I dined at customs house with my husband and two of our friends recently, we went for lunch on a Sunday. We dined in the fine dining area, inside the hotel where the tables had some nice white tablecloths and flower arrangements, but not in the function area as we were not at a function. It was the first time I had dined at Customs House other than at a friends wedding, so I didn't know what to expect. As it is a hotel I expected more of a pub/club kind of limited menu with just things like roasts or schnitzels available, but I was pleasantly surprised to find some quite tasty sounding fish dishes and also a duck salad with some really creative ingredients like hazelnuts and mandarin on the menu. I am not a fan of red meat or poultry dishes in general so I asked the waitress who served us if I could get a special dish made up, something not on the menu, I ordered the duck salad as the salad itself sounded like a tasty and unusual mix, and I got them to substitute the duck with prawns. They were happy to oblige and my meal was a really interesting mix of flavours and very tasty. I ordered a dessert too, it was some kind of french dessert, I can't recall the exact name of the dish but it was a rich chocolate gelato style of thing and it was very dense and had a good solid flavour. I thought the presentation of the dessert and the main was quite impressive, the waitress was fairly attentive and I certainly couldn't fault the quality or taste of the food, which was also served quite quickly. The only issue that stopped me from rating this place 5 out of 5 stars for dining was just that for a place that describes itself as fine dining I didn't think the atmosphere and decor was quite up to that level, as i didn't notice any art on the wall or fancy light fittings or anything like that, the waitress was wearing some kind of denim dress which made things look more casual I thought, and also the toilets, though clean, weren't the best in the sense that I think the bathroom could benefit from some more modern renovations. All in all I had a good experience here though, and I would recommend customs house to others for the great food.

I recently had the fortunate experience of having dinner at Customs House and enjoyed every detail. I found the cost to be excellent for the meal I ordered. I had a entree, main, dessert and a cheese platter to which I usually do not indulge in, however had decided to stay and take my time as I was enjoying the location and surroundings not to mention the wine.

I love this place! It's classy but not pretentious. The drinks are reasonably priced and the food is always good. One of Newcastles' best regulars!

I had to pick up a friend from the bus station and was early so I popped in here. It's been so many years since I've been to this place. It was actually very nice. I had my daughter with me. A glass of wine was cheaper than some other not so nice places. Ambience was excellent. Really enjoyed and would recommend.

We dined here one night on a trip to Newcastle and we found it a nice place to eat. We sat in the restaurant area which is more up market for a pub-somewhere between pub fare and fine dining. The prices were quite good for what you got. The service was very friendly, we arrived before they began serving meals, but they were very nice about this, got us seated and served us drinks. The only small downside was they didn't have their full menu available, but they did have reasonable alternatives to meet our needs.

Approximate cost: $28

Customs House is a good up-market pub. The building is great except for the floor boards which means its gets very noisy when busy. The outside verandah is great. The food is of good quality and reasonably priced as is the wines. They have some function rooms upstairs which are great for private functions.

Approximate cost: $20-25

My sister and I had our birthday here last year. We booked out a large portion of the restaurant without a charge. The food was great and the location is superb. Would recommend

A great place to meet friends for a drink or have a lovely dinner. Staff are always friendly and the food is great. I have eaten here twice in the last month, good value high quality dinning in a lovely building.

Approximate cost: $23