Having never been to the Gateshead tavern before, I found the venue surprisingly empty. Apart from a few patrons enjoying the cricket, the bar staff, a single kitchen-hand and one man eating a meal, it was just the seven of us who arrived for a banquet of schnitty.

The (already mentioned) solo-waiter slash chef took our orders, but was unable to provide us with vegetables or mushroom sauce. I ordered mine sauce-less and planned to add tomato sauce to the plate later. I am thankful I didn’t have to buy tiny sachets of sauce at 30 cents a pop; there was a hefty and full squirter-bottle of tomato goodness for all to use, next to the little packets of salt and pepper, and cutlery.

Schnitty cost me $13, not bad at all.

Outside was the place to be, it was a warm night but not too warm to warrant the ice-age replicating air conditioners churning in the foodatorium.

The schnittys were cooked in very good time given that it was just the one chap doing all the cooking. We were lucky that we were the only ones ordering at the time, or it may have been an attempt at the 40-hour famine before we were eating. The schnitty was hot and looked delicious. My chips were a bit on the warm side, but not so much so that I would be taking them back. The salad was simple, some green stuff and some red stuff, but tasty nonetheless. I expected a little more chips:salad ratio, however. This plus the schnitty on top will cost half a point.

A schooner of coke from the bar was ice cold, with the perfect amount of ice, and cost only $2.20 – well worth it.

The meal was delightful, however. I was in good company with a good meal for a reasonable price. Given the price and quality of the food, in hindsight I’m surprised that there were not more people around.

As we were leaving the “night club” started, which also forced the other party of patrons to leave as well, which I thought was funny.

4/5 schittys.

Scott

Arriving early, the pub was a bit.. boring, large drinking area and a small pokies area which sucked and if you wanted any money out of the pokies you had to ask a staff member.. lame. Anyway once everyone arrived we set upon the eating area (which.. was a dance floor?) and ordered from a bewildered looking chef. Im guessing they don’t have many customers on Friday nights, as they only hired one person to take care of the kitchen. Well it was a bit slow ordering, but nothing to write home about and the meals were fairly quick.

I tried to have the usual, Pepper sauce schnitty with chips and veges, but he was out of vegetables so I settled for chips and chips. It cost $13ish. The chips were steakhouse style, tasted good and were hot (well mine were..) and there was plenty of them. The schnitty itself was deep fried perfectly, crisp and no detectable hint of fish/other fried goods. Nowhere near enough pepper sauce though but there was ample supply of tomato sauce so no issues there.

For an establishment, on face value having one chef put up with the group of us they get 2/5. The chef himself did a fantastic job in my opinion, and gets 4/5, a point off for no vegetables and not enough sauce. So the outing as a whole, I rate it 3/5.

Ras

As we entered the Gateshead Tavern, we had to wander out in the back to the dining area. This was a dark, freezing air conditioned area where tables are laid out in a 90′s fashioned multi-purpose room (I’d probably rate the eating area 2/5), so we setup in the outside area. There was 1 man cooking & serving the food, I frowned and thought we were going to get a bad meal.

He served us, cooked 7 meals in a reasonable time and managed to keep them hot when they were ready… and the taste… very good!

The schnitzel was cooked well and was thick (4/5)… I was expecting something undercooked or overcooked, the pepper sauce was kind-of gluggy but was still nice/not overdone, the salad was crisp and the chips were much better than some restaurants we have ventured to (without mentioning names hehe). Price was great too being under $14

Even though he did a great job, give that poor guy another staff member! 3/5

http://maryellen.com.au/

Reviews:

Ras

I had the Rio topping (Avocado & Honey Mustard), the sauce was a bit bland
The schnitty crumbing was a bit tough but looking around the table, it seemed like it was just mine. The schnitzel inside was great
Side salad was decent and as Scott reviewed last time, the chips are awful, I really couldn’t eat them

I would like to give this a 2, but it’s not about the sides, it’s about the schnitty. 3/5

Scott

Mary Ellen Take 2 – Our second review here as we had a vegetarian participate, and they were the only ones we had found so far who served a vegetarian schnitzel.

