The Royal Hotel

A grand old pub across the road from the station, with a burger that gets most of the way there. Here's how lunch at the Royal went.

The venue

The Royal Hotel — or just "The Royal" — sits directly across the road from Sutherland train and bus station, and the building goes back to the late 1880s. The venue is large, with a front pub area including pool tables, a mid-sized pokie section and two bars. The dining area is toward the back of the pub, with ample seating across tables and booths. It was formerly Mikes Bar & Grill, but the kitchen has since switched over to "Cage Dining & Co".

The service

Standard pub service — order at the counter, no complaints. Things moved quickly enough, and the team behind the bar handled the flow well, even with group tables in.

The food

We ordered the Wagyu Deluxe Burger ($20).

The burger was extremely messy — dripping with sauce and definitely a two-handed operation — but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The taste was excellent, with a zingy prego sauce that gave it some bite, and the salad was fresh and crisp. One thing worth flagging: the burger was slightly pink on the inside. For us that's an absolute no-no on a pub burger, but we continued on regardless.

The chips were good too — crispy on the outside, though slightly cooler in the centre. Still solid overall.

The wash-up

At 6.7 out of 10, the Royal lands where plenty of decent pubs do: a solid feed that gets the important things right — flavour, value and service — with a couple of kitchen wobbles holding it back. Sort out the pink-in-the-middle burger and the score climbs. Worth a look if you're around Sutherland station.