Review Speights Ale House - Hamilton

First time dining here. Shown to a table and given a tablet to order from no further interaction with the staff other than to pay. $12 for a beer. Extra charges for sauces for the steak meal $5 each. Steak nicely cooked, fries over salty.

Can't really comment on the food. We only had hot chips with beers, and if you can't get hot chips right there's something wrong. The service was good and very polite. Good out door area.

Very pleasant meal in relaxed surroundings, service was amazing with interaction from both barstaff on (Engaging and playful). Had the fish and chips and garlic bread, outstanding quality, only gripe would be the portioning of the chips was on the mean side. Thoroughly recommend and will revisit when I'm in Hamilton. Great Job!

We dined with a large group on a Sunday night. Our meals (ordered via tablet which was an easy and efficient way to order I must say!) came out super fast, and I thoroughly enjoyed my steak. The waiter and waitress were attentive, friendly and obliging especially when it came to bringing out our drinks, as well as desserts.

Went there after a visit to Hamilton without realising that a game was on next door for the womans football world cup. Needless to say it was very busy. Suprisingly though the line to order food and drinks wasnt too long and we were served quickly. Food was Okay and the locals were very friendly. Nice spot that has apparently rennovated recently.

Standing establishment great for meeting friends for casual drinks or gathering to watch a sports game and catch up with the team really nice venue to go to close walk from FMG stadium plenty of seating room inside as well as outside would recommend going here. Toilets are big clean and have room. We hade a great time drinking bear with shooters we had 10 pints and 4 shots.

Good customer service. Excellent information about the menu and what was available. The seafood chowder was delicious and kids meals were well priced.

Love that there is a separate room for events that has its own private outdoor area with its own bar and toilet areas! Great space, fantastic service and food was good!

Always a great place, not a fan of the electronic ordering methods like some other places have adopted so always call for personal service else it's just an indoor take away feeling.

Dined at the Speights Ale House Hamilton yesterday. The steak was done medium rear (exactly spot on!!) which in itself is hard to find. The salad fresh and the service was was prompt, friendly and well worth the decision to dine there. Job very well done by the Frontline staff...nga mihinui Kia koutou ma!!

Had the vegetarian burger with no egg. I was not expecting it to be this big and tasty (that's what she said)!! The Salad had the right amount of dressing and the vege patty was very nicely cooked. 4 stars because the fries had no seasoning.

Great atmosphere. It was difficult to order a meal, one-off game day menu. Friendly staff.

Mex burger was tasty, certainly enough food on the plate. Service was very good. A note on the venue: They should do everyone's arse a favour and get rid of the tables with the old tractor seats on a swing arm, there isnt many of them but if that's the only seating left I would recommend going somewhere else.

Fast Service, lovely atmosphere, have been here many times & the Food, Service & atmosphere have always been on point

Wow! Congratulations Arran & all the staff😀! I appreciated the professional & friendly service, as I ordered the Ribs & a couple of refreshing & tasty beers. Great location to cheer on @ FMG Rugby park & be entertained...! during the World Cup!

Speight's Ale House offers great service and well presented tasty food in a really pleasant environment.  It is also family friendly with an appealing menu for children.

The place is good for friends to catch up (large group). food is good and also is the service. Very nice ambiance.<br/>Recommend to people. Wanting to visit again

Yummy every feed we have had here. One of my faves. Lovey wait staff always attentive. Big feeds. Chowder is the best I've had with a garlic cob. Mmmmmmmm I'm hungry now.

Came here for the first time when we were down in Hamilton and had taken the parents for lunch. To start with the staff do greet you well and are as quick as you choose to take the order.....when we there , there was a bigger party sat down , so the waiter rushed our order through to prevent too long a wait in our order coming out. It has a good atmosphere and I would expect may get very busy if there's a big game on. There's outside seating which would be good for nice hot day and inside the restaurant has a slightly raised level with tables. As it's a Speights Ale house all the beers on tap are Speights, so I ordered the pilsner. As for the food I ordered the Bangers & Mash ( another food I am partial to that being bangers & mash) , two 150gm Raglan butchered beef sausages, creamy potato mash, caramelized onion gravy and peas. The potato was done just as I like It when mashed , nice and creamy , and the sausages were a good size and very well done. Actually after eating I felt rather full!!! And the gravy was yum too! As for my other half , she ordered the cold dish of the House Smoked Salmon salad. And it was huge. A delicious plate of a combination of several ingredients, Speights house smoked salmon on a fresh crisp salad with tomato , red onion, cucumber , capsicum, a soft boiled egg and capers served with smoked garlic coriander. All in all an enjoyable experience. Good service , great food , good atmosphere and not too bad a price!!!.

Spontaneous weekend saw me visiting Hamilton for the first time in 2 years after living here years ago (I'd move back if I could!). It was one of those rare moments when my friend didn't have her kids (thanks grandparents) so I decided to treat her, it was early (just after 11:30am to be precise) but seeing as we had been up since 6:15am (duck season opened), we were hungry and ready to eat. We were the only ones in there (apart from a mum and her kids) and we settled on the brisket burgers and an ale and cider. Great portions (couldn't finish mine) and fast service (no other customers). Only downside was that the lovely lady behind the bar wasn't able to tell us anything about the beer selection as she doesn't drink beer which was slightly amusing. We didn't stay long and were unable to rate the atmosphere seeing as it was early. Food was good but nothing spectacular...would I come back? Only time will tell.