This time around, it wasn’t near empty it was busy. Busy enough that we had to trade tables once one big enough became available. I went for the veal schnitty ($14) this time, with a ‘parmigiana’ topping ($3) and chips and vegetables. This time around the wait was a bit longer (more people = longer wait) but wasn’t too bad. My veal was good, if only a little small. The crumbing didn’t like to stay on, but that’s not a big deal. The chips still seemed old. In fact, they were probably the same recycled chips from 2 months ago haha. Vegetables were pretty standard, a bit of overkill on the cucumber though. The topping (parmigiana – cheese and napoliana sauce) was very, very fitting for the veal, and I would recommend it. Perfect dose of thick melted cheese, and a sauce that complimented both cheese and schnitzel very well.

The atmosphere was a little off putting, the music was too loud and I couldn’t keep a conversation without shouting. The smoking area could have been made a little bigger as its too narrow, but that happens. Also, I was offered a snaffle of a vegetarian schnitzel, which I decided to try even though I was pretty sure it would taste bad… Well i was wrong. The texture was of fishcakes, but the taste and smell were of something I have never experienced before – I was quite impressed with it and honestly it isnt bad. Overall I will give this schnitzel a 4/5, but the chips still sucked. Fix these please Mary Ellen!

Bobz0r

I had the Mary Ellen Topping with a veal schnitty with a side of chips and salad.
The schnitty itself was cooked damn near perfectly and went great with the topping. The heavenly taste of the veal mixed with the creamy Mary Ellen topping was truly satisfying and I’d recommend to anyone that they try that combo.
The sides were alright; chips tasted like chips, can’t ask for much more than that, and the salad further emphasized the schnitty’s glorious taste.
The plate was dressed well, a decent sized schnitzel topped with a creamy sauce with a bacon-ish taste standing atop a pile of chips aside a bit of salad.

I know someone who got the unlucky schnitty will think ill of me, but I really think my meal was worth a 4.5/5

Why not 5/5 with such a good review?
That was a damn long wait to get my dinner. Got there at 7.30pm, ordered at 7.45pm, started eating at 8.35pm… maybe I’m just impatient.

http://www.jewellstavern.com.au/

Scotts

These guys have (or used to?) have advertising of ‘Newcastle’s Best Schnitzel’ somewhere, and being local to work, I had eaten there quite a few times and they had been good. Fast forward to now however…

First, we were shoved outside. Regardless of the fact it wasn’t booked, there were enough tables around empty inside, and in one case, 2 people (who had finished their food) were just sitting at a big enough table for our group. I guess the staff just weren’t interested in lifting a finger to actually work on a Friday night. As for menu design, similar to the Mattaras and still annoying. Such a seemingly high price and only a little a choice of toppings. These guys need to go to Waratah Rugby Club and see the amount of toppings they give, on their cheaper budget.

So onto outside. Was not too cold, and once Andrew had performed magic tricks to get the heaters going, it was bearable. The seats are terrible though, I did not want to sit on the style of furniture they had in colonial 1800. Long heavy frozen lumps of wood they call benches are not high in my list of comfortable things to sit on. Also on the outside – the kids. Just walking outside had me almost clean up some small kid who was running through all the tables. Theres a wooden box full of PS2s, a jungle gym, and kids still feel the need to play up in the eating area. The incessant screaming made it hard for conversation and it actually got worse later on when we were in the car park, it sounded like they decided to have a screaming contest..

The food. Not too bad for a $10 schnitzel, unfortunately it wasn’t a $10 schnitzel. It was $18.50ish. I ordered my schnitzel with chips and vegetables, with a honey-mustard topping. There must have been some serious changes since last I came here, as this was nowhere near as good as 6 months ago. Nowhere near enough sauce came, and the schnitzel was normal sized, the chips normal… veges was pretty good though. Corn/beans/broccoli/cauliflower/carrot. The schnitzel itself was ok, but not on par with the $18 ticketed price. Just an average run of the mill variety that Joes Bar could serve out.

I finished the meal, but it just didn’t have that aura of being a good meal. I’m giving it a 3 out of 5, as I expected more. Maybe that’s the problem? Or maybe they had too much of a good thing and got greedy.

Ras

Newcastle’s Best Schnitzel is a somewhat disappointment. But hear me out

There were 10 people ordering, one of our larger attendance nights were here tonight and they have a regulation to bring out all meals out on time. But so does Mattara and that was pretty good (though they are owned by the same people), we had a large group then too. This could of easily degraded the quality.

