The Nags or as the locals call it, the nags. is located in Adamstown http://www.thenags.com.au/

Kroony

Chicken Schnitzel With Diane sauce and Chips. A bit over $20
Side – Chips. Pretty average, just chips.
Topping – Dianne. Was almost bolognese in texture (like spaghetti with out the pasta, not like the breed of dog dog) Over all it was quite satisfying but perhaps they could have given me 80% less. Perhaps i should have asked for it on the side. Perhaps.
Schnitzel – Chicken. After a long dry spell any rain is welcome, even if its acidic rain from the local sulfur plant. You run out to dance in the rain with the rest of the towns folk but an hour later while applying burn cream to your face u realize it wasn’t actually that good*. While eating it I was saying “by golly gosh darn skedoo, this is an awesome schnitty” but in hindsight it could have been better. It was just pretty average, the only thing special about it was that i had not had schnitty in a while. This schnitty would have impressed me a lot more if i didn’t pay over $20 for it.

Overall i give this 3 schnittys out of 5

*In no way did the schnitty chemically burn my face or any other part of my person

Amos

They had James Squire Golden Ale on tap for less than five dollars, which both surprised and pleased me, so my first impressions were good. They have this cool waterfall thing at the front entrance. It’s full of swank.
The meals were pretty expensive; I ordered a chicken schnitzel with ‘Mexican topping’ (i.e. cheese, beans, avocado, tomato, sour cream etc) and that was about twenty dollars. My partner ordered bruschetta and ‘beer battered chips with aioli and pesto’, which were about seven dollars each.
Despite ordering later than the rest of the party, all our meals came out quickly and at roughly the same time. The bruschetta was cold, poor quality bread, and over saturated in caramelised balsamic vinegar. The beer battered chips however, were wonderful and the aioli was very flavorful without being overpowering.
The schnitzel was mediocre.

Scott

Coming soon to your local schnitty.com

James

The presentation of the premises was immaculate and I was quit impressed by the amount of space that could be found in what, from the outside, appeared to be a small building. The staff were very polite and also very well presented. Dining in the back room gave the feel of a small hotel restaurant which generated a very nice atmosphere. I was quite surprised how European it looked, which is unusual for Newcastle.

The Shnitty itself was large and looked very nice. It was moist but not wet and the sauce (Standard Hawaiian – Pineapple, cheese and Bacon) was very liberally offered. Some other places I/we have been only offer 2 or 3 pieces of Bacon but here, the entire thing was covered.

The meat was a little bland but had enough taste to stick with it. It was large which made up for it and the topping added to the flavor bring it out about par.

The price was slightly on the expensive side – a shade over $20 for the full thing but it didn’t completely disappoint.

4.5 Schnitties for the premesis,
3 Schnitties for the Schnitty
3 Schnitties for the Price
4 Schnitties over all

The sort of place for a quite meal

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

Initial expectations were low.
Me: Hi Id like to order, Im from the table for kroon. *insert order here*
Lady: Hi no worries, what table number will that be?
Me: The table reserved for kroon
Lady: Wheres that?
Me: Um?
Steve: He is with our table, the reservation for kroon
Lady: Oh ok, thats fine.

The tables were blow-moulded cheap style from bunnings. Not kidding. The chairs were hard plastic, worse than what you would find at TAFE. The corner the ‘kroon’ table was in was in the dim-lit corner. There were kids everywhere. There were people everywhere come to think of it, all wanting food and popping out extra kids as the night went on. Table wasnt the cleanest, I say this as there was an unknown substance rolled up in a napkin that rob removed gracefully by smacking it with the table sign.

The wait was pretty normal, about 10-15 minutes. There were quite a number of people so this was understandable. When the food came out first impressions were kinda.. low – The schnitty looked small. It was also on the plate, not piled on the chips which surprised us all. I ordered the schnitty with a ‘Triple Cheese’ topping, pepper sauce (which came in a bowl on the side) chips and veges. The veges were ok, the carrot was chopped up pretty fine though, which made it hard to get on the fork. Corn was fine, beans I skipped and the cauliflower was pretty bang-on. The chips were really nice, top quality with a nice crunchy exterior texture. The pepper sauce tasted like an entire 6L pot of gravy was mixed with one sachet of pepper from mcdonalds, and they decided that that was enough.

