The Duck Inn Pub and Kitchen — Restaurant in Sydney

Duk Inn Newtown yesterday 5 Dec 2024

Absolutely the worst Peking Duck in my 60 years And don’t order their chilli mud crab - it tastes of tomato sauce not chilli at all

On our arrival and ordering the duck in addition to the crab (the crab had to be pre-ordered), we said would wld like to have the duck first, and whether the 2nd course of the duck could be noodles instead of rice, nope - never heard of rice as the 2nd course

The waiter said it wld help the kitchen if we had the crab first, so we said OK but specified that the duck must be served after the crab when we were ready and asked for it

When we booked and ordered a mud crab in advance, we said we wanted one for 1kg for chilli crab for 2 Without even telling us, let alone asking our permission, they upsold us one for 1.3kg - only found out when we saw the big red crab plated and asked the weight? The tomato sauce that we didn’t ask for and which the crab was cooked in, was hugely disappointing saving grace - the crab was really fresh The little mantou (bread rolls) that accompany the dish , were fried, not steamed, but delightful No bibs, no wet napkins, though the rubber gloves supplied helped Then instead of bring a fresh bowl midway I’m exchange for the one we’d filled with crab shell, the waiter took away the bowl and brought back the same one with a large piece of shell still in the bowl …

Then half way through eating the crab, out came sliced duck - half a duck in duck shape, or its carcase, never seen We sent it back till we were ready, having specified, on ordering, that we wanted to finish our first course before the 2nd was served Next, but for an antiseptic taste, the duck was tasteless, the bread really thick, and the hoisin sauce had been diluted!! The worst was the rice. We received a bread plate size dish, with yellow coloured really hard fried rice, with trace elements of duck estimated (on the generous side) as 1% Perhaps the rest of our duck went to others’ Sang Choi Bow!

Our bill for 2 without drinks was $200 ($65 for the duck) We thought we’d try a different restaurant but definitely no next time - next time...

It is not often I give a one star rating, but by the end of this review I am sure you will appreciate why I have given one star on this occasion.

There was a small group of us (3) going to see a show at the Seymour Centre and needed a feed before we started a night on the grog.

I googled pubs in the vacinity and came across, what looked to be, a quaint neighbourhood pub - aptly named as we just wanted a cheap and quick meal... Unfortunately the idea of "ducking in" for a quick meal would soon become very ironic.

We arrived at 7pm, ordered our meals within 10 minutes of arrival - the staff asked if we were seeing a show and we confirmed we had to leave by 8:20pm.

The menu online is unfortunately different to what is on offer, being vegan I often like to plan ahead, the ordering process only became more challenging when the staff insisted that VG meant vegetarian and V meant vegan (this is certainly not the case at many restaurants I've visited). After a few assumptions that the ingredients listed would satisfy my vegan requirements, I ordered two entrees, with the others in my party ordering a main (schnitty) and fried squid.

Meals were leaving the kitchen, people around me were getting served their food, yet I waited... hangrily.

The frustration only increased the pace of my sips of wine, a second bottle was needed.

I checked with the staff on a number of occasions, they assured me my meal was next... I ordered hummus and Turkish bread so surely it just inovled unpackaging the products and plating them - apparently not.

The clock strikes 8:15pm and we need to leave, the staff seemed annoyed when I asked for a refund and begrudgingly muttered something that resembled an apology.

Thankfully some lovely ladies that were going to the same show shared their chips with me... There are still good people out there.

My liquid dinner resulted in what I can only assume was a good night as my short term memory took a hit, likely from the bad quality wine and prosecco I consumed all night.

Needless to say, the Duck Inn can...

We were a booking of around 15 people on Saturday night. Other than one other table of 4, we pretty much had the place to ourselves. It was crazy hot inside and we had to request that they turn on the a/c.

We were sitting in the main bar and ordered our food individually at the bar. Despite the lack of other customers, the kitchen seemed to really be struggling. They had run out of the falafel. I ordered the brisket burger, as did one of our friends. Our friend got told they’d run out of this too and had to change his order. Nothing was said to me. Everyone’s food started arriving but my burger still hadn’t arrived by the time everyone else was finishing their meals, so I asked after it and was told they’d run out and something had gone wrong and they hadn’t told me. They gave me my money back and free bowl of fries. I was hungry and a little disappointed but whatever; mistakes happen. Ten minutes later (about an hour after ordering) my burger - the one they’d didn’t have - arrived. Of four orders of duck schnitzel, the last to come out had a salad that was basically just fennel; they’d obviously run out of salad ingredients too. We had heard such good things about the food here and it was fairly decent when it finally arrived but they seriously need to sort out the organisation - both ordering and service - in the kitchen. Bar staff were polite but also a little...