So we ordered, no booking to a place that’s INCREDIBLY busy at times, but its hard to book when you have a group with invitees which can’t commit to coming. Ushered outside and got the heaters working, it wasn’t too cold and the kids playground screaming was our punishment for not booking. Great kids playground, I used to love it when I was younger, hasn’t changed a bit (for the good?)

I was distracted for a moment by an old friend who was there and my garlic bread was eaten by the usual culprits who don’t order things they want! Bastards! But then out came the meal which made me grateful I didn’t fill up on the bread…

My schnitzel was HUGE! It was stacked on top of the chips beside the salad on an extremely large plate. It had a muggyish honey mustard sauce which didn’t have too much honey mustard flavor and wasn’t really enough to cover the whole meal. After I had finished eating it, I was full, definitely at the regrettable that you have eaten too much level. It was a decent sized meal however as pointed out by others it was missing the accomplishment feeling. It was like I have just eaten something half-decent, something wasn’t there, I think it was the fact the schnitzel was a bit too dry and not enough sauce was given to counter-act it.

Even though it didn’t fulfill the expected title of best schnitzel, it was still somewhat up there and I give it a 3/5

Ndroo

Service: Good, no complaints. We had to sit outside as per usual but they had some very nice heaters to keep us warm, no one helped us turn them on despite the fact we expressed interest in using them (Safety hazard?)…however eventually we got them going, and assisted a nearby customer of the tavern to turn theirs on. Hearing the band that was playing inside i wasn’t that upset to sit outside anyway, they were way too loud. The food came out quickly, woman serving obviously didn’t have much understanding of the food as she named one of the meals “Schnitzel and orange”, that orange was actually lemon (Still lemon?).

3/5

Location / Environment: Jewels is a bit far out, i guess they have a fair hold on the area as there are not a massive amount of choices when it comes to eat out food. The place itself isn’t too bad, the outdoor area has too many kids…however i assume that’s what its there for. Don’t get too excited about their “Playstation cave”, not only do you have to be a certain age to get in…they’re old ps2′s and i wouldn’t really want to touch a control that a snotty nosed kid had touched, just before i eat my mean.

2/5

Food: Terrible. Overcooked, obviously sat around and was left to dry out for a while…the chips were good, the salad was OK but the part we were interested, the schnitty…was terrible. I would not recommend this place, they need to step up the quality of their OVERPRICED food ($18). These people need to check out the competition and see that a schnitty of that quality is worth $10 at most, maybe $11 or $12. The best schnitzel we’ve had so far was $14 and far thicker, juicer and in general better cooked.

2/5

It fed me, but i wasn’t excited about it nor do i want to go back unless there’s a good reason.

Feel free to invite us back once you’ve improved your meals…

Ben

As my first schnitty in Newcastle and my first time reviewing a schnitty, I was both at the advantage of having an open, unbiased opinion of my meal, and the disadvantage of not knowing what to expect.

Atmosphere:
The first thing I noticed was the venue was a very children-friendly place, with the kids play area and “Playstation Cave” being what surrounds patrons on their way into the dining area. Unfortunately there was not enough seating to accommodate for our party so we were left with no other option but to eat outside with the fun-loving, yet noise polluting collection of kids. There was no music being played, nor was there any other distraction from this noise such as a TV showing the football (or Olympic games), which I found disappointing. The giant fish on display between the outside area and the inside was a nice touch.

Service/Pricing:
The lady who served me was very friendly, or at least as friendly as one would expect without becoming concerned or uncomfortable. The self-serve cutlery and condiments placed unmissable near the register and queuing area was a benefit to the entire experience, as I find myself spinning around, salt shakers in one hand, plate of schnitzel in the other, trying to find a knife and fork to use while dodging other hungry individuals as one of my least favorite things to do on a Friday night. We were told that someone would turn on the heaters for us outside, but by the time we made it out there and realized we were still cold, Andrew did what any tech-head would and play around with knobs and wires until the heaters were warm once more. Another party of patrons asked the group how to get the heaters turned on, too, which further illustrates the lack of motivation the staff might have had regarding the guests outside in the cold.
I ordered the small schnitty with salad and chips for $14.50. This would seem reasonable if it were for a large schnitty, but for a small it was a little pricey, and over $18 for a large schnitzel was just plain expensive.