Onto the schnitzel itself and it was pretty damn perfect. The cheesy aroma was good, the coverage of the schnitzel was perfect and they didnt skimp on thickness either. It was about as good as cheese toppings can get on a moderately thick perfectly cooked schnitzel. The chicken held together really well and tasted pretty real as far as schnitzels go. The batter was thick and held together like araldite was used as the main constituent and then they covered it with liquid nails just to be sure. Id go as far to say this was a $20 meal. Cost? For me, since I had the pepper sauce side, $12. For everyone else it was only $10. $10! This would have to be one of the best $10 meals you can purchase. Points lost for cheap feel of furniture and minimal lighting however the surprise of a brilliant meal more than makes up for it. Highly recommended, 4.5 out of 5.

Check soon for ‘www.schnitty.com endorsed’ advertisements in the newspapers and large banners over the bar haha.

Amos

Ten dollar schnitzel with a napolitana sauce, cheese, and spinach on top. It generally comes with bacon too, but I had just bought a copy of the Qur’an and didn’t want to be rude. Everything about the food was perfect. I think the corn was cooked in honey or something, or otherwise it was just really nice corn…
The beer was lacking. Nothing decent on tap, so I just drank Tooheys Old. I couldn’t even see any bottles of Coopers anywhere, but they might have just been hidden.

Kroony

Chicken Schnitzel With Diane sauce and Chips $10.00!!!
Staff - The staff were pleasant and welcoming. only complaint is that they took a phone off the table and put it in the rubbish bin by mistake.
Side – Chips. These were some awesome chips. they looked normal and i still cant tell what they did to them but there were very nice.
Topping -Dianne. This was one of the finest dianne sauces i have had. It was thick unlike far too many others. It also used real crushed garlic that you could see.
Schnitzel - Chicken. Keeping in theme with the rest of the plate the schnitty was a delight. The cooks obviously not afraid to leave them cooking just that little bit longer to make sure they are not soggy. the outside was crispy and the inside was juicy. My only complaint was that compared to some others on the table mine was quite small. Shame really cause i was enjoying it so much.

Over all 4.5 schnittys out of 5. For $10 it does not get much better then that.

Five dollar pints of Carlton Black. Meals for the price of a hug. A schnitzel with diane sauce, chips and salad. The diane sauce was like a garlic explosion in my mouth. Even more garlic than Bill’s “creamy garlic” sauce. Strange, and not entirely good. I’m sure it’s good for you, though. I enjoyed the schnitzel itself though, it was moist and tender and easy to eat. Still, the over-saucing really threw me aback.
Three of five: I’d go there again, but I’d definitely choose another sauce.
(Also, who the hell puts anchovies in a sauce. That’s disgusting.)

Umbrella Man

Blackbutt Hotel: The only place I’ve been to so far that served Hawaiian Topping with a side of schnitzel. Not that I’m complaining, that was some damn fine topping, and the atmosphere was marvelous. It wasn’t too loud and the schnitzel was rather tasty. If they fixed their computer systems I probably would have enjoyed it less, but as it stands I enjoyed that evening thoroughly. I’d go back, but probably only with a lady.
Three and a half stars out of five.

Scott

Blackbutt Hotel – Recently revamped, and had a real good atmosphere about the place. The menu seemed expensive, however some shopadockets from http://www.hotdockets.com.au quickly changed every second meal into a $3 fair, which almost halved the total cost. There was a nice large table waiting for us, and plenty of sauces and condiments were made available. I ordered the chicken schnitzel with a ‘Three Cheeses’ topping with chips and vegetables. The wait was quite short relatively, as the place was quite packed and we were a large group. The vegetables were pretty standard fare, although I wasnt a fan of the beans. The schnitzel itself was pretty normal, with as far as I could tell, cheese on top. It tasted fantastic though, and as there was enough flavoured sauces around you couldnt say it was bland by any measure.

4/5

Scott

Apparently the three people who still listen to KOFM voted it the best pub in Newcastle so they were all happy about that. Rest assured, they aren’t.

We had booked the table. We stood in line for 20 minutes. They cant use the cash registers properly and even though someone waves a voucher in their face, they ‘mis-enter’ it and ‘cant undo it’, resulting in one of us paying full price. Customer service apparently goes out the window when a local radio station votes you as the best. Waiting in line for so long would be understandable if there were people in front of our group – but there basically wasn’t. For the first 5 minutes there was, but they were served after having the menu carefully explained to them which just left us waiting.

