P.J.O'Brien's — Restaurant in Sydney

My daughter and I were trying to find an Irish pub that would make us feel like we had literally stepped through a portal into Ireland, or at least what we think Ireland would be like, having yet to visit. It was supposed to be a rainy gloomy type day. Perfect. We were flying high from the moment we walked in. Beautiful dark wood interior, Irish music playing, Irish patrons and staff. We think, this is going to be it! Even if the food isn't the best, we would still love to hang out here for the vibes. I go up to the bar to order. A Guinness for myself and 2 orders of Irish stew. The Guinness looked and tasted absolutely beautiful when it came out. I'd never had one on tap. Very exciting. And then the stew came out. It was served with Irish soda bread on the side. OK. Here it is. Is this going to be amazing or mediocre?? The first bite I had was with the soda bread. I didn't think that food could bring tears to my eyes. It was the most heavenly bowl of stew I had ever tasted. The gravy was the perfect consistency with a deep, rich flavour from the wine. The lamb was wonderfully tender with no hard gristle. There was a bay leaf and thyme stem in the bowl that tells you this wasn't frozen or pre-packaged. The carrots and potatoes. Oh man. The carrots weren't soft and mushy. They still had some texture to them and you could taste that you had just gotten a carrot. The potatoes were large enough that you had to cut them with your spoon, and you COULD. I've found that if the potatoes are diced into bite sized pieces, they take on more of the gravy or broth and no longer taste like a potato. They were the same as the carrots. Cooked just right so that you could taste it was a potato, and still had great texture. I honestly can't talk this up enough. It was absolutely, perfectly, heavenly. If you like stew, that is. We will be making frequent visits to this place for years to come. My kiddo has already decided this is where she celebrates her 18th for her first drink. Thank you to the guys in the funny outfits for being fantastic...

Came for a quick dinner here last week and was quite impressed. Returned tonight with a group of friends for dinner and trivia. My friend ordered the Irish Stew but was only able to eat less than a quarter of her meal due to having a stomach condition. She asked to get the rest take away and was refused! The waitress made up an excuse about the pub not having a license to do take away. When we quizzed the waitress about this so called license she simply said they had take away containers but couldn't give them to customers because they don't have a license. The manager then came to talk to us, he also said the same thing however when two of us mentioned that we worked in the restaurant industry and that we knew that there is no such thing as requiring a license for take away his story changed to "it's just our policy not to do take away regardless of whether you bring your own container of if the pub supplies one". I'm really disappointed in this place, firstly because I can't stand businesses that lie to customers, secondly, my friend had paid for her meal and so should be able to do whatever she wants with it and thirdly, I would think that in the world we live in, with so many hungry, starving people out there and the impact that excessive food waste is having on our planet, someone eating this meal is better than it going in the bin! I actually snuck out to the coffee shop next door and grabbed a takeaway container from them and we did take the meal away in the end (I'm not sure if the staff saw us). My friend gave it to a homeless couple on the street on her way back home. Atleast it didn't go to waste in the end but unfortunately I will never come back to this pub because of this pathetic...

If you're looking for a dark, slightly dingy, uber-faux Irish pub to drown your sorrows in a cool Guinness, then this is the place for you. Even if you end up hating yourself for it. Because, while the beer is actually very good (cold lager & well-poured Irish stouts), the service is beyond bad. It's not often you get to see an establishment entirely staffed with people who hate their jobs but this seems to be one of them. We went on a cold, wet & busy midweek night. All the patrons seemed to be enjoying themselves but the staff clearly weren't. Going to the bar for a drink was met with with unenthusiastic indifference that prioritised thrusting an EFTPOS terminal in front of you without bothering to state the amount being charged. Getting a meal upstairs requires a degree of telepathy. Although you're required to wait to be seated, somehow you're supposed to know that ordering a meal involves rising from said table to order and pay in advance at the small bar in the corner. Some of our party enjoyed the food when it did eventually arrive although I've never seen a pub staple like bangers and mash as badly burned as mine were. Cutlery was unceremoniously dumped on a corner of our table and a request for the surprisingly good bottle of wine involved the wrong bottle being selected. Its seal was unscrewed and rung up for payment before being told it was the wrong one. No matter - apparently the thing to do is apparently screw the cap back on and replace it on the shelf. Lucky next person who forks out $50 only to receive an oxidised wine. Look, PJ O'Brien's is not the worst place to go. It's just a shame the only warmth comes from the small wood fire burning...