Food:
The most important part of the review is finally here, and to be honest I didn’t mind my schnitzel. It was on the large side for a “small” serving, I liked the steak fries and the tomato sauce wasn’t that terrible “no added salt” stuff that doesn’t taste anything like tomato sauce. The salad was disappointing and made me wish I had selected the vegetables instead. I am a simple salad lover; give me lettuce, tomato, cheese, and some carrot and I will love it. Instead I had long strings of green and fat clubs of green of which neither looked appetizing. I did like the lemon.

Overall I would give my experience a 2.5/5 but if I had to round up or down I would round it up to 3. There was a lot more I would expect for a $14.50 meal that just wasn’t there. Until next time.

Gman

Honey Mustard Full Schnitty
There was and wasn’t anticipation for this. I was hungry and chose the full schnitty but I was a tad disappointed with the range. Full or half and no toppings, only sauces. Then again in comparison to the 20+ choices of the Waratah Rugby Leagues Club below, it was bound to be a let down.
That said, the Honey Mustard schnitty came out and could be smelt from a distance. A sweet honey scent with a tiny bit of pleasantly off putting bite. Much the same with the taste. The full schnitty was huge, 10mins in it looked like I had made no progress whatsoever.
Steak chips and a good salad. Schnitty was so good, the government will probably shut the place down.
Is this allowed? 5/5 schnittys, not the best in Newcastle………….yet.

Ras

The Place
This is my first time to the Great Northern Hotel. This place is old, it could be a haunted house. Might of been damaged by the 1989 Newcastle earthquake and half repaired.

While entering, the eating area wasn’t evident except for a specials board in the bar. It was fairly dark inside, the lights were not complimenting the place, I’m sure that alone will bring the mood of the place up. After we ordered from the bar we were quickly ushered into an empty room with tables, which was the foyer with the lift of the hotel. The doors were open (as usual foyer doors are) so it was cold, with a straight look at customs house. It was completely empty with no one else there except from the 1 bar staff running back and forth through the room. The foyer has the odd paintings of Newcastle’s history of the coal industry, construction and the beach (the usual paintings you see around Newcastle).

The building has definitely seen a lot in it’s lifetime and is being renovated slowly. It’s not a comfortable eating place but it has a popular night life on Wed and Fridays

The Schnitty
The order took about 30minutes for 4 people, pretty decent
The schnittys were delivered, they had nice modern presentation which was unexpected from me
I ordered the Mexicana (as usual), every place does this different. This one tasted like spaghetti bolognaise on a schnitty with kidney beans, which is more of an Italian dish rather than Mexican. It didn’t have an ounce of spice or seasoning in it, it was still eatable though.
The chicken was cooked properly but very average in taste

Not very great, but eatable
1/5 Schnitties

Scott

The Mattara is not cheap.

The Mattara is not cheap. Sorry, I just felt it needed to be said twice.

Upon arrival, we were informed that the indoors couldn’t cope with a sizable group like ours without booking ahead (doh) and only the bar area or outside remained. We took the outside area – enclosed from wind, and not *that* cold but still not ideal surroundings. Once everyone had arrived and ordered, the food took a good 30-40 minutes to come out, however they did their best to ensure everyone was eating at the same time. The service was pretty good, and since they were pretty packed, the length of time to prepare 14 odd meals for just our group while pleasing their other customers, they did decent job.

The meal itself. I ordered a ‘full’ schnitzel ($18.50), which came with vegetables and chips (yay), and I ordered a cheese topping ($2.50) with pepper sauce ($2). All up total of $23 for the meal, and a $3.20 schooner of coke, so $26. That takes the cake as the most expensive place yet. And it probably was the slowest from order to meal delivery, but thats understandable. When the meal arrived, the schnitzel was not what ‘I’ would call a ‘full’ schnitzel, it was standard sized one, about the same as any $10 place we have reviewed so far. This annoyed me. A ‘half’ that other people got was almost the size of my ‘full’. This annoyed me. The vegetables were pretty awesome, the tree of broccoli was huge, nice large amount of cauliflower and a small amount of carrot and beans were top notch, however this is the search for Newcastles greatest schnitty, not the search for Newcastles greatest schnitty sides. The chips were of the steakhouse variety, cooked to crisp perfection, no complaints there. The schnitty itself was thick and the crumbing was in proportion and didnt fall off at all, and the cheese topping was about as fantastic as the moon landing, except cheaper. If you go here, get the cheese topping. Not getting it is simply not an option. The pepper sauce was rather odd coloured, being creamy however it rates as one of the best Ive had.

