The Duke of Gloucester

Don't be put off by the bain-marie of all-you-can-eat salad (featuring tinned pineapple) and outdated patterned carpet. The decor may say 1960s Sydney, but the meat (the DOG's calling card) is top notch and served with 21st-century touches. The Moroccan lamb cutlets with tzatziki are spicy and pink; a blackboard special of Mediterranean veal chops smothered in olives, artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes was succulently good. Regulars come back to one of the few non-gentrified pubs in the eastern suburbs for classics such as surf 'n' turf and generously sized cuts of grain-fed beef. The covered verandah lends itself to sitting and sipping.