Harrigan's Hunter Valley, Pokolbin NSW

Honestly, it's probably the nicest pub/restaurant I've been to. The atmosphere is spot on at night, music smooth, food was great and prices for the area are decent. I love it... I'm not sure about the rooms, didn't stay overnight.

Would give no stars if possible. The treatment of my friend was atrocious. He was questioned on his drinking even though he was eating his dinner and causing no hassle. My friend was simply sitting down eating his dinner when a bouncer called for his attention. My friend walked over and was asked about his drinking while at the premises. As this is a public house that serves alcohol you would expect some consumption of alcohol to be allowed. The bouncer proceeded to tell my friend he was not allowed return to the table and had to leave. When the bouncer was asked why he had to leave they said it was because he had consumed alcohol earlier. Again, my friend was not of any harm or causing any hassle...simply eating his dinner. Security proceeded to take discreet pictures of him on their personal phone and threatened posting it to god only knows where. Security were unable to provide answers to simple questions as to why my friend was cherry picked from the crowd of customers. Perhaps they were idle, perhaps they felt they had not made enough of an impact to justify their wages. Highly unfair considering we were a large group that spent plenty of money, did not cause a ruckus, and were respectful for the duration of our visit.

We chose Harrigan's for our dinner stop, but it turned out to be a regrettable decision. We arrived an hour before the kitchen opened and had to wait another half hour just to get the staff's attention to place an order. One of the young waitresses was incredibly rude, ignoring us and acting disrespectfully when we simply tried to understand the ordering procedure.

I've never encountered such behavior in customer service roles before. The food was decent, but the overall experience was extremely disappointing.

We had a very good overall experience.

We stayed in the accommodation and ate at the pub for NYE probably one of the busiest nights you can get and can honestly say that everyone we interacted with was friendly and polite. One staff member even saved us some money on my son's meal. Bonus!

We could see the kitchen and the pass from where we were sitting and it was like a well oiled machine. Staff clearly knew what they were doing and their interactions were professional and polite.

The only negative we have with our stay is the rooms need some TLC just a lick of paint as the room was looking a bit tired and worn and the bathrooms are outdated. Aside from surface issues everything else was on point. We arrived to an air conditioned room which was nice. There were complimentary ear plugs, that was a first. The rooms were big and clean and the bed was very comfortable.

Just a short drive to the Hunter Gardens for the fireworks and Xmas lights display.

This is a highly popular garden restaurant in the Hunter Valley, so many people there, vibrant, lively, with live music and singing. Parking shouldn't be a problem. We sit outside while the day is hot (4/1/2024), but it's fine because it's a well covered and fully ventilated dining area. Staffs are efficient and the meals come in quickly. Food is good. Worth the stay and the cost if you're looking for a Hunter Valley experience.