Below average, menu sounded good but food was very disappointing..…......................................................:.:::::::::::::::::

We were looking forward to trying this venue but wish we hadn't. It was a nice building but inside it had the atmosphere of an old people's home. We ovelooked this and were seated by very nice and polite staff. Then having waited and age for our orders we actually had to send one of our plates of food back. It really was discusting! The polite and charming waiter then emerged with some weak excuse as to why this dish tasted this way instead of a simple apology. What this told me is the chef either simply cannot cook or didn't taste the food prior to sending it out. For that reason we didn't give the chef another chance. The food is quite pricy and because it was the food we actually went for we can only give this resto a one. Had the chef just said sorry and admitted the food was not up to standard we would have given a better score. Cannot recommend this place for food.. maybe just a beer. Don't bother, try somewhere else.

Been here 3 times now. Service is very average. Last visit we were told we had to order at the bar which was odd because we sat at the same table last time and the waitress came to our tables and took our orders. Waitress just seemed rude like she didn't want to be there...i hate that. Not once did she check on us to see if everything was ok.<br/><br/>The food was also average. Carbonara was so bad, mussels were not fresh, burgers were ok but the patties and the meat in it were barely lukewarm. Will not be spending any more money at a place that doesn't give 2 shits about customer satisfaction.

Were greeted right away which was good.<br/>The beverages came out within a reasonable amount of the time.<br/><br/>Shared the half cob loaf to start with, would've been nice if a hummus, pate or pesto was included as well as the butter. No need for two types of butter.<br/><br/>I got the kawakawa rubbed venison with veg and jus; needless to say was rather over cooked and chewy, but other elements on the plate were enjoyable. The other person had the fish and chips, said they enjoyed it.<br/><br/>Don't think we will be back in a hurry

Went out to a friends birthday for dinner and a few drinks,food was ok,nothing fancy but they were playing the rugby on the TV so loud you couldn't hear the person on the other side of the table!really killed the atmosphere

Decided that a meal before a movie was a good idea, arrived at 6.15, ordered, and told of a half hour wait, ok, no problem not a big deal, after food not arriving after 1 hour we asked for our money back, funny thing was at that point the food was magically ready, but no we had a movie to see and no time to eat.<br/><br/>Very slack service and thanks for the waste of time !

First time eating here and I'm coming back for more. I Had the pork, which was delicious,and crackling was cooked just the way I like it...Melt in your mouth crunch. <br/>Recommend this place to everyone, they even have a kids activity pack for the little ones.<br/>This place ticks all the right boxes.

I have been here a few times, always had excellent food. Last night we turned up near to kitchen closing and they still let us have a wonderful meal and the service was cheerful too.

We have had dinner here twice now and I have enjoyed it both times. Meals and drinks were very tasty and delivered in a timely manner. Staff were very friendly and helpful. Decor and atmosphere were fine. The restaurant can get a bit warm would be my only criticism.

We spent a very enjoyable Friday night here recently. I'm not sure if it is a regular thing, but they had live music, which was awesome. It gave the place a really good atmosphere. <br/><br/>We all really enjoyed our meals. The serving sizes are very generous. My pasta, which also came with a really good salad, was delicious and really reasonably priced. My partner had steak, which he thoroughly enjoyed too. The others at our table were also very happy.<br/><br/>We had quite a few drinks, which we probably wouldn't have if it wasn't for the music! <br/><br/>A lot of the staff here are quite young and maybe not that experienced, but you've got to give kids a break somewhere and we were happy with the service we got. <br/><br/>I'd definitely go back if I was in Hamilton again.

Dined here for a lazy Saturday afternoon lunch and thoroughly enjoyed it! Very friendly staff member who kindly informed me of the price differences for half and full sized drinks so I got the best value for money. <br/>Food was delicious! We had calamari and a chicken parcel. Both very tasty with a good balance of fries, salad and main item. Chicken parcel had lovely crispy filo pastry so had obviously been cooked fresh and not reheated. <br/>Cider and beer lovely and refreshing as usual :)

Nice atmosphere, good platters although I didn't try the seafood one because I'm not a bit seafood eater.<br/>Nice drinks and reasonably affordable!

I have to say that I have been to Speights a number of times before, and have always loved it. But I haven't been in about 4 months and when we went last night, I was disappointed.<br/><br/>We weren't given water or read the specials. We ordered, and my partner wasn't given a steak knife until his steak was infront of him. Our entree plate wasn't take away until our mains were brought out, and I wasn't offered a new drink.<br/><br/>My chicken parcel was FANTASTIC as always and the steak was also great, but my potatoes were still extremely hard, almost uncooked although they looked cooked on the outside.<br/><br/>Won't be going back in a hurry. Can get a meal from somewhere else for the same price but with better service.

Awesome selection of food. Great tasting food, will go there again for sure!!!<br/>Great atmosphere, bar service great but food service could have been better.

really blown away with the layout of this place.<br/>just looks spectacular.<br/><br/>at first service was great. I'm not one to complain about these things but my waiter had grubby sneakers on and just seemed a little unprofessional.<br/><br/>i ordered a drink and watched him walk back and forth to kitchen for about half an hour, not once talking to the bar staff about my drink.<br/>next thing he looks at me and yells "Sh!t" and runs to bar to make it.<br/><br/>there was a major "stuff up" (waiters terms) with our meal which resulted in around an hours wait.<br/><br/>pretty much disappointed with the waiters continuous swearing and general unimpressive behaviour.<br/>even my boyfriend didn't think much of the guy.<br/>when your the face of a restaurant you would think presentation and opinions were everything.<br/><br/>LADIES, recommend the speights old dark.<br/>tried it because i felt bad not drinking speights in the speights ale house. goes down nice without the tang other beers leave behind.