The Oaks Hotel Reviews

Can be very busy but service is nice and food is tasty

Great pub at Neutral Bay. The beer garden is exceptional, sitting under the shade of the huge oak tree. Good range of beers and the food is above average if pricey.

Fabulous good, very friendly service and a great place to catch up with friends

Comfortable and relaxing place to catch up with friends for lunch or dinner over a few drinks. Beer garden is always busy so grab a table when you can. Food takes comsiderably longer now, even mid week, which is disappointing after their renovation.

It is really nice, on Sundays is super busy, lunch can take longer that you expect

Got a scotch fillet steak which had no seasoning at all. The actual meat quality was good but it wasn't done justice. The mash was almost cold and the beans also had nothing on them. If you like bland and plain steak meals then eat here

Cook you own steak. Good atmosphere but you pay for the price

Staff were so helpful and friendly to setup the party

Great atmosphere and food, always enjoy coming here

Best steaks on the lower north shore. Amazing beer garden too under the fairy lights on the big oak tree

Always a great place to see
Oak tree is amazing at night.
Full of fairy lights to sit under anf and enjoy great food and drinks.

Nice venue. Pleasant staff. Wish it didn't close so early.

Pretty good beer range and obviously the tree is impressive

Great food, fantastic atmosphere and an amazing outdoor area

This popular pub offers a wide range of bar meals and restaurant food to accompany its diverse range of drinks. The seating space is good and the tree outside that gives the venue its name is spectacular when lit up. There is plenty of outside seating too, but it does get crowded later in the evenings. Good place to meet friends.

Great place to bring visitors from abroad. Great vibe and beautiful setting.

Outdoor area is what makes the bar a local favourite. Service is always quick. Bar is large and a bit impersonal, so good for groups.

Lovely setting outside in the courtyard with the big oak tree wrapped in fairy lights

Incredible beer garden. Probably the best i know. The tree at night in the garden lights up for a breathtaking atmosphere. Great food, beer and different areas for food, drinking, sports viewing, and dining. Though some off the staff are not particularly helpful.

Food isn't consistent unfortunately, would probably avoid dining here on a busy night. Service was nice, had someone get a table for us when the place was pretty packed and plates taken away pretty quickly. Steaks took a fair bit of time to reach us. Ambience is also fairly nice.

Have eaten here before with good experiences, latest trip had a dry rib eye and new york sirloin. Meats were cooked medium rare but there was no seasoning on them and the meat was dry. Similar with mash and beans that came with the steak, fairly bland overall especially for the $85 paid for the 2 dishes.

Would come here again but will most likely avoid the steaks in future. Seems like a nice place for drinks but can get quite busy.

Dined on a Sunday night and used their online booking system to reserve a table; was simple and easy. Booked at 7pm so wasn t as busy but still a decent crowd. Had the 1.4kg tomahawk steak for $95 which is an excellent deal; comes with green beans, roasted potatoes and choice of 3 sauces as a standard. Took about 45 mins to cook the beast so be patient. The sticky date pudding was also excellent. The place has such a great vibe, definitely worth checking out for a drink and meal that is very reasonably priced.

There is more to this pub than meets the eye. It is a labarynth of amazing bars and restaurants. Go upstairs to find secret rooms and balconnies where you can play pool or kiss & cuddle your girl friend. Down stairs is a fabulous steak restaurant and also a pizza bar . During Summer the beer garden under the old Oak Tree is one of Sydney's best places to hang out with groovy hipsters . The TAB bar with its log fire is ideal in winter to watch League or The Swans or GWS and there is a huge screen for the big matches . And on Melbourne Cup Day the place explodes with excitement as the best dressed people in town celibrate the race which stops a nation. After 6pm on a Friday , business executives and the office crowd move in to relax over a few beers . On a Saturday night if your looking to party this is the place to be . Make no mistake . The Oaks was awarded the number one hotel in Australia because it is simply the best .

Great beer garden. At night the fairy lights are spectacular. The food is great. The beer garden is a bit smoke effected if you are a non-smoker. Large tv let's you stay in touch with the game that's playing. Most major codes on screen in main bar area.

After visiting this huge pub many times over the last two decades or so I can say it is one of Sydney's finest pubs.

The Oak tree and the lights!
Oh.... The lights
Beautiful!!!

Who hasn't had a multiple rites of passage at this place. First kiss or feisty break-up or school reunion - this place handles it all - often all at once. Front bar now has a slicker feel like Goldfinger called and asked to help do the fitout....

Had muscles cooked in whine
There was some dirt in the dish
They probably didn t rinse the shelves
They also served some bread with the dish but not even toasted
Pasta was alright
Not going there for food anymore

Great beer garden, fantastic selection of beers on tap. Don't miss out on the cheese burger (one of the best around the area)

A local legend for good reason. There are bars for all tastes and some of them are very kid friendly. The food is always great. If there are any issues it's overzealous prices, security and plate/empties collectors.

