Barker Hotel

Oh dear. That’s all I can say. Nasty nasty nasty. The food is just so bad. The chef must have no training I am guessing.

I walk into this venue with the anticipation of a ice cold drink… it’s a casual place… I’m greeted with a smile from sarah… and a how can I help you… with a quick SHAZZAM… she brings me an awesome local cider with a glass full of ice… for a 3pm drink with friends… this was a great idea… and with a comfy seat… it’s a mini heaven

Folks we have a trifecta!
Great food, Great entertainment, Great atmosphere.
Best salt and pepper squid we’ve ever had, which is UNBELIEVABLE for the hills (take note The Grays Inn, who’s squid came out smelling and I quote «like some form of barn»). Burgers for fifteen which is yes, a bit upscale but amazing quality and large portions. The premises is always pretty clean and the staff friendly but heres the thing, the real drawcard is going to pain me to reveal because it is one of the best kept secrets of the hills.
Guys the trivia night is the best fun Ive ever had in a pub. I drive every Thursday night from work for over an hour to come and play every Thursday and holy hell is it fun. Triviameisters host it and it really is something special. As far as pubs go this is pretty up there!

Great décor, recently refurbished. Food was nice but really expensive for what they were serving. Music was really moody and dark, not enjoyable to listen to while enjoying a meal.

I’ve only been here once for lunch, but my experience was pretty good.
The food was really nice, I had garlic bread (which was beautiful) and soup, also nice, but could have done with a tad more seasoning. It was pretty quiet when we arrived, and for me the food arrived pretty fast (my friends food arrived about ten minutes after mine, which was pretty annoying).
The staff were pretty nice too.

Elissa was pretty much spot on, her experiences here more or less match my experiences.
Lunch is good. It did seem to take a bit longer than should be necessary between walking in and eating, though. I ended up having my traditional safe bet, the chicken schnitzel. It was okay. Not magic, but not bad, either. The mushroom sauce was decent, and the serving size was more than adequate.
There’s definitely a wanker element evident in the clientele though, but unfortunately that seems to be everywhere right now. It does seem much, much worse late in the evening.
In all, it was an okay experience. Don’t drive fifiy kilometres just for the experience, though.

I quite like the Barker, its been recently renovated and it’s quite nice inside.
I came here for lunch recently with a girlfriend and it was quiet, but not quiet enough to only have one bar staff on, when lunch time hit it was a 15 minute wait to order, if I had been really hungry I wouldn’t have been happy, as it was though I was in a rather blasé mood, lucky for them.
We had the trio of dip which was pretty satisfying, we didn’t get through it all and it’s not like I have a small appetite.
If you come on a friday evening be warned, the Barker turns into wankerville quite quickly, all the boys trying to bear whatever muscle they have in their wutang gear and all the girls showing just a tad too much cellulite…
The food was good though, the beer garden has ample seating and there is a pretty big car park out back.