Published:
July 20, 2024
About Royal Oak Hotel Cessnock
Relaxed hotel in a quaint redbrick building offering a polished restaurant & a beer garden.
Dine in
Takeout
Delivery
Service Options
From_the_business
Identifies as women-owned
Accessibility
Wheelchair accessible entrance
Wheelchair accessible parking lot
Wheelchair accessible restroom
Dining_options
Seating
Atmosphere
Casual
Cozy
Planning
Accepts reservations
Parking
Free parking lot
Free street parking
Plenty of parking
Highlights
Great cocktails
Live music
Live performances
Sports
Offerings
Alcohol
Beer
Cocktails
Food
Food at bar
Happy hour drinks
Hard liquor
Wine
Amenities
Restroom
Crowd
Groups
LGBTQ+ friendly
Payments
Credit cards
Map
Royal Oak Hotel Cessnock Reviews
We were having a sister Sunday get together and we’re greeted by the beautiful Claire better known as Salty. Made us feel very much at home. Asked us our preferred music choice's while we had a game of pool….what a lovely experience overall. Thank you!!
- Suan Yeo
20 Sat 2024 at 01.43 am
We came here on a Sat afternoon with 3 families (7 adults, 6 kids) and it was easy to get a table. Plenty of space in the bar area and the food selection and quality was excellent. Kids menus come with the usuals but also vegetables :) Ginger beer battered prawns and Coca cola marinated chicken wings were yummy, fish tacos are highly recommended.
- David Choi
20 Sat 2024 at 01.43 am
The 221 Restaurant and bar serves some amazing meals. Our party of 4 stopped by for dinner in July and were amazed by the food standards.
- Peter Webb
20 Sat 2024 at 01.43 am
Stopped in for a late lunch, and the kitchen was still open. The staff were friendly and the food was great 👍 👌
- Christopher Jones
20 Sat 2024 at 01.43 am
Saturday late lunch. The chicken burger and schnitzel were good but the carbonara was borderline inedible.
The girl at the bar, while very friendly, had no idea how to pour a beer.
- Jason C
20 Sat 2024 at 01.43 am
Probably the worst pub meal I have had in years. The 'confit' Maryland was deep fried in the same oil as the chips. The crumbed lamb cutlets were so overcooked that it was hard to tell the difference between the meat and the bone. The gravy on the sausages was inedible. The truffle in the truffle mash must have been forgotten (I was obviously stupid to think it would have truffle). The kids burger was totally burnt. At least it was entertaining to listen to the two chefs arguing with other. The second star is for the very friendly bar staff. The entree of cheese on toast and a horrible garlic paste should be avoided. For $130, I anticipated a little better.
- Ta So
20 Sat 2024 at 01.43 am
Outstanding service could not fault them. Meal were beautiful and generously sized. With quick service. They were also quite happy to accommodate our little pug so we were out of the rain but still not inside near any food. We will deffently come back again. Thank you to the staff and management as it is loverly to see pet friendly people/place.
- terri watson
20 Sat 2024 at 01.43 am
Ordered & paid for lunch (fish & chips and Nepalese curry) only to find that the curry was not available. Made another choice of Thai beef noodle salad. Surprise surprise - it arrived without any noodles, rice or otherwise. Sent it back for a refund - 4 minutes later they came back to say that they found some noodles. As we were leaving they offered the Thai salad (beef now cold or salad wilted with heat) to take home. No thank you. We visited this establishment several years ago - it was incredible. Time and a few different owners have crushed their once fabulous rating.
- Kathleen Wilson
20 Sat 2024 at 01.43 am
Nice coffee but was warm not hot.
Bacon & egg roll was good too but bun was cold from being taken out of fridge? Needed to be warmed a bit.
Coffee &bacon & egg roll for $10 is a good buy & tastes good just needs to be hot .
