Harrigan's Hunter Valley - Pokolbin, New South Wales

Chanelle K.

Visited here for the first time yesterday. I ordered the grilled chicken with mushroom sauce and veggies. My food was nice and i enjoyed it, however my husband did not enjoy his chicken schnitzel meal. The kids meals are quite small and its a shame they dont have cheeseburgers for kids. We had to order the normal beef and bacon burger and remove everything in it to make it just beef, cheese and sauce and we were still charged the same amount. We will come back again and try other items on the menu. Overall it was a nice experience.

Elizabeth S.

4 star hotel? How?
Arrived to check in at 4pm and was told I had to drive up the road to a different hotel reception to check in. No email, no text, no observable signs. Drove to the other hotel, easy check in, got back, BOTH room keys don’t work. Called reception and was told they would send someone with keys. It took 20 minutes to arrive (when it’s only a 3min trip) as they left us to wait by our car in the middle of winter. While she did say sorry, how simple it would have been to turn the experience around by shouting us a drink or anything small. Customer service is dead.

Room is outdated and smells … funky I think is the best way to describe it however the room and bathroom looks clean and the bed feels comfy.

Very disappointed and do yourselves a favour and get your rating changed to 3 star at best. At least then people aren’t coming with the wrong expectations for the price. Checking in up the road with no prior comms was poor management. Won’t stay here again. My advice, spend an extra $10 and stay somewhere nice.

Mia M.

My partner and I recently dined at Harrigan’s and were extremely disappointed with the entire experience.

Upon arrival, we entered through the main entrance and found ourselves, along with two other groups, waiting in the middle of the dining room with no greeting, direction, or visible staff in sight. After standing awkwardly for over 10 minutes, we joined the food ordering line purely in an attempt to speak to someone. When we finally reached the counter, we were quickly dismissed and told to go and wait at another desk across the restaurant where “someone would be with us shortly.” There was no signage indicating this was a host stand or that we would be seated from there. We waited another 10 minutes at this desk, during which two staff members walked past us, made eye contact, and continued without acknowledgment.

We were finally greeted over 20 minutes after our booking time, only to be told that our reservation couldn’t be found. We explained that we hadn’t received a confirmation email and had tried calling twice to confirm but got no response. From here, the only seating options offered were either in the noisy sports bar or outside in the “heated” area. We opted for outside, hoping for some more quiet than inside, only to find all tables were either set for large groups of 12 or more or still covered in dirty dishes. We had to clear the table ourselves and sit at wobbly chairs and an unstable table.

My partner then had to return to the ordering line, followed by a wait at the bar to order drinks. Despite being the only customer at the bar, he was ignored by both bartenders, who were clearly more interested in their conversation than in offering service.

When our meals finally arrived, the food was cold…$42 lamb shank…cold.

Unfortunately, we cannot recommend Harrigan’s based on this experience. There are many other restaurants in the area with far better service, atmosphere, and value for money.

Just by having a quick look through other reviews it is clear that this is a bit of a common experience, and whilst the team at Harrigan’s express their “sincere apologies” and will definitely “pass this on”, it’s clear that nothing has changed with some of these other reviews being from 6+ months ago.

Being short staffed is one thing, being lazy and negligent is another.

Josh S.

Went for the $24 Sunday roast special which we found advertised on their website and planned it around our holiday, looking forward to it.
It was cold, very small serving, the 'crackling' was soft and chewy.
We also got a pumpkin soup of the day which was slightly better.
The place was busy but to only have 1 register to take food orders? (No QR code orders on outside tables). So the line was massive to order food.
Overall disappointing.

George F.

Fun spacious bar but would not recommend. Security is overly strict and will kick people out without reason. Do not go there after wine tasting or attending any previous breweries. Is Potentially a good bar for families wanting dinner with kids.

PAUL A.

I want to take a moment to express how disappointed I am with the service we received during our recent visit. Unfortunately, it was one of the worst customer service experiences any of us have encountered.

We politely asked a staff member—who was wearing glasses and has a heart or knife-shaped tattoo on her lower left arm—if the gate could be closed, as the strong wind was blowing table numbers off the tables. Her response was simply, “No,” delivered with an unnecessarily rude tone. Later, when she brought our food, she asked, “Where is your table number?” in a condescending manner, even though my daughter was holding it. She then said, “Put it on the table so I can see it,” and rolled her eyes at us.

Another staff member, a blonde waitress with a half-up, half-down hairstyle, was equally unhelpful. When we politely asked if she could bring out the mushroom sauce we were missing, she replied, “I guess so,” with clear disinterest.

All ten of us in our group were shocked by the attitude and lack of basic courtesy. We’re not from the area but do travel here regularly, and sadly, this experience has left such a bad impression that we won’t be returning to this pub again.

We approached each interaction with kindness and respect, so this treatment was especially disheartening. It’s difficult to understand why we were treated this way—unless, regrettably, there were other underlying reasons such as bias or prejudice involved

The R.

I gave 2 stars because the staff were lovely but the food was just horrible.

We ordered a beef and Guinness pot pie and bangers and mash.

It was honestly flavorless. The pot pie lacked any depth of flavour, meat was tough. Veges were simply steamed and lacked any flavour. Both of us found the mash dry & again flavourless. I note that another review had the same thoughts on the mash.

It’s not cheap for a pub meal and very overpriced for what it was.

Just don’t, you’ll be disappointed.

Georgette Y.

Visited Harrigan’s in the Hunter Valley on Sunday, 8th July 2025, and it was without doubt one of the worst hospitality experiences I’ve ever had. From the moment we arrived, the staff were extremely rude, dismissive, and unprofessional. There was no greeting, no smile, no basic courtesy — just an overwhelming sense that customers were an inconvenience rather than guests.

The food unfortunately matched the service. I ordered the chicken schnitzel, which was served cold and soggy. The crumb coating looked and tasted like it had been soaked in water, and disturbingly, the chicken itself was undercooked — pink in the middle with visible red and purple stringy veins. Absolutely unacceptable from both a quality and food safety perspective.

If your staff are unable to communicate or interact respectfully with customers, perhaps hospitality is not the right industry for them. I strongly suggest Harrigan’s invests in some serious customer service training for the team on duty that day. And just a reminder: smiling at your customers costs nothing.

Would not return or recommend.