Bad start to a good meal. I ordered the schnitty with a pepper sauce topping and vegetable/chip sides. Costed $13 when used in conjunction with a voucher, if not it totals around the $19 mark. Once seated the atmosphere was loud and friendly, normal familys having dinner. The footy was on one of their screens, which had the attention of a few people. Meals didnt take too long to cook, and within 15 minutes we were ploughing into them.

Ill describe the plate. Vegetables from the jurassic period. Seriously, the stalk of brocolli when in a garden could have provided shade to an emu. The cauliflower wasnt much smaller. The schnitzel looked .. schnitzelish, and the beer battered chips were under with a pepper sauce covering it. On first bite i got really excited by the ferocity of the sauce – finally a peppery sauce! No. Just that first bite, the rest was the standard pub diluted down gravy with pepper taste. The vegetables went down easy, cooked well for their size and nothing to complain about there. The chips were perfect, if a little squished. The schnitty was crumbed in a thick batter, but the batter itself used tiny crumbing, so it tasted great and held together. I liked this overall, but it looses a point for the initial ‘pretend they dont exist’ poor service. 4 / 5.

Andy

We decided to venture out of the Newcastle region into unchartered territory. Maitland isnt far from my home town of Kurri, so i was quiet happy to give the ‘local grub’ a taste.

Our night started out in a way that can only destroy my hopes of awarding a 5/5. I was first in line, presented my voucher for a $5 second meal with the purchase of one full priced meal…umm’d over the menu for a little while and finally took a pick at a schnitty to my likings. I paid, assuming that the next person in line would only get charged $5…however apparently not! The woman just said “No i cant do that, you’ve already paid. It has to be done together”, and here i was thinking i had done the right thing. After about 5 seconds of disbelief i just took my seat.

But wait, theres more! Before this display of untrained customer service (Or perhaps she just didnt care?) we had been standing in line for a pretty long time. Past experiences at the G&D had a similar smell to this experience…despite there only being one or two people in front of us. we seemed to wait an eternity while the staff fought with their cash register and the individual purchasing had the entire menu explained to them in three different languages (One can only presume english – which they wouldnt understand, Bogan-English – which sinks in a little more, and then a mix of pictures and grunts – which hits the spot!). After an epic wait we were excited to be ordering, by this time normally I’d be excited to be eating.

The meal, great. Cant really complain all that much. The vegetables were good, but again as i’m seeing everywhere the carrot i grated into super thin long strands of hair like food. I’m not a fan of this, i just cant get a grip of it on the fork? Maybe i’m retarded….(or maybe the meal designer is).

The schnitty was well cooked, again the chips (as they are everywhere) were under the schnitty. I suppose they do this because it keeps it warm, but it really screws you up when you try cut the chicken.

I propose an experiment. Next time you order, insist on non grated carrot and chips on top of the chicken.

Pubs in this area remind me of coffee in Tasmania. Every single coffee house in Launceston had a sign “The best coffee sold here!”, either i missed the point and “best coffee” is a brand, or they’re as full of s@#t as pubs in the Hunter Valley are. You see this pub was voted the best in the Hunter Valley by the listeners of KOFM…weird!

I’m only happy to hand over a 2/5. 1 point off for service delays, 1 point for mistakes and another point for false advertising. The meals are nothing special, they’re not bad at all, I’d recommend them, but they are not “The Best”. Oh yeah, obviously this demonstrates that KOFM isnt worth listening too either…

Ras

After being told from KOFM that the George and Dragon tavern had the best Schnitzel in Newcastle, we decided to give this place a shot. For some reason KOFM is calling Maitland a part of Newcastle which isn’t really true. Even the entertainment book had it listed in the Hunter Valley. Just advertising to get people there from Newcastle, I can’t stand KOFM

Don’t bother with Entertainment book coupons here when on the George and Dragon website there is a coupon for buy one main get the next for $5 coupon up to November, really good value considering the meals they have here.

The customer service was awful as told by the previous reviewers. Slow and painful not only because there were some old ladies in front of us who couldn’t decide what to order, it should be table ordering so we don’t have to stand around. I had no idea someone didn’t get to use their voucher too, that’s lame. Andy said they act like it’s a privelage that your at the restaurant and it’s true.

