Top Pub — Restaurant in Uralla

I definitely wouldn’t recommend this place for accommodation or as a wedding venue or reception option. The wedding was extremely disappointing last week to say the least. Firstly, the night before the wedding I was seated with a table full of people in the dining area and we were all uncomfortable to hear your staff member Madi yelling at a friend of ours over discrepancies with what had been agreed for the wedding. While we tried at the time to reassure our friend that you had it under control and to trust that it would all come together on the day, sadly her fears were realised when the event was not only poorly managed but was in fact one disaster after another. Upon entering the reception space on the night of the wedding, we were all horrified to see that everything had toppled over and tables were an absolute mess, saturated by wind and rain. While we understand weather is outside of your control, this could have been rectified before everybody entered, but wasn’t. It’s all well and good to say you feel you had it perfect over an hour before everyone entered but it definitely wasn’t acceptable when guests were entering. Meals were also very, very slow and your staff failed to have any order and serve one table at a time, randomly dropping plates on any table which resulted in some doubling up and other tables or people missing out. We raised this at the time and you argued the point that you had served X amount of meals, despite the bridal party not being fed, along with other vendors who were still waiting. To add insult to injury and despite your error, not managing this, you then charged for additional plates to feed the bridal party. Pretty poor form tbh. The manager, Lee, did try to resolve some of the issues but it was disappointing to keep hearing “look they’ve only paid X amount”. The amount paid coupled with the $ spent on drinks was definitely not worth the poor experience, it was just a big dogs breakfast. Loads ot challenges with meals and a whole heap of arguing and passing the buck. Fortunately, we made the most of a bad situation and loved celebrating our friends wedding regardless of the experience we received or poor handling of the event. The worst of all was witnessing your staff yelling at people, being argumentative and patronising, and telling unhappy customers that they were the ones “carrying on”. Never ok for a business to carry on this way. Those behaviours are definitely not synonymous with a great experience. Our friend from what we all saw (along with diners not even with our party based on reviews I’ve just read) were right to be upset and you making it their problem wasn’t the best approach. If you cannot cater to those events, it’s probably best you don’t take on those bookings. A better process is required for managing events and maybe some complaint handling training for all staff to resolve situations that you have responsibility for would be helpful. I do however feel a thank you needs to be extended to the young Asian girl who was trying her best without any guidance from management to salvage the event. It was great to see somebody trying to own the experience and improve it for everyone. 2/5 stars as I think the pub inside is great and when the meal finally arrived...

As you traverse the New England region, you need to keep an eye on the time, because lunch hours are reasonably inflexible. We found this out the hard way, travelling between Walcha’s public art sculptures and Dobson’s Distillery. We arrived just shy of their advertised two o’clock lunch cut-off only to find the chef had already left. Giving up the idea of lunch and a leisurely gin tasting, we returned to Uralla where a tip from textile artist Helen Evans at Chaucer On Bridge Street (where you’ll also find her son making amazing ceramic art) led us to Top Pub.

Painted matt black, it's actually a pretty cool pub, with some interesting points of difference, including an upstairs boutique. Called Shop 2358 for the town's post code, it contains a well curated collection of neutrally toned clothing, tan bags, jewellery, accessories and homewares to fit the fashion-conscious country lifestyle.

Back in the bar, the locally-minded drinks list affords me the opportunity to try the gin I was keen to sample at the distillery. The only difference is here the bartender is obliged to whisper the word tonic to it, because this pub is apparently not allowed to serve a straight spirit on ice (thank you Liquor & Gaming NSW). The resulting Dobson’s Gin ($8.50) is dry and lemony, a classic style that best would suit a martini. Dobson’s Sweet Pea Gin ($9) plays with the same butterfly pea flowers that Ink Gin uses up the road in the Northern Rivers. Flavoured with mandarin, tangelo and grapefruit, this iteration is a summery citrussy drink that I’d probably prefer as a Gin’n’Juice (using pink grapefruit juice) rather than a G+T. It'd make the perfect sipper to take in their pet-friendly beer garden that’s dripping with greenery.

As you’d expect,with the brewery right next door, Top Pub are also serving the New England Brewing Company range. This turns out to also be handy because the brewery, which I was also intending upon visiting, isn’t open on a Sunday. I wash off the road dust with their Pale Ale ($8) that is lightly hopped and fruity with hints of mango and passionfruit. I also sample their Thud Footy Ale ($8) that comes in a can and is bigger on hops and lighter on fruit, so a bit less appealing.

With late lunch greed we kick off with a tall pile of Garlic & Rosemary Bread ($8) that eases the hunger pangs but turns out to be superfluous to our needs when we receive our pub-size mains. The Barker’s Creek Pork Cutlet ($34) made with moisture-infused Aussie pork, is so large, we could have shared it. The kitchen lays down a generous splodge of roasted garlic mash, piles on buttered baby beans, slaps down a cutlet crusted in macadamia, honey and apple, crowns it with caramelised onions and encircles the lot with a sticky balsamic glaze. Three bites in, and I’m already trying to push back our planned dinner so I can really get stuck in. Thinking I was ordering a more modestly sized dish, I’m stonkered by the sheer amount of chook in the Chicken & Mushroom Crepe ($21). It’s been cooked in creamy white wine and garlic sauce and grilled under a mountain of cheese. Even the fairly standard Greek salad that accompanies it is decent eating.

I can see how this pub...

What a sad experience! My daughter and her partner often go to the pub and they raved about it. My daughter said it was worth the 40 minute drive.

Walking into a country pub, it was just what you wanted to experience. The warmth, the locals, the bar service was great. Sadly, this is where it ended.

We went for dinner because my daughter also raved about how good the food was, particularly the crumbed lamb cutlets. We ordered 3 meals, two crumbed lamb cutlets and scotch fillet, all meals with chips, salad and mushroom sauce.

The food service was a bit slow, but we were happy to wait. The lamb cutlets arrived, with mash and veg, not what we asked for. The server was happy to change it. All god so far, mis-understanding etc.

About 3 minutes later, the person who took the order came over claiming we never ordered chips and salad and mushroom sauce with the lamb cutlets as it comes standard with mash and veg. He made an absolute spectacle of the situation to the point where nearly all the patrons around us were watching. He then told us if we wanted mushroom sauce it was an extra $5 each meal ($10 in total). This person needs a lot of lessons in customer service, because there were so many better ways to approach this. All he wanted to do was provide he was right and we were wrong.

Reluctantly I paid the extra $10. My daughter and her partner clearly heard me say a second time, we want chips and salad and mushroom sauce on the lamb cutlets and her partners scotch fillets.

About ten minutes later the lamb cutlets arrived and only one had the mushroom sauce. About five minutes later the mushroom sauce arrived.

After experiencing some of the worst service in 40 plus years, the cutlets had been deep fried beyond belief. The crumbing was rock hard, and when I cut into the cutlet, the lamb meat was pretty well destroyed from overcooking and being left under the bain maree for too long. Even covering the lamb cutlets in mushroom sauce did nothing to elevate the worst cook lamb cutlet Ive had in my entire 50+ years of life. My daughter hardly ate hers as it was more overcooked than mine. My daughter and her partner has been going there for two years regularly nd she always ordered the lamb cutlets. In the two years she has never experience such shocking food and rude service. The only redeeming part of the meal was the mushroom sauce and salad, both very good.

The real issue of this - was the way the order taker responded to the complaints we raised, and then charged us an extra $10, then served overcooked lamb cutlets that were unbeatable.

My daughter has said there is no way she will be driving 40 minutes again to have such a...