The Shaft Tavern – Be careful flash only site :S
Check the map page in Elemore Vale for the exact location.

Reviews:

Scott

From a long lineup for ordering to being seated outside in the cold, this place did not look promising. Packed full of people, the only table big enough was in the smokers area outside, with a loudspeaker blaring numbers for the old women bidding silly amounts of money in exchange for the chance to win old meat. We waited probably 20 minutes before being invited back inside, where a table large enough for the 8 of us opened up. From there it was about 10 minutes before the food started rolling in.

I ordered the ‘tropicana’ which was $10. It came with a choice of salad or vegetables with chips, and going with previous choices opted for the vegetables. Unlike other places however, the vegetables were beans, corn, broccoli and carrot which were a nice change from the usual. The side of chips was a little small, however they were beer-battered steakhouse. The schnitzel itself came topped with bacon and mango, with cheese melted all over. Delicious. The mango was a unique menu item which I had not seen before, and it is something I will definitely order again, the entire meal meshed really well. This was a $20 meal in value being sold for $10, unlike a few places we have been to selling $10 meals for $20.

I will happily recommend this place (just not the pasta!) and give the meal 4 out of 5, half a star lost for slower than normal service (understandable due to the amount of people who wanted in on this secret portal to schnitty goodness) and half a star lost for bad pasta I had had there on a previous outing.

Kroony

Chicken Schnitzel With Satay sauce and chips – $10

Drinks – Fire Engine & Rum. A very girly drink indeed, but it was so sweet u could not even taste the rum… easily could have got trashed on this drink.
Staff – Cool and Attractive. While we were outside they were keen to have a chat to the patrons while collecting empties. Most of them are young and quite the lookers.
Company – 9 of us made the trip a first for Ollie and Samii. Thanks again to everyone for making it out for my Birthday.
Side – Chips. Superbly cooked steakhouse chips. Crisp on the out side and moist on the inside.
Topping – Satay sauce. This was totally new to me. it was the nights special so if its offered every week I’m not sure but if its offered when u go I highly recommend it.
Schnitzel – A very large size for the price. the schnitty did that thing where air expands between the crumbs and the chicken while is it cooking, so the covering didn’t stick well to the chicken. This minor detail was far more than made up by the meat itself. Served boiling hot I knew it was cooked less than 3 min before i received it. The chicken was thick and cooked to perfection.

I had an awesome night and wont let the fact that the venue is popular and we didn’t book affect my judgment. I do recommend calling ahead for larger groups.
Overall i give it 4.5 schnittys out of 5 – Highly recommended

Ndroo

It has been a while since i truly felt a $10.00 meal could be recommended to anyone i have an interest in talking to again, but The Shaft has corrected my ill thought.

The cattle class service started pretty much as expected with a long delay in being served. The delay gave me the opportunity to look around the room and ask myself “Why so busy?”. The dining room was nothing spectacular, paper table clothes for easy turn over, self serve on the drinks and very little variation from the typical club style dining experience. Initially due to the number of meals being served we were forced to sit outside, a bit of a disappointment! To add insult to injury outside was very cold, suffered from a severe lack of heating and encouraged the company i was keeping to continue their self indulging habits of smoking…i wasn’t that excited at this point.

After 15 minutes outside we were invited inside! A table had opened up…and we had the chance to sit inside where it was nice and warm. I was very pleased as not only did this remove the cold but also the smoking was forced to stop. Another 5 minutes passed and i was served, quiet possibly, the best $10.00 meal I’ve ever had in my life. You see recently i spent a week in Melbourne, having been very spoiled in my dining choices for that week I was finding it difficult to readjust to the ways of Newcastle (Ugh…we need some better food options, seriously!). However this night was to remind me that it is not the quality of the cooks which hold Newcastle back, but its client requirements which prevent us expecting anything better than pig feed.

I ordered the Satay Chicken Schnitzel. Not too spicy but with a gentle tingle there was no lack of flavor. I ate the chips first, perfectly crunchy with some great taste there was no disappointment yet. I moved onto the greens which did cause me some surprise, celery, who serves celery when you ask for salad? I’m used to the normal lettuces , carrot, tomato and maybe some sprouts or similar. I had a bit of a neutral reaction to this change in menu. Finally i went after the meat…and this is where my pleasure reached its peek. Tender, very well battered and in a sauce that tasted as if the person cooking paid attention to what they were doing, something I’m not familiar with when going out in Newcastle. Really i should mention that sauce again, they actually left a few peanuts whole in there…and really why not, what does a peanut cost? (I wont pain you with the pun thats lingering). Generally we find that $10 meals have cost cuts where ever possible, the fact that they used a half decent sauce, very good piece of chicken and experimented with the salad…well its a 5 out of 5 for me.

While i was initially disappointed that we didn’t have an indoor seat, i now understand why. 5 out of 5, give it a try…you wont be able to complain about the value.

Marker

Satisfactory, but not great.
I had the tropicana.
Schnitty, topped with cheese, ham and mango.

I was excited about bringing in mango to the equation… I couldnt taste it.
The cheese had no taste, it was a bunch of chewy nothing.

That is all