Petersham Inn

9.6 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Drinks  10      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  10     

We had our 21st party at the Petersham Inn last Saturday night and it was awesome! We first planned with the chef and chose a selection of finger food from the functions menu which has heaps to select from. This ranged from samosas and spring rolls to risotto balls to prawn skewers to mini burgers etc. It was all great! Everyone I spoke to raved about the food!

The service was great too! At first we were a bit worried we'd ordered too much, but just like the chef had suggested, everyone got hungry again towards the end of the night and we polished everything off! Thanks for the best party ever!

Jun 01, 2011 

8 Recommended

Food  8      Drinks  8      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  9     

My mate lives across the road and discovered this place about a year ago. According to reviews, it seems like we found it at a good time. The $10 meals are generous and worth it when we don't have the cash. Except... I prefer the bartender of an evening. :) Bit more of a smile.

Jan 23, 2011 

7.4 Recommended

Food  8      Drinks  8      Ambience  6      Service  8      Value  7     

After boycotting the pub for the best part of a year, I went back after finding out that the original chef had returned. I was not disappointed. I had the lamb shanks for dinner tonight and they were excellent. My vegetarian partner had a pumpkin and spinach risotto off the special board. She is a very fussy eater but she loved it. Will definitely be back, might even throw a sickie so I can try out the $5 weekday steak!

Jun 12, 2010 

6.6 Recommended

Food  7      Drinks  7      Ambience  6      Service  6      Value  7     

Had dinner here last night, a Sunday. We ordered the Sirloin with Garlic Butter, Green Beans and Potatoes, my partner had the Bangers and Mash. I have had some really good meals here, but last night I thought my steak was not the tenderest piece of meat. The Bangers and Mash though were good, particularly the red wine jus. As we have eaten here on a number of occasions before and really enjoyed the food, I'm still more than happy to return.

May 24, 2010 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Drinks  10      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  8     

Good news for all Inner Westies. Brad's Back! Brad was the original Chef when the PI first re-opened about 3-4 years ago. Although the Pub has changed hands 3 times since then, the current owners have seen the light and brought back what was a star attraction in this area. Naturally the food is again now first class, restaurant quality fare. They will still have the cheapie meals, but even those are great as a Chef compared to a short-order Cook makes all the difference, it's in the Gravies and Sauces I reckon! But for mine the Seafood Platter is the main drawcard, plus the Barstaff are an 'attraction' too!

Feb 19, 2010 

6.6 Recommended

Food  4      Drinks  4      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  7     

I am a local at the PI and have been for some time. I am disappointed in the food but happy to know that the kitchen is changing hands. The bar staff are very fun bubbly people and create a great atmosphere, particularly on friday night karaoke and saturday night dj. Well recommended.

Oct 12, 2009 

4.2 Below Average

Food  3      Drinks  3      Ambience  7      Service  4      Value  4     

Just real good pub food, great value. Love it, go every week! This is what I wrote a little while ago. Now, Petersham Inn has obviously changed hands. The menu and chefs have changed, and it's a tragedy. Beware, the prices may well have dropped but the food reflects this.

Telling example of this is that we ordered the salt and pepper squid which used to be 'to die for', nice natural pieces in a lovely, light batter, served with a salad and a sensible amount of shoe string fries with a tasty aoili. Now, we got five pieces of 'squid' which were all uniformily horse-shoe shaped. I recognized these as highly processed, imported from Vietnam catering pack contents purchased for $6.99kg via food wholesalers. They were served on a bland bed of overcooked steak fries, no sauce - all for $10.50.

No longer any chefs any sight, this place is now no better than a boarding house meal room staffed by bored and uninterested kitchen hands.

Sept 09 update - My local continues to chop and change kitchen contractors, with little change other than the prices being ramped up. It still remains at nowhere near the standard of bygone years. I paid $15 for a 'chicken' burger which used a pattie I'm suspecting was expertly sourced from the frozen food aisle at Coles. Owners please, let the contractors know if they are charging top whack for a chicken burger, at least treat your precious patrons to burgers with real chicken fillet!

Feb 10 update - Newsflash! The original chef is back! Oh, and what a difference having somebody who is obviously trained and obviously gives a 'you know what' about what is being sent out to his patrons! We both couldn't resist the rib-eye on our return, which was superb. Hallelulah, the boarding school 'cooks' are gone, hopefully never to be seen at the PI again.

Sep 08, 2009 

5.4 Average

Food  6      Drinks  6      Ambience  5      Service  5      Value  5     

Umm, like others said, this used to be a good place for a meal. Then it changed hands and got more expensive and definitely worse in quality. The fish and chips used to be fairly decent pub fare, they were replaced by processed frozen fish serves, pretty much just large fish fingers. The steaks got thinner and the trivia prizes got way way stingier i.e. halved. We persevered hoping the new owners would see their errors, but alas we just watched the patron numbers dwindle instead, and we too soon found ourselves a new local.

A friend tells me the bistro has improved now so we are trying it again tonight. Fingers crossed it really is better, although I am not looking forward to entering the pub via those godawful smoking fishbowl doorways! Horrible! A non-smoking entrance would be wonderful!

Update: The food is 1000 times better! The smoking doorways are still horrendous!

Mar 26, 2009 

7.8 Recommended

Food  8      Drinks  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  7     

Food went south for a couple of months and stopped going. Thought I would pop my head in to have another go and was surprised. The PI is back. There is a new menu and as I found out a new chef. I ordered off the specials menu and got my stuffed chicken breast in 15 minutes and was restaurant quality. Service was great plenty of drink options. Its good to have you back.

Mar 10, 2009 

3.8 Below Average

Food  4      Drinks  4      Ambience  4      Service  1      Value  6     

Previous visits here were quite good. Fast food service, tasty, good value and friendly. Not so now, must be new owners or something.

Well over an hour for a steak. No apology. Just rudeness when we asked the reason for the delay. We are busy you know. Well no busier than any other time we have been there and busy is what businesses usually see as success not as a huge problem.

Well we won't keep them busy. Food was awful when it did arrive. The manager's reply was also "We are busy", "do you want a free drink then". No, what we wanted was a meal but obviously that was way too hard. We will find a new local.

Jan 11, 2009