Nag's Head Hotel, Glebe — Restaurant in Sydney

Smearing sourdough crumpets with chicken fat butter dotted with crisp nodules of skin is just what I want to be doing in a British-themed gastropub. They slide down a treat with a pretty pint of Akasha Super Chill Pacific Ale ($11) that tastes flowery from its all-Australian hop flowers. We’re seated in Winstons in the recently updated rear section of The Nag’s Head hotel: a quaint corner boozer in Glebe that’s been operating since 1836. The seven dish menu ($85/person) is the work of chef Nelly Robinson, who opened his upmarket Nel. in Surry Hills a decade ago.

While Nel. is contemporary, at Winstons the eating is more nostalgic. The snacks include a Scotch egg spruced up with curried lamb mince wrapped around a mostly-set quail egg with a good tingle of spice, and a coronation chicken sanga with curried egg mayo. The latter eats like proper British finger food you’d be happy to serve at a party at your digs. I’m less enamoured with the milk-poached prawn tart in charcoal pastry, because the Avruga ‘caviar’ smells fishy from herring without any fish roe. However the vividly green pea soup dotted with quail egg, herb oil, leek fritters and fox flowers just wanted for someone to heat the plate on a night that felt more like the return of winter than the start of spring.

With some disparity between the wine prices listed on the menu and what was displayed online we unnecessarily climbed up in price point to find a markup that felt fair. The 2022 Stefano Lubiana Chardonnay ($130) was worth the extra spend, elegant enough for lighter dishes like the pea soup, but stretching all the way to the beef Wellington, which, made on beef cheeks with peppercorn sauce poured at the table, kind of ate more like a beef’n’pepper pie. A spike of ginger in the ‘melting ginger parkin’ wasn’t enough to convince me I wasn’t eating a chocolate lava cake albeit with fancy trimmings like jersey milk and honey parfait and butterscotch sauce poured in situ. Service is youthful but...

I wanted to provide some constructive feedback following our experience for the 'Right Proper Christmas' experience. I am not sure if there were some serious staffing issues but the whole experience was somewhat farcical?

There was very little if any Christmas decorations (a tree and a bit of tinsel) which is not how the website advertises the event. The food and service were really not up to what we were expecting from a kitchen run by Nelly Robinson. I'd be concerned for his reputation based on the experience and quality of food week had.

We felt sorry for the staff, the waitresses had no real idea of what they were doing or an understanding of the menu. Bringing the salmon dishes out one by one and then realising it was meant to be shared between us. This continued through the 5 courses and she was clearly confused and flustered. She did the best she could.

Whilst booking for Winston’s, we were placed in the bar. Which was very comfortable. We ordered food at 7:15pm and did not get mains until 8:45pm. It was not a great experience at all.

I'm not sure if the Yorkshires were frozen but they were so small and tough they shouldn't have been served. The ham was dry and burnt and the lamb was well over portioned. None of it came out like advertised on the website and was a real disappointment.

Like I say I'm not sure if you had staffing issues across the kitchen and front of house, as I can only see as this is how things could have gone so wrong. It is a shame as I've been before under previous management and that wasn't great either and I was really hoping this was going to be a...

One of our kids wanted "traditional" English food for his birthday, so we headed to the Nags Head for a Sunday Roast. Having been to Nels in the past, it was an easy choice for a lunch destination as Nelly, a pommie culinary superstar, was sure to put on a magnificent lunch. And being located in a typically English style pub meant we also got a good helping of British ambience! We chose prawn toast, sausage roll and mussels for our starters and all were nothing short of superb....the pork and fennel was perfectly balanced in the sausage roll and topped with a lovely mayonaise. The prawn toast was filled with fresh prawns and dressed with sesame seeds...nothing like I had ever had before. The mussels were fresh and in a most satisfying broth. This set the expectations quite high for the star of the lunch - we chose lamb shoulder and pork belly. Accompanied by roast tatties, veggies and a lovely gravy, we were in heaven. The yorkies were a little on the small side, but we had the option to buy more if required. Finishing off the meal with an eton mess and ginger parkin, everyone loved the food, the ambience and the service. We will...