The Newport — Restaurant in Sydney

Look, I love the Newport Arm’s arvo ambiance as much as the next person, but after encouraging my group of 4 friends to drive the extra 40 mins to get to the Arms after a walk in Kurangai, I was disappointed in what was on offer. Sure, the view you get to enjoy with your beer on a warm, sunny day is absolutely second to none. But the dining experience left a lot to be desired - both the ordering process and the food itself.

First, I was surprised to see that unlike in other Merivale venues, Hemmes wasn’t pushing the Me&U QR code ordering system at the table. While I’m not a huge fan of it elsewhere, as it means you all spend the first portion of any get together staring at your phone, this would’ve been perfect for this venue which is massive.

Instead, you have to find your way to a well-hidden shack in the corner of the outdoor area to order your burgers. After offering to head off and order said burgers for my mates, the staff member I gave my order to suggested I should sit down alone at a table next to the ordering window and wait for the food to be prepared. After querying this, I discovered that the venue offered neither a staff member to bring you said food (tall order these days), or even a buzzer to let you know when your food is ready, if you want to go back to your table, friends and rapidly warming beer while you wait.

In the end, the burgers were ready within 10 minutes, which was good. The less good news was that the spicy fish burger was essentially a Maccas fish filet and the beef burgers were basic at best. The oily chips gave off strong school canteen vibes.

All in all, beaut view, nice arvo, and let’s be honest, a clear case of #firstworldproblems, but for $31 a burger (incl the 15% public holiday surcharge) I’d at least expect not to have to...

Rainy Sunday. A good day to spend with a good friend talking about life, women and Nietzsche. The Newport Arms a pub multiverse. Designed for a Sydney Beach summer with multiple layers of outdoor seating for drinking and eating. However, today summer rain fell and drove us inside. The rain may have kept people away but also due to the recent reopening of the city people require time to get back to reevaluate living their regular normal lives pre-covid2021. Regardless a great place to drink away my worries and consider the life choices and decisions I have made. I’ve been to the Newport Arms maybe twice in the last twenty years as I’m not a Sydney beach resident. In fact today’s pub visit was with the same friend when I last visited the Newport Arms (circa 2011). Our domestic arrangements have somewhat diversified since then. Friendly staff and a jovial atmosphere prevailed. I had the large chicken wings and B had the cheeseburger with fries. Wings were slightly over cooked but still munch and good enough for the beer. The eating arrangements are spread out between general all purpose pub grub ordered from ‘The Shack’ and a seperate area for what I assume is considered gourmet pizza (never had it. I don’t eat pizza at pubs - it’s like why do pubs bother with espresso coffee?). A third alternative for food is a seafood area. So the Newport Arms have covered all their bases and they cover it well. A Sydney Northern Beaches mega-pub that will impress pommy and Dutch backpackers no end, as well as the locals. Loads of indoor and outdoor space. Adequate beer range. Variety of food choice. Loads of eye candy and a good place to drink and eat...

a fun experience overall.

avoid splinters in the kids area with the wooden blocks. I got two splinters in my little finger picking it up.

-if you have young children, take your partner or a friend! there is no table service like at coogee pavillion where they deliver food after you order.. so ordering food is a bit of challenge if you have more than two kids that are playing. you have to go up order and pay from the different restaurants you wish to have lunch from. for example it may be from two different areas if your kids desire a chicken salad for example and sashimi (2 separate restaurants) and then you have to go back to collect when food is ready. so make sure you go at the right time (restaurants open after 12) and try to keep kids in a pram or close to you and order food first and then find a place to sit down and your friend could look after your young ones whilst you collect the food from the separate area.. -poor breakfast selection, avoid breakfast time if you want healthy food (there are no options) however if you feel like a pastry and your kids are allowed a milkshake they have a bananarama which is yummy.

the healthy food starts after 12pm

enjoy we had a wonderful time and enjoyed a school holiday activity of making snack bars (we thought it would be a healthy snack with fruit and granola. this was not healthy at all, they had a delicious selection of marshmallows cookies and chocolate.)

in the future it would be great to see healthier options for kids during the school holidays and also have a healthier...