The schnitty came out faster than I expected but after waiting so long to be served initially it wasn’t that great. I had the mexican schnitzel which as usual had the sour cream (a bit too much though), guacamole and chips on top accompanied by some beer battered chips and a colourful salad. It was well cooked, very filling (couldn’t eat the entire salad) and the chips were great

I’ll give it a good 3/5. Not worth going out to Maitland for the schnitty (there were some other interesting meals on the menu though), if your in Maitland it’s good although I haven’t been anywhere else in Maitland to compare it to.

Amos

$5.70 pint of Coopers Pale Ale. It tasted a little bit like ashtray, though. We were standing around at the register for a while, but that just gave me time to get a beer instead of waiting.

The meal seemed to come out relatively quickly, but I wasn’t counting. Great presentation; the entire plate was symmetrical, whatever that matters or means. I had a schnitzel with creamy garlic sauce, salad and chips. The garlic sauce was pretty sparse on the garlic but that’s fine; I’d rather too little than too much.

Chips under schnitzel. I like it. I mean, you really only have two other choices: a huge plate, or chips over schnitzel. Huge plates just won’t work: the entire restaurant culture is far too conducive to claustrophobia to start with, so just try to imagine a banquet-sized plate on your lap and you’ll go red with fury. Chips over schnitzel, then. Sure, but where does the sauce go? On the chips. Soggy chips. No, no, no. Just think, who is more deserving of sauce: the schnitzel or the chips? That’s right. And seriously, a schnitzel is just a piece of dead meat unless you’ve got a good sauce that makes it worth eating.

3.5 of 5

Ben

The George and Dragon looks and feels like a great venue for families and friends to enjoy a meal together. The large rooms, kids corner and almost literally a TV on every wall is a friendly change to the five squared meters of eating area on small round tables and keno cards wherever the eye can see.

Very few venues include enough table space for you to eat your meal without interrupting the person next to you, or in front of you, but the furniture at the George and Dragon was larger than your average bear, which is a plus.

The prices for a simple schnitty, chips and some veg was a bit out of the park, and would have been mitigated if the 2-meals vouchers would have worked for everyone. Mine worked and I ended up paying a little over $10 for my meal. The ordering system really needs some work as well. They have the register, and hense the lines to form in front of it, stretching across the smallest walkthrough in the entire pub! Constantly patrons are being asked to move out of the way by unfriendly kitchen-hands moving to and fro. Not only this, but there must be a rule where only one worker uses the cash register each shift. The lady taking orders took it under her administration to help two ladies identify everything they’ve ever eaten and whether or not it was on the menu, while the rest of us were ready, willing and able to place our orders. Any other staff member could have taken either the role of helping Mrs. Illiterate with the menu or serving the other customers.

My schnitty, with parmigiana topping was of decent size, with delicious beer-battered chips and very nicely cooked vegetables. I particularly liked the melted cheese. The meat was a very good thickness and was cooked very well. With the parmigiana topping and the vegetables it was actually a very filling and tasty meal. The dispensed coke was also nice, with a little more ice than anyone short of a polar bear feeling homesick would enjoy.

I have to re-iterate what was already mentioned about the presentation. Every venue seems to take the “schnitty on top of chips” thing as some cardinal rule. In practice it means that when you look at the dish you instantly know it’s a chicken schnitzel with some vegetables and chips, but that the chips are quickly making the under-side of the schnitty soggy, and will surely be crushed themselves when the schnitty is being cut. The solution for this surely seems to be the schnitty, followed by the sauce/topping and then chips on top. This way you not only still get a flavoursome schnitty, but the chips get a bit of that flavour as well and noone gets squashed or soggy!

Overall it was a good meal, though nothing to blow my tastebuds away. The atmosphere was what one would expect and the service could definitely be improved.

3/5

Scott

Saturday night. Rob and I needed food, and we went to Darby street after my attempts to get him to have a quad burger failed. After deciding on Ana Capri, it was too busy. Two busy Thai restuarants and a stalking homeless guy later we ended up at the Darby Bar. It was busy, and a table just left as we walked in. Two waitresses immediately pounced on us and served us quite well, with free water (although we ordered a coke each) and the delicious entrees came quickly (5 mins max?). My schnitty was a $15 one with delicious honey mustard topping and chips and salad, and no choice of vegetables so I opted for no salad to which they asked if I wanted extra chips. =D. 10 minutes after the entrees came our meals were served and wow, big plates and it looked delicious. The steakhouse beer battered lemon infused chips were the best standard of chip we have seen so far. I also recieved enough to feed an army. The schnitty was perfectly cooked and looked smallish, however it was THICK. And delicious.

