The Duke of Clarence — Restaurant in Sydney

This was recommended as a traditional British pub and one of the most canonical pubs in Sydney. The cozy atmosphere was certainly something we enjoyed, and it did have that traditional London pub vibe.

Let’s talk food and drinks. Of course, I ordered the bangers and mash, the true standard in any self-respecting British pub. It was very decent. The gravy was surprisingly very good. My husband had the fish and chips. Good, but nothing to write home to the states about. And although we did not get the scotch eggs, we saw somebody next to us order the scotch eggs, and they were gigantic compared to the ones I’ve seen before. If we came again, we would definitely indulge in a scotch egg!

My husband had a pint of the cloudy cider. He proclaimed it to be very nice and not too sweet. We are finding some of the ciders in Australia to be a bit sweet for our palate. This was not. I had the royal Venetian yacht club drink, which was a seasonal cocktail with rum and falurnum and lime and Amaro. It was really well balanced. Amaro has hit the states with a force! Years ago, it was all aperol spritzes, but now we have a lot of amaro and falurnum. But this was really nice.

My husband also had a Jamison, neat. Pretty standard. I enjoyed the Dublin style number 18 remix Grenache Syrah. The bartender let me try a couple of different wines because I’m still getting accustomed to Australian wines. I’m a California cab gal. But I’m embracing Australian wines, and this one was delightful.

Of course, we had a hard time finding a seat, like everybody else, and then once we found a cozy seat at the bar, we felt superior ;), watching everybody else walk in and look for a seat. Lovely people-watching of the folks at the fireplace. I deeply enjoyed the vibe of the place. Even the crowd made it feel more vibrant. I love a nice loud crowded bar! This was a real hit for us during our trip. In fact, I wanted to come back, but there were so many other bars to explore that we opted to only come here once. Also, British food is a “sometimes food“ for us.

I bet it would be lovely to sit outside on a nicer day.

Food was 4 stars. Drinks and...

Homely small bar decked out in the woody trimmings of faux England. Hold your nose while walking through the dimly-lit access tunnel from Clarence Street as it seems to be used as a urinal in the wee (no pun intended) hours, possibly by hobos, but more probably by inebriated patrons who wander this stretch of Castlereagh Street late Saturday night/early Sunday morning.

Staff very friendly and helpful, although possibly a little over-eager with the frequent "Is everything OK?" questions after your drinks and food have arrived. Reasonable range of Brit beers and ales on tap and in bottles and some comfortable leathered nooks in which to while away the hours, along with appropriate quirky knick-knacks over the bar and hanging from the walls to give it that extra atmosphere - which is a good thing, given there is almost no natural light in this bar.

On Sunday the menu is confined to the Sunday Roast (pork, beef, chicken or vegan). Chose the sliced roast beef ($31) which comes with a Yorkshire pudding, baby carrots, baked potatoes, greens and gravy. Supplemented by a couple of pints of Guinness. The meals arrived surprisingly quickly, almost at the same time as our Guinnesses.

The baby carrots didn't seem to have been properly washed of their fine sandiness before being cooked, so this sandiness, or grittiness between the teeth detracted somewhat from their taste and the overall experience. The slices of beef were passable, as was the gravy and side serving of Dijon mustard. However, the baked potatoes were dry - they may have been cooked earlier in the morning or more likely the day before and then warmed up in an oven. And the Yorkshire puddings resembled large hollow muffins but were quite dry and tough and not what one would expect of a Yorkie prepared properly in a baking tray with the meat fat ladled over it during the cooking process.

I'd rate the Sunday roast as being about on par with most university cafeteria buffets, or a bit lower, so a more appropriate price point would be around $24.

There's an 8% surcharge on Sundays and public holidays, which is slightly less than the 10% charged by many...

We visited the Duke a few weeks ago for Sunday lunch. We’d been many times before and always loved the food and experience so we were excited to take our friends that were visiting us. I had originally booked a few weeks previous but called a few days before the booking to change the booking from 3 people to 4 people. I was told on the phone that it was all confirmed.

When we arrived for our booking we received the most unwelcoming greeting. We were met with a very grumpy and stressed out waiter who seemed instantly annoyed that we had walked in. I explained to him that we had a booking. When he checked it appeared that the additional person hadn’t been added. I wasn’t too bothered that this had happened, it was just the waiters response to us when I tried to explain. He basically accused me of lying and demanded to know who I spoke to. At one point he said that there was no way I called because if I did I would have been told that they couldn’t accomodate the other person. I was truely shocked and felt totally humiliated and embarrassed by this guy. In the end he said the best he could do was squeeze all 4 of us onto a small table. As a result one of our party had to eat her meal on her lap as there wasn’t room for all the plates.

After we’d finished our mains, we were perusing the desert menu only to be told that we had to hurry up and drink-up as they needed the table back for another booking. We had been there for just over an hour! I understand that it is a busy bar with limited space, but when I make a booking I expect to have the table for at least two hours.

The food was ok, however the service and way we were treated really soured the whole experience. I didn’t really care that there was a mix up in communications with the booking, it was just this guys attitude and the way he spoke to us.

FYI: I did email the bar directly with details of my experience but did not...