Due to strict time constraints as someone was working night shift we went in town to the The Great Northern. – Link
Ras
The Place
This is my first time to the Great Northern Hotel. This place is old, it could be a haunted house. Might of been damaged by the 1989 Newcastle earthquake and half repaired.
While entering, the eating area wasn’t evident except for a specials board in the bar. It was fairly dark inside, the lights were not complimenting the place, I’m sure that alone will bring the mood of the place up. After we ordered from the bar we were quickly ushered into an empty room with tables, which was the foyer with the lift of the hotel. The doors were open (as usual foyer doors are) so it was cold, with a straight look at customs house. It was completely empty with no one else there except from the 1 bar staff running back and forth through the room. The foyer has the odd paintings of Newcastle’s history of the coal industry, construction and the beach (the usual paintings you see around Newcastle).
The building has definitely seen a lot in it’s lifetime and is being renovated slowly. It’s not a comfortable eating place but it has a popular night life on Wed and Fridays
The Schnitty
The order took about 30minutes for 4 people, pretty decent
The schnittys were delivered, they had nice modern presentation which was unexpected from me
I ordered the Mexicana (as usual), every place does this different. This one tasted like spaghetti bolognaise on a schnitty with kidney beans, which is more of an Italian dish rather than Mexican. It didn’t have an ounce of spice or seasoning in it, it was still eatable though.
The chicken was cooked properly but very average in taste
Not very great, but eatable
1/5 Schnitties
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
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