So its been a while since we have seen some awesome schnitty scrutinizing, hopefully this drought is broken.
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
We have a new somewhat regular member of the group who suffers from vegetarian. So we went back to the Mary Ellen to let her get involved for once. This review also fell on the birthday of another regular, so Happy Birthday spam.
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.
Well it was about time we got around to going down to jewells considering they claim to have ‘Golden Holy Schnitzel’
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.
It was Ras’ pick this week so we went somewhere a little off the beaten path
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.
We have a few people that come to schnittys from out Kurri Kurri way so its only fair that the rest of us head up that way now and then to try their schnittys.
Scott
After arriving the issue was how to find the dining room. The pub part smelt like a urinal, and the locals had no interests other than staring at whatever sports were on tv or chatting to the barstaff. So we entered the main bar area, then exited out the back entrance and came back inside a different door and that was the dining area. Complicated yes?
So I ordered a chicken schnitzel with pepper sauce, ($22?) and with that came chips and salad (forgot the vegetables!) We waited a fair while, wasn’t too long but it certainly wasn’t a short wait. The food though was pretty excellent, thick schnitzel with a very nice pepper sauce. Salad wasn’t anything to write home about. All in all a good feed, but pricey and out-of-the-way for most novo’s.
3.5 out of 5.
This week we went to MJ Finnegans.
Scott
MJ Finnegans – Normally this place is only heard of when you are talking pubs, very late (or very early) on weekends spent in town, however they serve schnitzels so we decided to try them. Walking in, first impressions are that the mood lights under the bar are about 30x brighter than they should be, and gave my retinas glaucoma just looking at them. But the rest of the place was quiet, a few guys playing poker in one corner. We ordered at the window and found some pool tables where we proceeded to play. It wasn’t long before our meals were ready – and we weren’t for once (hadn’t finished a certain pool game)
What I ordered was a $15 ‘Mexican’ Schnitzel, with a topping that promised cheese, corn chip and guacamole, vegetables and chips. What I got looked a little ‘plainer’ than I was expecting, but the chef had seen us playing pool, and figured the meal would be sitting waiting and didn’t put the guacamole on until we were taking the dishes. That was pretty thoughtful, he didn’t want the crumbing to go soggy. There were no corn chips however, and this depressed me until we realized the corn chips were in the batter – ingenious. There was beans under the cheese, and at the end it really left the impression of Mexican food.. The schnitzel was pretty thick, cooked/fried to perfection and as mentioned before, the corn chip crumbing was delicious. Could have done with more cheese, less beans though, but thats just my opinion.
The sides were not bad either, the vegetables were a large serving, with carrot, brocoli, cauliflower and green beans (different to the mexican style beans on the topping). The steakhouse beer-better chips were probably the best I have tasted so far, but that isnt a hard thing to beat considering some of the chips we have had of late. All in all, I would recommend this place, it was quiet and the chefs seemed to put more effort in than required. Price was about right, not to expensive – but not a cheapie – and this was reflected in the meal, it wasnt just a small schnitzel whacked on a plate in exchange for $10. 4 out of 5 for me.
Kroony
Chicken Schnitzel With creamy potato and chips – $15.00
Staff – They seemed to be missing a restaurant hand, we were served by the chef. Awesome dude he should just stick to cooking.
Company – Just a small group of 6 of us, Unfortunately the person who picked the venue could not make it.
Side – Chips. A handful of crisp beer batter coating.
Topping -Creamy garlic Potato something. The potato slices were a little green but don’t let that put you off it was very creamy and very garlic. If your out on a date with a new partner i would recommend giving this a miss if u plan to try snog them.
Schnitzel – Very thick. It was rather deceptive cause the chicken was placed on top of the chips and it wasn’t until i cut into it that i noticed it was a good inch thick at the thickest point.
Overall I have given this meal a 3 out of 5. Brilliant if your heading out with a few mates and don’t care too much what the meal looks like, not so great if its a 1st date.
http://www.mattara.com.au/
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
This week we went to to the “New” Mary Ellen Hotel – At Merewether .
Reviews:
Marker
A turnout of 6 people was good. The atmosphere of the place was awesome. The service was professional and very, very quick.
I was quite happy with my choice. A veil schnitty, with chips and salad.
It cost about $17 for mine, with the Dianne topping.
Planning ahead would have been a good idea, a sign on the wall stated that there cheap schnitty night(s) were Tuesday and Wednesday. We were there on a Thursday.
All up i give it 4 out of 5. I have had better, but this one was pretty good, even with its price tag.
Remember tho that Tuesdays and Wednesdays are they days to go.
Scott
After a frantic rush of collecting people and cars, we got to the Mary Ellen rather late for a schnitty night, 8:40ish. Not to worry though, we all ordered and sat down in a nice atmosphere, inside where it was warm. On ordering, I got a chicken schnitzel with vegetables and chips ($13.90?) and gravy ($1.50) and it was only after paying I saw they had pepper sauce as an item. Bad luck to me part 1. When I ordered, there were two menu choices for the meal, being chips and salad or potatoes and vegetables – I asked if I could have chips and vegetables (best of both) and they said that would be fine.
It was only 10 minutes later when the first 4 (out of 5) meals came through – Unfortunately mine came with chips and salad (I am against rabbit food being served at the table) and this disappointed me. Bad luck to me part 2. Another reviewer got vegetables and chips – and upon inquiring found out that they had actually ordered chips and salad, so I would be guessing the orders got a bit screwed up somewhere along the way which isn’t a big deal, at least it wasn’t totally forgotten. The last meal (a steak, to be different) came a good ten minutes later, but it looked well worth the wait.