From me, I give it 4 out of 5. The sides and toppings were awesome; the bad parts were size of actual schnitzel and price.

Marker

Thick, very thick. Thickest schnitty i have ever had. The inside was tender, and juicy. Perfect.
The dianne sauce was tasty and there was just the right amount.

We had to sit outside in the enclosed outdoor area as the restaurant area was busy, no room for a group our size to sit, we cannot blame that on anybody else then ourselves. We should have booked ahead.

I ordered the “full” schnitty, with the dianne sauce. It was just over $20 all up.

The salad was quite plain, very little dressing, it was still up to standard though.

All up, it was fantastic and will attract the highest score i have given so far. Even with the high price tag, it was worth it.

4.5 out of 5 schnitties.

I hope to visit the Mattara again some day soon

Ras

Location

Mattara Charlestown was been renovated a couple of years ago and has still maintained it’s new look. It has a modern bar feel with a gigantic fish tank full of large exotic fish. The restaurant area was sectioned off around the back, away from the rest of the bar. Very schmick

Service

There were a few late arrivals of our group which hadn’t arrived, a few of us had already ordered so there could have been a problem with eating way too early… However a staff member specifically came out to confirm that she had received all the orders, so we asked if they could wait, no problems!

The service was great even though it was packed full, we didn’t have a booking and had to sit outside. The schnittys still arrived in a reasonable time under the circumstances

Schnitty

Full size with spicy mexican topping
The presentation was interesting, I have never seen a schnitty which looks like you accidentally ordered nachos. It was a large plate, with chips, mounted by a full size (you have an option between half or full) schnitty with a Spicy Mexican sauce, topped with cheese, some corn chips (yes, corn chips) dug into the cheese with dabs of sour cream & guacamole, with a side serving of vegetables including carrots that were shaped in a very long rectangle shape comparable to something from gumby

THE Taste

I am a HUGE fan of Mexican food and the sauce in combination with the sour cream and the guacamole tasted like a burrito, which I was happy with but the sauce was just the perfect disguise to cover the disgraceful schnitty itself, the heart and soul of the meal! Comparable to Coles supermarket schnitty, the chicken was dry and rubbery in some parts (most likely just overcooked) but unlike Coles it had a nice steamy thick breast, like some kind of schnitty porn. Dry and rubbery schnitty porn isn’t my thing, 2.5

Summary

Location 4/5 (great)

Service 3/5 (good)

Schnitty 2.5/5 (sort of good but also sort of meh)

Extras 3/5 (good)

Overall 3/5 Schnitties

Kroony

Schnitzel, Dianne With Chips and Salid – $20.90

Drinks – no drinks didn’t have enough change for that and the meal.
Staff – Staff were quite helpful considering we showed up with 14 people and no booking. Quite a cool accent was sported by the woman who gave us out plates.
Company – As i just said it was a large group 2night, slightly cause of facebook exposure.
Side, Chips And salad – The chips and salad were quite good, nothing special, nothing bad. Salad was a standard small leafed greens and tomato. Again nothing special nothing bad.
Topping, Dianne – The Dianne Sauce was impressive, Thick and rich with flavor leaving a light twang in your mouth.
Schnitzel – Apon 1st glance i wasn’t too impressed with the size, but once i cut into it and saw how thick and evenly cooked it was an was a little more impressed. The chicken was tender and soft, brilliant contrast to the crunchy crumbing.

I Quite enjoyed this Schnitty. It is one of the higher quality on offer in this great town, But when the price is factored in it is brought right back down to nothing special. I also may have been unlucky with my sides but again they were nothing special either. If money isnt a problem for you u will enjoy this schnitty, otherwise there are other schnitties out there that are on par with this but only 1/2 the price.

3 Out of 5 Schnittys

GMAN

Recorded on my phone for brevity on account of other long reviews.

“Mattara: Spicy Mexican, half schnitzel. Not very spicy and therefore, not very Mexican. Almost Italian, very rich tomato topping, excellent cheese, average try-hard salad, top marks for the chips. Very cold in the wilderness of the back of the pub. Somebody’s fault, got to find someone to blame.”

No heaters out the back. No complaints about the schnitty itself.

4.5/5