Great atmosphere and a variety places to sit. The beer garden under the ol' oak tree is top notch.

A few weeks ago I held the wake of a very close friend in their upstairs balcony room and received outstanding service, a great selection of canapes, good wine and beer choices. The team were very attentive ensuring a very pleasant outcome given the occasion.

Make sure you get along to The Oaks. Locals know it well, but you might not if you're from outside the North Sydney area or if you're a traveller. The outdoor seating area for the bistro - set under the great oak tree for which the venue takes its name, adorned in hundreds of bright gold fairy lights - is one of the nicest spacious dining areas at any restaurant in Sydney. The staff here are also incredible; if you're carrying a couple of plates, a waiter or waitress always seems to magically appear and hold the door open to let you through. We celebrated a friend's birthday at The Oaks recently and, as soon as a passing waitress saw that we had brought a cake, she went away without being asked and came back with a big knife to cut the cake, two candles, and 20 plates, napkins and sets of cutlery for everyone.

The foods and drinks are also great - very high quality pub and bistro style menu. Pizzas, burgers, steaks, schnitzels and heaps of great beers on tap. Cook your own steak on one of the grills, or go for one of the burgers. Prices are pretty standard for Sydney - around $18 - $24 for a burger with chips and sauce, $6 - $7 and up for a schooner of tap beer.

Big place a few different bars, but service is slow

Delicious food and amazing ambience. Their mussels are a must try.

$45 for a very average steak and $12 for a schooner, could go to a hatted restaurant for these prices. Average pub food at extraordinary prices

Last March I spent a month in Sydney, and went to The Oaks on at least 3 occasions, where I enjoyed excellent steaks - and, of course, Sticky Date Pudding!

This March I have toured New Zealand, and capped this off worth a week in Sydney, before returning to the UK. It gave me an opportunity to catch up with friends and family, especially one who lives close to The Oaks. Obviously she wanted us to finish our day off with another meal there!

So, on Sunday 18th March we returned and I ordered a Scotch Fillet. The lady who took our order - a most jovial, more mature person, even remembered me from 2017. We joked about the pudding, and I said I'd no doubt have one this evening!

Unfortunately, it was one of the worst Scotch Fillets I've ever had - fatty around the edges, and chewy. Normally I would have brought this to someone's attention, but because it was a reunion, I just got on and ate what I could. As you might imagine, my disappointment meant that I'd didn't want to eat anything more, and we left without the desert. My friend asked me whether I'd enjoyed my meal, and, when I told her about the consistency, she said that she could see I was struggling with it!

Such a shame, after a couple of first-class steaks last year, which I even posted on Facebook.

Just a rogue piece of meat, but nothing like the fillet I normally get, at home and abroad.

The Oaks Hotel is my local pub and is usually very good for food and service (slightly expensive).

But my last visit was horrible. I went during some sporting event which meant it was packed. I expected delays in the service, but after waiting for 45mins for food, I went to the kitchen only to see that they had turning everything off due to an issue.

While problems are unplanned and usually unavoidable, I deplore the way in which theybdealt with this. There was no contact from the kitchen, even when they had been shut down for over half.an hour. They handed some garlic bread to other tables, but I was not given any. And finally, after another 20mins of waiting theyved something that I didn't order and you could taste that the food had been rushed.

Definitely not coming back soon.

Great food. Super attentive, but not over bearing staff

Great food, wide selection of drinks and friendly staff.

The oaks has gone down hill. No atmosphere and of recent times half empty.

Great food, a little expensive, but I still think it's great value

I miss the old cook your own indoor bbq. Otherwise, the Oaks is a clean, fresh and good looking spot to watch sport or hang out with a big group of friends. $11.50 for a pint did shake me up a bit!

Great area out the back under the big oak tree, good variety of food and service is here is quick

Great experience with the good.....but WTH is with the waiters keeping a big trolley outside and breaking stuff everywhere. It s unsightly and not a reason to continue being at this pub/restaurant. It s an eyesore and it s in the way. And the clattering of cans and glass bottles into the cart is not ok for the greatness/brilliance/awesomeness of the venue.

A bit more pricey than your average pub, bit it is an awrsome venue

This place is an institution and with that great beer garden, it should be. Excellent pizza, be sure to try the lamb pizza. Home made giant meat pies, muscles and cook-your-own steaks also always please.

Inside, the main dining room can feel a bit like a dining hall, but at least you can always count on a seat. If more atmosphere is what you are looking for, try the upstairs, rugby bar or of course under the oak tree in the garden.

Great food ...many themed locations in the pub ...quality French Rose available ...we attended bawdy performance of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

Really enjoyable, on a cool winter's day in Sydney the beef and mushroom pot pie was scrumptious
love the little fire kept us ver cosy

Fantastic place. It's beautiful with the beautiful little lights. The large tree in the restaurant area becomes a beautiful icon and supports grandeur. Thumbs Thumbs Thumbs ...

Great atmosphere, great foods and a good selection of beers.