Onto the actual meal, the chips seemed really old – and expanding on that, I would probably argue that they had been microwaved at some point. They weren’t crisp at all, but they looked like they had been at one point. The gravy was a runny type, probably packet mixed – and to keep costs down perhaps it was diluted a little – however it wasn’t too bad despite this. The salad I didnt touch (see above point re rabbit food) but looked .. normal. The schnitzel itself was rather thick, the good kind, and the crumbing was delicious. If all I wanted was a plain schnitzel, this would have gotten a 4.8 out of 5 however bringing into account the overall price of the schnitzel being in the high range, the mixed up ordering and the chips seeming stale brings my rating down to a 3 / 5 schnittys.
Moss
To start with, I bought a nice wheat beer: Erdinger Weissbraeu. They seemed to have a good range of beers that weren’t VB. A guy with an acoustic guitar was playing covers. I’m not a huge fan of covers, unless they actually do something new or interesting with it.
I ordered a vegetarian schnitzel with pepper gravy. With chips and vegetables. I actually ordered chips and salad, but got vegetables. Scott ordered chips and vegetables but got salad. I didn’t mind; it was what I secretly wanted after all.
I got the schnitzel and wasn’t sure what to think. I tried some. It was really good, but I’m not sure whether I would have called it a schnitzel. It seemed to be essentially a mass of vegetables bound with a cheesy sort of sauce, and then crumbed and fried or whatever. I did think the schnitzel was a bit small, but I hadn’t really eaten anything that day, so it’s probably not a real issue. The pepper gravy was good, or average really, but your average pepper gravy is still pretty good.
I would be curious to try the chicken schnitzel there, to see which one I actually prefer, but in any case it’s good to have a non-meat version; I can only imagine how hard it would be to be a vegetarian schnitty lover.
4.0 / 5.0
Kroony
Veal Schnitzel With gravy and chips – $16.60
Drinks – New… it was nothing really new just, new.
Staff – Helpful and understanding. as we arrived late they were quite willing to wait for the stragglers.
Company – Just a small group of 6 of us, with work and other commitments taking the others away. This worked quite well there a different dynamic in a smaller group and i enjoyed it.
Side – Chips. Nothing that great, decent amount of average chips.
Topping -Gravy. the gravy was hot, hotter than the chicken which was a little odd. It was also a tiny bit watery.
Schnitzel – The crumbing on this Veal was so fine that i thought initially it was battered. Which in the end wasn’t a bad thing but i did like the look of the thicker coating on the chicken better. The veal was a nice size and thickness though a slight bit fatty.
Overall i have given this a veal a 2.5 out of 5 schnittys which is generous cause im normaly impartial to a veal. It was average the whole time, the price was too much for what u were given and it was only brought back to an average ranking cause it was veal.
It was my Birthday so we went to a tavern down the road that boasts a $10 schnitty done one of 10 different ways.
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
We decided to head into town to the Grand to see how they pull off a schnitty
http://www.thegrandhotelnewcastle.com.au/
Reviews:
Scott
Parking was good, right outside the front doors. The outside looked a bit dingy, but once inside the atmosphere was what some people would call ‘romantic’ and other people would call ‘annoying’. The meals were quite decently priced, not as cheap as some however at $10 for a schnitzel with vegetables/chips it was decent. Any topping seemed to be $2 extra, and some herb bread went around at $3. The bread was probably the most decent herb/garlic bread ever. The schnitzel, arrived about 9 minutes after ordering and was designed to be pleasing to the eye, a lot of time spent making it look right. The portions were smaller than I feel we were used to, but the taste made up for that. Thick schnitty, with the perfect amount of Dianne topping was awesome. Im still hanging for a place that uses roast potatoes with their vegetables though.
3.5 out of 5
Moss
I arrived at the Grand and ordered a Guinness. The guinness was poured fairly well. For foodstuffs, I had a chicken schnitzel with boiled vegetables and green peppercorn and whitewine sauce. The sauce was brilliant. The schnitzel itself was good; it was nice and tender, and had all the things you’d normally expect from a schnitzel. Boiled vegetables, yeah. They were good, or at least as good as boiled vegetables can be, although I think I could have done with more of them. Overall, I think the rocking sauce was what made the money shot.
4.0 / 5.0.
Kroony
Chicken Schnitzel With gravy chips and salad – $11
Drinks – Guinness. I really like a good Guinness with my schnitty and i was glad to see they had it.
Staff – Fast. No time for pleasantries… or my jokes were shit, either way no laughter.
Company – No Lights. the lighting was very lacking, i assume to create that lovely ‘romantic’ effect. So i could not really see my company that well. I assume thats what makes such lighting romantic, the fact u cant see how ugly the person is your on the date with.
Side – Chips and salad. the servings were quite small and decently nothing to rave about.
Topping -Gravy. I was pleased with the gravy. They didn’t have too much and it was a nice flavor and consistency.
Schnitzel – Chicken. This was a little disappointing, The chicken was very hot and quite dry. Not to mention that again its was rather small.
Overall i was a little unimpressed i give it 2.5 schnittys out of 5
Marker
The building was quite nice, the room was cosy, the lighting was shithouse.
The meal was shithouse. Too thin, too small, the salad had no dressing on it.
The herb bread was definitly the best part of the meal.
Cant give it 0 out of 5 schnittys, because it was at least a schnitty. Not a shoe.
I give it 1 out of 5.
Worst schnitty i have had in a long time – apart from one I have cooked myself
However, the company: Fantastic!
Thanks for reading