- Philip “phil.rides.mtb” Lovelock
20 Sat 2024 at 01.43 am
Lunchtime on Thursday and it was empty besides us and the staff. It looks like it needs renovating /refreshing. Food (Steak Sanga)... Steak sandwich was good, but the chips with it were obviously packet and lower than average. Shame... We went because we had eaten there years ago and it was awesome back then....
- Bec Cj
20 Sat 2024 at 01.43 am
I wanted to review because the services was great. We went out for dinner I cannot complain about the services at all, staff were so friendly. The food was ok my partner had one of the burgers which he liked. I had the spaghetti which was okay but didn’t have a lot of sauce or meat.
Bruschetta was good.
- josh coe
20 Sat 2024 at 01.43 am
Honestly i was excited when i found out the royal was re open with new management, i was hopeful the beautiful old looking pub could have been something special but after tonight i honestly believe it has gone backwards. i waited over 40 minutes for a steak that was blacker then night and and was just thrown ontop of chips. my daughters nuggets and chips took 20 minutes for them to come out stone cold still frozen. if i could give the food a negative i would. the only thing that was good about the place was the lovely ladies that where so apologetic for a 5 year old to be served frozen nuggets. the chef could not even apologise to her or i in person. i hope i just got the chef on a bad night but i will not return there to ever find out.
- Eva Vancea
20 Sat 2024 at 01.43 am
Here is a picture of the food we received for $55. The Peri Peri chicken had not the faintest hint of the it. The Mexican. No taste of Mexican. The Guacamole is sweet. The Salsa had spinach in it. No coriander and the Chilli must have run away. The corn, broccoli & cauliflower were good
- Google Lum
20 Sat 2024 at 01.43 am
Had dinner here last Sunday.
We had T-bone, Birria and sourdough with garlic.
The T-bone was on special $25 only.
Food was OK
- Cooper Redmond
20 Sat 2024 at 01.43 am
Great venue, since it took new ownership it has easily become one of my most favourite pubs around this whole area. greta night life and affordable drinks
- Simone Wardell
20 Sat 2024 at 01.43 am
Great venue, friendly service, great DJ choices as well.
- James Pham
20 Sat 2024 at 01.43 am
Great place to eat as we returned from the Hunter Valley.
Stand-out work from the chefs who came out and offered his apologies when one of our orders came out late. We didn't accept the refund but appreciated the gesture.
We ordered the below and would recommend to anyone. Well seasoned, good portion sizes, worthy price.
- Grilled chicken in cream sauce
- Chicken snotty
- Steak Burger
- Bolognaise
- Boscaiola
- Angela Kajar
20 Sat 2024 at 01.43 am
Friendly service, good pub grub. Chicken pasta carbonara and pizza were very good.
- Smurf
20 Sat 2024 at 01.43 am
Food is amazing
Complements to chef
Definitely be back again
- M Sumiloff
20 Sat 2024 at 01.43 am
Fancied pub lunch today, and ordered Thai Beef Salad.
Absolutely perfectly cooked meat and presented food. We were the 1st lunch served under the new management and wow. Highest compliments to the chefs.
- Judith Hearnshaw
20 Sat 2024 at 01.43 am
Delicious meal, I had the veggie stack, my partner had 250 gram steak.
Tasty delicious 😋
The food and friendly service makes up for the road noise.
We were looking for an old pub to experience the ambience I've been told the owners are still renovating and getting close to opening. We wish you all the best with your endeavours
- Carolynn Richards
20 Sat 2024 at 01.43 am
Delicious meal , great service
- Tony Jones
20 Sat 2024 at 01.43 am
Called in for a couple of quiet Ales 🍺 one afternoon. Nice enough place. The barmaid was very friendly and professional. There were only 2 of us in the public bar. So i would have been unlucky to get in a blue 🤣
The beer was cold and crisp. That's the main thing 👍
- lauren crouch
20 Sat 2024 at 01.43 am
Best snitzel i have ever had!! And the ribs were amazing!! Cant wait to come back!