Service with smiles, top notch sides and a delicious schnitty for $15? Can you see where this is going? *drumroll* 5 / 5.

http://www.thekenthotel.com.au/

Gman

First let me set the scene. 

It is pouring down rain at 7:30pm. To misquote Morpheus from the Matrix, “Unfortunately, no one can be told where the Bar on the Hill is. You have to see it for yourself.”

In short, there are next to no signs of how to get there. I know where it is, but as for parking in front of it, I am still at a loss. For this, the Bar on the Hill loses a mark.  Secondly, the music was too loud, another mark lost. Thirdly, the kitchen was closed, there it loses its remaining possible marks.

0/5

The decision was then made to………..something………….go near Hamilton?   No…. Darby St?   No……. Beaumont St? There wasn’t really a decision made apart from following Scott’s Failcon…..

So we arrived at Oasis on Beaumont St after driving km’s to find parks. Scott covertly found us a table in the Kent.

The Kent

The Kent has a smallish pub/bar area up front and beergarden type restaurant out the back. It is not very inspiring due to the cream, cream and more cream colour scheme, or lack thereof. 

Everyone chose the Parmigina (their spelling) style schnitty as that was just about all there was to choose from. This was quite a big schnitzel and had a layer of ham, tomato sauce and cheese. I also got the chips and salad.

The schnitty was not dried out enough for me and parts of the batter were also a soggy mess. The chips were only lukewarm and the schnitty was like a fireball it was that hot. The salad was passable.

From my point of view it felt rushed. The meals didn’t take long to come out and that showed. I didn’t bother finishing it. I will go back to the Kent but probably for the pub area and upstairs, not the grub.

Remember, if you have a leaking roof, poke it with a broom and forget about that whole “water & electricity combination” thing.

2.5/5

Kroony

Chicken Schnitzel With ‘Parmigina’ topping Chips and salad – $14.90

Drinks - FireEngine and rum i call it a burning fireengine… unless someone can tell me there is a real name for it and im wrong?
Staff - The staff were a little worrieing. It was raining quite badly and the roof was leaking water from a light. So they decided to poke at it with a broom before turning the light off. I was a little concerning.
Company – Small group of 6 braved the weather on the great quest. Good mates, all you could ask for in regard to schnitty.
Side – Chips and salad. OK. chips were normal chips good but not awesome.
Topping -Parmigina. This was there spelling not mine. IT was fairly average. The cheese on top was nicely cooked under the grill but there was possibly a bit too much sauce on it.
Schnitzel - Chicken. Decently sized heart shaped chicken breast. The meat had a good tough quality about it, not chewy or dry but less falling apart like i have seen. The batter got a little soggy on the bottom. I think the issue here is the traditional chips served under the schnitty. This is not a good thing please everyone stop doing it. steam from the chips condensates on the underside of the schnitty and it goes soggy. The batter was also a little thick, not such a bad thing just that it kept comming off.

Well rounded schnitty, not a bad price, i gave it 3.5 schnittys out of 5

Ben

If I were to review the entire night, including the terrible weather, the planned destination not serving food that night, and the trouble taken to finally find a parking spot near The Kent; then I would have a grim score for schnitty that night.

But The Kent didn’t have anything to do with any of those factors, so I will ignore them for the sake of fairs-fair. The atmosphere in The Kent was everything you could expect from a little pub. There was music playing but not peeling the skin off of the patrons, who were kept very warm thanks to the superb heating installed around the place. The layout of the pub makes you wonder what’s behind that door or up that flight of stairs or around that corner, but I was there for the food and didn’t go exploring.

Pricing was fair; less than $15 for a large schnitty parmigiana, with choice of chips + salad, or mash potato + vegetables, and by that point in the night I was ready to eat it burnt off the counter.

The food came out in a near-perfect time, not enough to have me complaining but just long enough to make my mouth start to water. Presentation was good, schnitty on top of chips (of which the opposite I would have preferred) with a decent serving of salad on the side. The schnitty itself was delightful, with melted cheese, a parmigiana sauce and some ham underneath to top it all off. Plus it was enjoyed with good company, in a busy (but not crowded) setting, where it was warm and (until a leak in the cieiling nearby caused some lights to go off) well lit.

