the austral hotel

great affordable food, the schbitzels are massive!

excellent value. my wife had her birthday party there thursday 29th october in the corner bar i think it was called. the menu was certainly unexpected for a pub however for me anyway it was a nice surprise! there were 2 in our party who's noses were initially out of joint because there was no schnitzel however they quickly shaped up after looking at the menu. the menu seems to be more 'gastro pub' than pub which suited me just fine. as we were in the corner bar there was no table service as there is in the bunka which again suited us as we didnt want all the fuss anyway. ill give a quick rundown of food without going into too much detail.... snapper - fresh local caught pink snapper, 2 huge chunks of thick fresh fish in a crispy light batter, mushy peas, fresh tartare sauce and handcut chips my wife had this it was the best fish & chips either of us have had. ribeye steak with cafe de paris butter - my choice, i have not had better even in some of sydney's 3 hat restaurants. quesadilla - an entree crispy spanish style with goats cheese and spinach yum! - steak & ale pie - didnt get to try but james said it was awesome and refused to share, clearly home made. hot pig - a standout dish using pork belly, 5 thick slices of pork belly, crispy crackling on top with apple sauce and perfectly cooked spring veggies i did try this one and it was fantastic at $26
there was more but i'll wrap it up. the food basically is restaurant standard at honest prices i mean local sa snapper at $27???? for a portion size bigger than you would get at a posh restaurant and pay $40!!! all in all a fantastic meal with great service, food and value.
n.b went to the austral again yesterday and had a medium rare cheeseburger - best burger i have ever eaten, the nice girl behind the bar told me they mince their own grain fed rump steaks which means you can order your burger as you would a steak. it shows, have never had better!

the bunker restaurant at the austral is a well kept secret. our party of three on 31 oct received excellent service. our selection of starters of prawns, steak tartare, and chicken liver parfait were full of flavour. we had 32oz rib eye steaks served rare and these were cooked just as ordered. in all, we would heartily recommend the place for the food, service and value.

we were originally going to the stag and then decided at the last minute to give the bunker restaurant at the austral a go. we were surprised that the restaurant was empty on a friday night, but it soon became apparent why. the fish and chips and pork belly were absolute let downs - for the price charged the portion sizes were miniscule. plus, the snapper had been poorly trimmed and half the dish was blood line which is inedible. if you are going to eat here stick with the burgers and pies - whilst not best i've ever had, it is a decent serve for the price. the upside of the meal was the service. both staff members were extremely friendly and when the snapper blood line issue was pointed out it was dealt with in a professional manner and the dish immediately removed from the bill. however, rundle street is a competitive strip so the austral is not going to be able to rely on good service alone.