Aldgate Pump Hotel — Restaurant in South Australia

We really wanted to like this place. The front bar in particular where we mostly hung out had become our weekly date night spot when the kids were baby sat. My partner and I love the old building and were willing to put up with the absolute lack of warmth or friendliness we were greeted from staff each time we approached the bar for a meal or to order or drink, in order to enjoy being in the space. The front of the building is a bit old and quirky, nice and quiet and a nice spot to hang out away from the crowds. However a recent experience has really made us feel undervalued as regular customers and a bit put off. And the reason we probably wont return and will be spending our money at the neighbouring restaurants from now on. We went in one afternoon during happy hour and I ordered a round of drinks for my partner and I. I then went up and ordered a second round within happy hour. A few minutes before happy hour was about to end, I went up to order a 3rd round. After ordering, I queried the bartender about being being over charged for the first two rounds, showing her my phone bank statement to prove it. So when I went up and ordered the 3rd round of drinks, at the same time raised the issue of us being over charged for the first two rounds and asked if the difference could be deducted from the current round. In the time it took the bartender to "see what she could do about it" and speak with her manager, the clock had ticked passed happy hour and we were declined any refund for the over charged drinks and also told we cannot recieve the current round at happy hour prices because it was no longer happy hour!? The manager was present during this discussion gave some confusing excuse why she wont reimburse us. Very awkward situation and made us feel very unappreciated as regulars. Thanksfully we don't get that treatment from neighbouring venues and there are plenty to...

Dined at the Aldgate Pump tonight after not eating there for years (used to go regularly, then standard dropped). I heard that there were now wood oven fired pizzas and we thought that we would give it another try.

Delightful pizzas, very flavoursome, tasty dough (albeit a little thicker than we like)....but the seasoning and flavours were very nice We ordered 3 pizzas... the prosciutto, the pepperoni and the pork & fennel sausage. The first 2 were our favourites. Really delicious wood oven char flavour. Very nice, thank you. Great to finally have quality pizza in the neighbourhood.!

EDIT - the first visit was on a Friday night. Our 2nd visit was on a Sunday night. Obviously completely different chefs across these 2 nights, as the pizzas were disappointing the second time around. The margarita was totally bland and didn't even have any basil on it..... The prosciutto one was nowhere near as good as the first time we had it - it was quite underwhleming. Sugo on all 3 was not as tasty either. We enjoyed the pepperoni pizza - we added anchovy. This one was great, and tasty. The other two were VERY bland.

There appears to be a lack of consistency - would be great to bring it back into line and make sure customers get the same experience, no matter what night they dine there, and no matter what chef happens to be...

The Aldgate Pump is one of our favourite places to visit - great service, nice atmosphere and even better food.

The staff are incredibly friendly and attentive, we even had the owner come over to say hello and check on us. Made you comfortable, and like you had been a regular even if it were your first visit. It’s very comfortable seating, your typical old school pub and if you are lucky you can sit by one of the fires. They have a few seating areas so you can take your choice; including a beer garden and outdoor play area.

We ordered pizza from the separate gourmet pizza kitchen. We have to say it is easily the best pizza we have had so far in the Adelaide area. The dough is made in house from scratch using a very traditional Italian method, which we could tell as the crust was perfect, crispy and light with a very good flavour. The toppings are all high quality and fresh, mostly made from scratch. I would highly recommend the Spicy Pork Sausage and Fennel. I would give them extra points too as they had chilli flakes you could spoon on top, and tabasco sauce you could add. Something you only usually find at a real Italian pizza place.

No question we would recommend a trip to the Aldgate pump. Is it worth the drive to the hills from the city? A...