Carlisle Castle

7.2 Recommended

Quality  7      Food  8      Drinks  7      Ambience  5      Service  9      Value  7     

I had the veal schnitzel and it was excellent. The restaurant can get a little busy but the service was fast and friendly.

Nov 28, 2011 

7 Recommended

Quality  7      Food  7      Drinks  7      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  6     

Good pub food and extensive daily specials, nice outdoor section.

Sep 02, 2011 

5.2 Average

Quality  4      Food  4      Drinks  7      Ambience  5      Service  7      Value  4     

We have eaten there periodically over the last few years and enjoyed the food. Recently, however, we feel that the quality of food has declined significantly. Fish or steak with lots of chips and a few leaves with mayo. Seafood pasta with lots of mussels and chilli and not much else other than pasta. Very disappointing.

Aug 20, 2011 

5.8 Average

Quality  5      Food  5      Drinks  8      Ambience  5      Service  7      Value  5     

Ok so my friend suggested we hit the Carlisle for dinner the other night and I don't know what has happened? Last time I went it was great and it wasn't all that long ago, however, I had a seafood pasta and it was completely under seasoned, was quite disappointed. My friends fish was also quite dry, hope it goes back to the way it was, has anyone else felt it's been a little less than amazing of recent times?

Jul 07, 2011 

6.8 Recommended

Quality  8      Food  8      Drinks  5      Ambience  5      Service  8      Value  7     

Great Sunday lunch. Very well presented at the table (for pub food!) and very tasty. A good menu (not just the black board) with the Crispy Skin Barramundi being my choice (out of 5 fish choices that included Snapper and Trout). I was not disappointed, it was cooked perfectly. Portion size maybe a little small, but I am greedy. For a busy Sunday the food came out really quickly and was piping hot. I will be back for sure.

Apr 18, 2011 

6.8 Recommended

Quality  7      Food  8      Drinks  7      Ambience  5      Service  7      Value  7     

This pub is a bit of a gem in Newtown, far enough away from King Street that it doesn't get the riffraff who are out for a binge, and it's been so far insulated from the vast crowds of hipsters and trendoids that saturate the Courthouse just around the corner. This is still a locals' pub, where the guys at the bar have day jobs as tradies and talk about DIY plumbing while they serve you.

The selection of drinks on tap is good, Coopers Pale and Sparkling, by memory, sit alongside Bulmers and a couple of others, in addition to the inexplicably popular VB, Carlton and New.

The surrounds are fitting, lino floor in the front bar, which runs the entire width of the establishment and is covered in VB bar towels, a small pokie room, and a couple of pool tables in the middle room. The rear of the pub has a fairly nice bistro style eatery and a courtyard. Nothing fancy by way of tables and chairs or decorations, but that's not the point here.

It was a quiet Tuesday night the list time I ate here, but the kitchen was still very lively and there was a healthy number of people eating right up until the close of the kitchen at 9 pm. The menu is reminiscent of the gastro pubs of London. Roasts, burgers, steaks, fish, pastas, salads and desserts. Prices range from about $15 for a burger up to $26 for a scotch fillet, so it's a notch above the $10 meals you find elsewhere in Sydney, but the quality of the food here is well worth it.

My rump steak came perfectly cooked for my liking (rare but not blue) and was served on a slightly too salty (but otherwise excellent) mushroom risotto cake. The steak was thick and tender, yet it left nearly no blood on the plate. At $19, I was very impressed.

This isn't the sort of pub you'd go to to get toasted and thrown out of, the nearby Townie will sort you out for that. It's a pub to go to for a nice dinner and a few drinks on a quiet night. I'll certainly be back.

Jan 06, 2011 

7.3 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  6     

The Carlisle Castle is our local pub and we are regular patrons at the wonderfully old-fashioned 6m long bar. The food is consistently satisfying. The Carlisle definitely have some of the best pub-fare in Newtown. We had dinner there a couple of nights ago, my boyfriend decided to try the fish-burger, and I chose the house-made gnocchi in burnt sage butter with broadbeans, pumpkin and parmesan.

My boyfriend enjoyed his burger but said it wasn't what he had expected. Instead of a fillet of fish there were heavily battered pieces of "squid rings," apparently. I have had the gnocchi here twice before, but this particular night found there to be too much of the sage butter sauce, so that the gnocchi was a little swimming in it. Or, perhaps, it hadn't been cooked for quite long enough. They didn't seem to be extremely busy at this particular time so... hmm.

Still, we enjoyed our dinners, and will continue to be regular patrons at the Carlisle Bistro.

Dec 05, 2010 

6.8 Recommended

Food  6      Ambience  6      Service  8      Value  7     

What happened to the Carlisle? It used to offer some of the best pub-food in Sydney, but it has gone into decline. Maybe because they have also opened at the Union and overstretched their staff? In any case the fish which used to be perfect is often overcooked, the deserts are dreary and everything has lost its lightness, the skilled touch which made it a winner each time is gone :(

Nov 21, 2010 

6.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  6      Service  6      Value  7     

I really like the food here but do find it a little heavy and oily. The desserts are gorgeous though, we have been a few times and have been consistently impressed. My husband loves the lamb shanks.

Sep 23, 2010 

6 Average

Quality  5      Food  5      Drinks  7      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  6     

Been here a few times with another couple. They eat here often and enjoy it, we find it average. Last night my wife and I both ordered the steak sandwich and it wasn't very nice. The steak was tough and the sandwich was tasteless. Will definitely go back for a drink as its a nice little pub but won't eat here again.

Jul 25, 2010