Doolan Brothers Ellerslie

Great location, came here for dinner, was a little noisy but food was good and they had a good range of beer. good value for money.

Excellent Pub, great atmosphere, friendly staff and good food!

I last went to Doolan's when it first got rebranded from Cock n Bull. From memory, the food was quite nice and staff were very attentive.
Unfortunately I went in the weekend when the rugby was on. I was under the expectation that food would take a while because it was busy and I had no problem with that. What I had an issue with was the quality of food and how long it took to get water.

After receiving a glass of lemonade, I asked if I could get a glass of water as well. It took our table asking 4 different staff before someone finally came with water (it became a bit of a joke to see how many people we would need to ask). I'd say it took nearly 45 minutes! I was almost tempted to go to the bar and get it myself but didn't really want to go through the crowd because I was pregnant.

Then I received my food 'Fish n Chips'. Thinking you can't go wrong with something so simple. And we saw the table next to us get this dish which looked really good. However mine did not look like that at all. My fish wasn't crumbed (as per the menu) and tasted so tough and tasteless. I'm assuming it was old or frozen which is not ideal for someone pregnant. The tomatoes in the salad were mushy as well.

Because I couldn't finish my main, I ordered dessert to make myself feel better 'Sticky Date'. It came out covered in runny sauce (which ended up on my white top because it was so liquidy. And the cream was already melted in the sauce when it arrived.

Overall the experience was terrible. I don't think I will ever go there again for food. The best thing on the table was the water (when I finally got it).

You wouldn’t expect such great food to come out of a pub kitchen but it did. The special was a duck dish and it was succulent and delicious. The other diners were just as happy with their meals. Excellent, friendly service. Thanks to all the staff from a group of very satisfied diners.