The Toxteth — Restaurant in Sydney

Have eaten here before & previously rated 5 stars (2yrs ago) .. We decided to try the Sunday Roast on the Weekend & it was disappointing I’m sorry to say .. for an award winning Roast it was a real let down .. we arrived about 12.30 on Sunday , ordered lunch & drinks, the female bar manager has zero personality & seems like she’d rather be somewhere else than The Toxteth .. when you’re spending $85 in one order, you’d like a bit of a friendly experience (at a pub!) We then sat in the room with the fireplace & waited for our lunch & it was delivered after a bit too long of a wait by someone who also seemed like they couldn’t be bothered, no personality at all, plonked the meals down & that was it, no condiments offered etc, no enjoy your meal, just drop n go! At first the meals looked good, Porchetta & Chicken Roast & for an award winning meal here is my take on it: the pork had good crackling, was sort of moist but was full of stuffing, the chicken was very good as it was moist & a big serve, one dried up piece of broccolini was the only green in sight & I mean one miserable dried up stem on each plate, the cabbage lacked flavor & seemed fatty like it was fried in fat or something of the sorts, the roast vege was crispy, too crispy as it was dried out & crunchy & too oily & a miserable portion, the Yorkshire Pudd was nice to look at but it was cold & dry .. as I say it all looked good but was average to taste & compared to the Sunday Roast at the London in Balmain, this is very basic if you break down the items by taste & quality .. sorry but I think this roast needs a re-work & some emphasis placed on freshness rather than look as this seemed to be catering style food pre-cooked & then heated & dropped to the table .. 3 yrs ago the Toxteth was much better on all levels so for me it’s a no go as it’s just not worth the time or the money .. also this place needs some local staff with a desire to be there & a smile !! It’s not that hard .. & one last point, the plate for a Sunday Roast could be a little bit better than a boring plate that the burger comes on, again maybe take a look at the plates the London serves Sunday lunch on .. we eat with our eyes too as that’s part of the experience of going...

I rate the award winning Sunday Roast a 3 out of 5 stars & I’ll take the time to say why .. at 12.30 on Sunday we spent $85 on 2 Roasts & 2 Ciders .. the service at the bar is not the friendly vibe you get at a local pub, the female bar manager couldn’t care less about the customer & gives zero personality to prove it .. not much better was experienced by the wait/kirchen staff delivering the meal, drop n go I’d describe it, no condiments offered, no enjoy your meal, nothing at all .. the room with the fireplace we were sat in had more personality than the staff .. so the food: this is an award winning Sunday Roast & I describe it as follows: the Porchetta was somewhat moist but mostly dry & full of stuffing, the crackling was very good, there was almost NIL gravy, the Roast Chook was moist & tasty but swimming in cold -ish gravy, both plates had horrible cabbage with soggy bacon bits, the cabbage was fried I think in fat so had a tasteless fatty flavored texture, the Yorkshire pudd was cold & dry but oily like even though it looked amazing, the roast vege was crispy & oily but dried out too, it’s as though this food was all pre-cooked the days before & heated & served & the one miserable stem of dried broccolini on each plate was the only green in sight & was pathetic, this meal looked good but it was basic, the plate it was served on was also basic, we eat with our eyes too & you can make a Sunday Roast a stand out if you try .. I think the Chef here needs to go to the London in Balmain next Sunday & see how a real roast is cooked, served & presented in all facets & then at 12.30 on a Sunday the Toxteth may have some customers .. sorry but this roast being given the 2024 award for best roast means the completion must have been shocking if this got best “or” this roast is no longer the same .. the food at the Toxteth 3yrs ago was much much better as was the entire experience .. as a local I won’t be back, it’s bad value for money & an average experience & the staff need to find office jobs & give front of house a miss as the personality aspect is also missing & I’m clearly not the only one that noticed it .....

The Tokkie has been our closest pub for decades...but it isn't our local which kind of says something. The food has been hit and miss over the years and the beer selection is avarage at best. However, like moths to a flame, we keep coming back...and like those moths, sometimes we get burnt. Last night was one of those nights. The entree special was three oysters with a sauce on the side. Despite the fish markets being a stroll away the oysters that came out we of incredibly poor quality and dubious freshness. The dipping sauce on the side was pretty much red wine vinegar. I advised the manager at the bar about the sketchy oysters and to her credit she not only gave a refund but stopped any more of those oyster plates from leaving the kitchen. OK, on to the mains. The steak sandwich wasn't as good as usual (the tomato relish was missing) and the chicken shnitty was the worst we'd ever tried...approx 3 mm thick chicken with a heavy oily crumb...with a salad of leaf and dressing (the least you can do). If you want a sauce with your $27 schnitty it costs extra. On the bright side the chips were great. We should have stuck with our usual order of KFC calamari and steak sandwich but then again we shouldn't be punished with terrible food when exploring the menu. The garden bar is a lovely place to sit and we keep hoping the kitchen returns to the glory days of old but after last night it will be a while before we...