The Publican Bar & Cafe

New Chef and Management = Don’t bother! :(so annoyed…

In short: Great drinks, average food.
Most beers we tried were phenomenal (ginger beer and the spiced wheat beer as our top picks), and the publicans mule and Rumbo knockout martini were lovely. Just don’t ask them to make anything off the menu — like a dirty martini — you’re likely to get a mouthful of oily mystery vodka and olives
Food was average; scallops came out cold, fried mushrooms were good, fish of the day was overlooked and tough, veggies and chips were nice tho. Stay away from waygu sliders– tough and served on tough rolls.
We sat at the bar and service was good, although we got a bartender whose first day it was so she couldn’t recommend anything.
Overall, we will definitely be back — but just for drinks :)
Cheers!

Yep — I’m a huge fan of this place! Had my husbands 30^th birthday here and it is was perfect. The platters were voluptuous and over-​flowing with deliciousness, the staff are always very helpful and accomodating and the live music tops off the experience.
The head chef is absolutely incredible, her food is so not your typical «pub» food which is half the reason I keep going back. They DON’T charge you room hire — score! And they are more than happy and able to cater for last minute needs should you need to order more food.
The décor is funky and hip and it’s big enough to have dinner with friends but quaint enough to feel intimate and cosy.
It’s a relaxed, easy feeling you get when you come here and I would certainly recommend this place for young, old and in between!

Just had dinner here. Started with the calamari and publicans plate. Was very satisfied with both. The calamari was lightly battered and came with a lovely side salad. The plate was a mix of bread, olives, cheese and dips. Enjoyed everything but needed one more piece of bread.
For main I had the surf and turf. The prawns, salad and sauce were delicious but my steak was slightly over cooked. I asked for medium but was more like medium well.
My husband ordered the seafood linguini which was also yummy. Although I have noticed that more places seem to be leaving the tails on their prawns. This was disappointing.
I was very full at this point but decided to try the chocolate brownie with butterscotch sauce and icecream. Luckily I did because it was delicious. The brownie was moist and chocolatey and the butterscotch sauce was sweet and silky. I shared the brownie between two and it was just the right size to do so.

I’ve been to The Publican 4 – 5 times now and whilst the service has never been outstanding this time really disappointed. We ordered just after 5pm, so not quite rush hour. My pork was served to another customer, who ate one of the 4 pieces, and it was still set in front of me but then taken away once we realised my brother in laws dish had 4 pieces and mine only had 3. It was replaced, but I was given the same dish as you can see from my photo with the chutney smudge not cleaned up from the previous dish where the new piece of charred pork is sitting, plus that piece was piping hot while the 3 others were only warm. Due to waiting for my pork, my scallops were obviously left aside as well as they were only lukewarm. When we finished our meals half our dishes were taken away, we were waiting for the rest to be collected to ask for a dessert menu. After waiting 15 minutes, whilst staff walked by and glanced at our stacked dishes without collecting them, although their hands were empty and the same waitresses walked by and looked at our table more than once, we went to the till ourselves to ask for a dessert menu and for the rest of our dishes to be collected. Despite this, I will say the food is very good, well presented and the menu is extensive. Such a shame the service is not of the same quality as the food, as I would have otherwise given 4 – 5 stars.

I don’t see why this place has only bad reviews, its never disappointed me.
Ive had different things each time i go, the lamb and beef cheeks are my fav main dish with pork belly being my fav starter. Meat is always cooked to perfection and they aren’t shy with the sauce. I got a surf and turf special last night for only $ 25 (Thursday) and the steak was one of the best cuts i have ever gotten in a restaurant! It was like a perfect fillet, no fat or gristle and so juicy!
The staff are friendly and quirky, get your drinks to you quickly and clear your plates away when done.
I will be returning for sure, one of my new great steak places

Tuesday, buy 2 tapas get one free. The food was great but the service was pretty poor. But we had 3 plates between 2 girls which was plenty, a glass of wine each and my friend had an ice cream and it was $ 33 after the entertainment book voucher. Bargain! $ 16.50 each is ridiculous. So I could deal with the service for that :)

Returned here after a long hiatus and was disappointed to see the menu had barely changed at all. There are a number of gluten free options on the menu which they are more than happy to alter further for my fructose malabsorption.
The prawns weren’t the freshest but the Boy was more than happy with his steak being cooked to order.

Wow. I am so disappointed. We went to the Publican last night for a double date after having not been there for a year or so (possibly a little longer). Gone are the friendly staff, the lovely décor, the fresh seasonal menu and mouthwateringly tempting desserts. All that remains are staff that do their best to ignore you, dirty, grotty carpet and tacky table settings and food that I would class as no more than standard pub fare.
The food was pleasant enough I suppose but I did not enjoy my Pork Rib Eye. The other three had a beef salad, duck and scallops, and a chicken parmigiana. The portions were generous and everyone else said they liked theirs but I found it boring. After we were seated it took 20 minutes or so for anyone to approach our table again. No one took a drinks order in that time, no one made eye contact with us in that time, in fact it was like they were actively trying NOT to look at us. Perhaps it was our loud chatter about moving our dinner plans down the road to the Precinct that eventually brought someone to our table. The HSP had one of their own brewed beers and said it was incredibly sugary and sweet (it was a pilsner).
I will not be in a hurry to return, and it will take an awfully convincing argument to get me back there.

Very disappointing overall. We chose the place because we were keen to try a few of their beers, which were not too bad. It could be improved by having some descriptions next to each beer on the menu to make it a bit easier to pick the right one for you. The staff we’re not great at communication and/​or being accesible so asking for help wasn’t really an option.
We had a lovely table outside which was cool and comfy, but that meant we had to order at the bar. Not a big deal but because your not really any further away than the indoor tables (its all the same space but the roof covers some of it) it feels a bit weird.
Food was ok, nothing amazing. I heard good things about the pork belly but my serve didn’t have any crackle so I was a little sad. I had a salad with it which was brought to the table with half the ingredients missing (the good stuff too! pear, feta etc.), was ok when it was complete. My partner had the fish and chips which he was pretty happy with, it was nicely crunchy so no complaints there.
It really is just the terrible service that let them down. Staff didn’t seem fluent in english so couldn’t help much, tables didn’t get cleared etc.
A few minor improvements could make this place really very good.

I could be subtle here but I well believe that it is a known and stated fact that Vic Park is not the most cuisine orientated suburb in Perth. It has gone through a number of improvements in the past and the front of The Publican looks great.
It serves up pretty decent pub grub although their inconsistence won’t win them awards.
This spot has great potential for Friday evening and Sunday sessions. A bit of an upgrade in the music and some more consistency with the food will see The Publican do well.

Let me paint you a little picture. It’s my friend’s 25^th. She’s got a group of us together here at the Publican and there’s a bar tab. In the corner of the room, a smooth cover band with a fervent male lead is pumpin out the greats: Hey Yeah, Under the Boardwalk, Like a Prayer. The mood is buoyant. $ 5 house wine is going down a treat. Cheeks are flushing, legs are loosening. Suddenly we’re on the dance floor, just the group of us before a crowded pub, busting out our best moves. We think we’re the shit. It’s that good. The band finishes, we clap, we whistle, they’re eating it up. We decide we need to eat something up ourselves so get a whole lot of arancini. We talk about how good the band was. We talk about how much we love the birthday girl. We hug, we leave, we taxi a good night away.