney, shame as it was interesting at one point a few months ago.

Having a meal at the refurbished Sydney Park Hotel and an overzealous member of staff took a harsh over handed stance with a young lad who was having a meal (dinner) with his family. Now the lad was under age but with his parents another girl. This family was shown to this table by another member of staff. This overzealous staff member asked this lad to show him some ID. His father intervened telling him he was with him for a meal, in the meantime, the overzealous man warned the young lad he was being hostile. LOL the lad wasn't doing anything. His father asked what the issue was and it came out that the family was sitting in a gambling area. The father told this man he understood the stance if there was another table. I don't know what happened next but the overzealous member of staff was totally out of line and clearly ruined a family evening. You need to have better staff who know where to sit people and better signage informing people where they can can't sit. Pretty shitty experience to watch no apology by this idiotic staff member. Oh yeah as for the food...it was ok not great.