The entire experience left me even more reluctant to wish to leave for a raining walk back to the car and a wet drive home.

4.5/5 - only lost half a point for the fact that nothing can be truly perfect. Thanks to the staff at The Kent for having us, I will definitely look forward to a return visit.

Scott

The Kent = Win. What a soggy night it was, but all that running and driving in the rain, getting drenched etc doesnt count towards their score so we will leave it there.

The Kent was busy, but willing to accommodate us at such short notice and had a big enough table right under a heater for us. Ordering was quick and painless, although there could have been a bigger selection instead of plain schnitzel or parmigiana. I got the parmigiana and chips with vegetables. $14ish, very moderate pricing and well worth it. The schnitzel came after 15 minutes and looked great. The vegetables were ok, standard carrot, beans and cauliflower. The chips were nice, not the best but good either way. The schnitzel itself was brilliant, searing hot and perfect crumbing and size. The schnitzel itself was probably a 5/5 but the overall score will be a 4.5 due to limited menu choices and because on the way back to the car I walked into a puddle of water 30cm deep and my car failed on the way home and has been broken for the 4 days since.

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.

Waratah Rugby Leagues Club

Gman

Mexican Meatball Schnitzel – this was pizza on a schnitzel. Oh yes, it was good.

Large schnitzel covered in cheese, so much so that I don’t really remember seeing crumbing or batter. A mountain of sour cream and lava like pourings of sweet chilli sauce.

Unfortunately, like The Dark Knight, you can have too much of a good thing. The meatballs had a classic sausage taste which I am not a fan of. After a while the whole thing became tasteless and underwhelming which was a great shame.

An idea for……….. a bacon mcflurry…………. was suggested…………….. must investigate

4/5 schnittys

Kroony

Chicken Schnitzel With ‘MeatLovers’ Topping – $18.00
I feel kinda bad now walking into the place i got the initial impression that this was a bogan filled sports bar where outsiders would not be treated nicely. Apart from a little uncalled abuse I was mostly wrong.

Staff – A lovely little old lady served us who also brought the food to our table.
Company – We had people visiting from Townsville but there was a mixup/communication error and they didnt attend. Otherwise i think there was 7 of us a few non regulars.
Side – Chips. A very generous serving of chips were placed next to my schnitty
Topping – This was the winner, ‘meatlovers’, It started with a BBQ sauce base with melted cheese on that. Placed on the cheese was Bacon, sausage meatballs and salami. Quite the meatlovers indeed. With the Meatballs and the sausage it brought a very Italian flavor to a very different topping
Schnitzel – Wow after all that meat there was still a whole schnitty under it. The schnitty its self wasnt anything fantastic. With out the topping it would have scored low but the copious amounts of BBQ sauce mostly covered up the slight dryness. The batter was a good thickness and over all it was cooked evenly.

Overall I have given this meal a 3.5 out of 5. With 19 other toppings to choose from I dare say i will be coming back here sometime. If your looking for some variety or some peace and quiet I do recommend.

Scott

Before this review, I hadn’t heard of this place. Someone queried ‘Isn’t that the place they are going to knock down?’ and I had no answer… So we give it a try and the pub again is full of locals, one of whom abused our group for ‘standing around’ near a doorway. Now we weren’t blocking the doorway in the slightest – but this is the intelligence we can expect from the people who are locals at waratah…

The menu was quite comprehensive, a list of 20-30 different schnitzel combination’s, all reasonably priced. I picked the $18 ‘Meatlovers’ schnitzel and a $4 old school chocolate milkshake. The wait wasn’t too long, with all of us discussing the recent wedding, and various trips around the place until they arrived. For the money you certainly got a lot of meat, but the sides were a little disappointing. The vegetables were good, but not many and the chips were so/so and there was only about 10 of them. Ah well. The schnitzel was of a decent variety, thickish and cooked but covered with a barbecue sauce that is so strong in taste it, dare I say, ruined the meal? There was ample bacon in large pieces, lumps of sausage and lots of cheese, but the sauce was over the top. If I were to try this meal again at some point, I would asked without sauce and I daresay it would have been a 4 at least, and a 2 with. The milkshake was good – so I will bump it up to a 3.