- Mark Tripet
20 Sat 2024 at 01.43 am
A really nice visit, we recommend grabbing a drink and a meal, reward yourself and the effort the staff put in to putting a smile on your face
- Jessica
20 Sat 2024 at 01.43 am
Appalling customer service by Taylor, a young bistro supervisor which was a shame, as the food was decent. She did not receive our feedback well and was extremely argumentative and aggressive. One waitress Leslie was great, friendly the entire time and apologised for the lack of organisation and several miscomunications. Apparently the father's day menu was created a few hrs earlier. Leslie was on damage control. Taylor took half an hr to bring out a photocopy of a handwritten fathers day menu she'd promised when we arrived. Orders were mixed up, came out at all different times, and Taylor booked my sister at a different table and didn’t ask if she wanted sauce. We had to get up several times to find out where the missing food was, and then where the sauce was. Then we requested the desserts come out together (since they sent out mains on different orders). Waffles came out. We said we'd ordered stick date pudding and wanted it when the mains had been finished. Taylor then brought out two sticky dates within a few minutes and proceeded to argue and deny. The order wasn't even for our table they eventually realised (a common theme). It's not even half booked... after discussing my concerns, Taylor appeared to stand nearby at the bar and talk about us.
It was also extremely hard to book this venue. The numbers online were mostly incorrect.
The men's toilets were mostly out of order, and the urinal was full of urine and slime which didn't drain. Outside areas were littered with cigarettes butts.
The venue has a dangerous play area, with concrete underneath the climbing equipment. There are uneven bits of ground that are unstable when stood on.
I absolutely will not be back, unless it was for a drink out the front. The bar person was terrific, friendly, and extremely informative.
- Addy Purcell
20 Sat 2024 at 01.43 am
Absolutely DISGUSTED in the food & service. My friends and I ordered 4 meals plus a garlic bread as take away from the Royal Oak. Upon opening each meal, they were not only cold but were “cooked” at such a poor standard we had no other option than to discard. The two main issues of concern were - the carbonara that had raw chopped pieces of carrot throughout the dish & the 300g rump steak thay was completely burnt and completely inedible. The carrots were raw and I could barely get my knife through this steak. Upon calling to complain I spoke to Claire who was very understanding, she offered for our meals to be cooked fresh. Whilst I appreciated the offer, it was 8pm and we were not willing to wait. Claire then stated twice and confirmed both times we could receive a full refund. I was then passed onto the head chef who passed on their number and for us to provide “evidence” of the meals. Firstly, aside from the other major issues with this food, how do you provide evidence of cold meals? After sending through photos the manager Samantha gave me a call. The manner in which she spoke was highly disappointing as she completely disregarded our feedback on the meals. For example Samatha tried telling me that the steak I ordered was requested to be cooked “medium well done” when I know for a fact, this is not what was requested. She then said it was “policy” that we could only receive a $43 refund despite being previously told we would be fully compensated. After my conversation with Samantha ended, she received another phone call from the customer who purchased the carbonara. This customer was not accepting the outcome and was told she would get a call from the owner. Once again, Samantha disregarded our feedback and continued to argue. As the manager you would expect a sincere apology and for her staff to be fully up to date with any “refund polices” that were in place. We were clearly told we would receive a FULL refund and a call from the owner. It’s now Sunday afternoon and we have not heard from the owner nor have we received a full refund as confirmed by Claire. Again we’re completely disgusted and disappointed in our experience. Being Cessnock locals we will NEVER return.
- Judy Roots
20 Sat 2024 at 01.43 am
24/5/24.had lunch here yesterday . Definitely recommend this pub.
Honestly the most delicious steak sandwich I’ve ever had . Hubby loved his snitzel. Great value at $15 each M-F special . Seniors $13. wow
Excellent value . Very friendly blonde lady severing us .
- Lea Hammonds