The Gates Hotel

The Gates Hotel is a pub built around an easy mix of dining, drinks and sport. Its bistro combines familiar pub cooking with more elaborate restaurant-style dishes, offering lunch and dinner service along with specials at different times of day. The menu is broad rather than narrowly focused, covering seafood, pasta, burgers, schnitzels, steaks, salads and traditional mains, so it can suit a group with differing tastes.

There are plenty of substantial options for diners wanting something more than a quick pub meal. The 450g Viking steak, Surf Side schnitzel with seafood and mornay sauce, and slow-cooked lamb shanks are among the more distinctive choices. Seafood is well represented through dishes such as fettuccine marinara, Atlantic salmon and the seafood basket, while vegetarian diners can choose from options including the vegetarian schnitzel, Mediterranean vegetable pasta and corn fritter stack. The bistro also has a dedicated children’s menu with choices such as nuggets and chips, fish and chips, bolognaise, bangers and mash, and calamari and chips, each served with ice cream.

Beyond the dining room, the hotel has a large bar with a varied selection of wines and spirits. Its TAB and big-screen televisions show horse racing and other major sporting events, giving the venue a clear role as a place to follow a race or watch a game with others. The regular programme also includes Joker Poker on Wednesdays, meat raffles and a members’ draw on Fridays, and Super Six on Saturdays. Pints are offered at schooner prices on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday afternoons, according to the venue’s published promotions.

The website presents The Gates as a long-standing favourite with locals and visitors, with friendly staff and a mix of food, facilities and entertainment. That makes it suited to casual catch-ups, groups looking for a full meal and families using the children’s menu, while the bar and televised sport provide an option for a shorter visit. The venue is listed in Pokolbin, Newcastle, and its website identifies the hotel at 660 Glebe Road in Adamstown; check the current location details before travelling. It holds a 4.3 Google rating from 653 reviews.