East Village Hotel Balmain

Great location right up the street from the East Balmain ferry stop, and the views from the street when you walk down to the ferry. Wow. Pity the food wasn’t up to par & it was expensive $52 for an Angus steak. They had live music on a Sunday which was pleasant. This place is great to have a beer on a Sunday afternoon in the beer garden.

Gosh this pub does it well… quiet dinner while on work shift out in the courtyard, food just what you expect at the pub with wine chosen (tempranillo rose) a perfect match. I’m lingering over dessert! (And I just heard a bunch of young diners, dog in tow having doggo meal, say this could be their fave pub in the world…)

Easily our favourite pub in Sydney — and not just because they serve a Sunday roast that could bring a tear to your eye. Perfectly cooked, generously portioned, and just the right kind of food coma for a Sunday afternoon. But the real VIP here is our pup Ralph, who struts in like he owns the joint. He devours the puppy dinner like he hasn’t eaten in weeks (he has), and the dog beer? Let’s just say we’re glad he can’t drive home. The staff are legends — friendly, fast, and always up for a chat or a pat (for Ralph, not me… although I wouldn’t say no). Great food, great vibes, and a place where both humans and hounds are treated like royalty. 10/10 would roast again.

This has been a mainstay for us but the food has seriously gone downhill in the last few years. Every time I order a schnitzel it’s genuinely tiny- half the size you’d expect from a pub meal. The taste itself is generally pretty good but the portions are just so off. I’d be happy to pay $4 more per meal for a regular sized schnitzel. It’s just very hit and miss. Sometimes ok but often everything is just super average. They’re also often out of stock of things - entire dishes or sauces etc.

We used to absolutely love this pub but went for dinner on Sunday and was advised that they had no chicken and no grill. We enquired about 4 separate dishes on the menu before finally finding one that was available. Essentially the only thing on offer was 1 pasta dish, 1 burger option or the Sunday roast. The Sunday roast was super disappointing, overcooked meat, drowned in gravy (literally so much sauce it was dripping off the plate). $70 for dinner for 2 people - definitely not worth it. Staff were super apathetic that almost the entire menu was not available.