The Willoughby Hotel on Penshurst

1 Reviews on “The Willoughby Hotel on Penshurst”

• Artforartssake

  FOOD TYPEPub grub, with something for everyone, including steaks, fish, chicken, burgers, salads etc.FOOD QUALITYThree of us dined on a busy Sunday night in late Nov. We ordered a tomato salad, barramundi fillets and roast chicken off the specials menu and a beef burger. There has been a big improvement in the food quality since we were here, about four years ago. The tomato salad was fresh and tasty with ripe tomatoes, red onions, olives, basil, balsamic, and thin slices of delicious chewy bocconcini. My barramundi fillets were tender and succulent and came with a generous serve of creamy mash and crunchy green beans. The chicken was well cooked, and served with potatoes, alfalfa sprouts and cauliflower. The traditional burger had a tender beef pattie and crispy chips to go with it. We all enjoyed our meals. Portion sizes were a tad on the small size, but the presentation was neat and stylish, on modern white plates or a smart black serving dish for the burger.ATMOSPHEREThe Willoughby Hotel is a large place with a few different seating areas on two levels, and, like last time, it was busy, making for a lively and energetic atmosphere. Nice to see lots of people enjoying themselves on a warm summers night. Decor is standard pub style with wooden furniture, colourful carpets on timber floors, a few TV screens dotted around the place and a large semi-circular bar counter at the front. Its all very laid back, comfortable and homely. The most interesting feature are three gleaming copper beer tanks stacked one on top of another at the far end near the window.SERVICEOrdering is done at the bar counter. We were given a little buzzer to stick on our table, and within about 20 minutes, the food was ready. Despite being under pressure, the staff are pleasant, polite and helpful.TOILETSToilets are a bit tricky to find, round the corner behind the gaming room, but they do appear to have been modernised since our last visit. Theyre reasonably clean and well stocked but by the time we left at around 7.30pm they were looking a bit worse for wear, so a mid-evening cleanup wouldnt go astray. ACOUSTICSUnfortunately, this is where this place falls down for me. Its way to noisy, or at least it was on the Sunday night that we were there. While I can understand that it would be loud because of the large number of patrons, but then why do management exacerbate things, by having music blaring as well? Without the music, or with the music toned down a bit, it would be bearable.COSTI paid 10 for a bottle of Peroni, which seems excessive, especially when I can pick them up at my local BWS or LL, for less than 2.5 with a voucher, Im sure these guys are able to buy them in even cheaper. Now Im all in favour of free enterprise and capitalism, but a four times markup seems a bit much. The food cost was more reasonable. We came armed with our Ent Book voucher for one free meal, so ended up paying $61 for a salad and three mains.BOOKINGThis place is pretty casual as mentioned, and theres quite a quick turnover of tables, so generally I wouldnt think that booking is necessary. We did take the precaution of making a reservation though, and thanks to Lisa Bartlett, the Events Manager, for promptly answering my emails and reserving a nice table for us in the centre of the room.PARKINGIf noise is the main negative here, then parking is the main positive. The hotel is on the corner of Macmahon and Penshurst Streets and there are plenty of unrestricted spaces in Macmahon Street. We easily found one about 30m away from the hotel.SUMMARYWe were impressed with the food this time. It was fresh, tasty and high quality. Serving sizes though could have been a bit bigger. The atmosphere is casual and laid back, service is friendly and efficient and theres easy street parking nearby. Drinks are pricey, but then they do have happy hour deals between 4-6pm during the week. The main problem though is that its a loud venue on a weekend, although it might be better on a weeknight.MEMOUse your Ent Book voucher for one free meal.

  March 3, 2019, 6:11 am

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