The Family Hotel has a new menu and it's full of vegan and vegetarian options. But don't fear, your classic Pub Grub faves are still there.

Menu highlights include their soft shell tacos and deep-fried pickles for entrees, followed by a good selection of burgers and hot dogs for mains. Including an unusual vegetarian (and vegan) option, the BBQ jackfruit burger (pictured above). I never realised you could turn a fruit into a burger but The Family have proved you certainly can, and it was delicious!

There's also your classic Pub Grub faves like a chicken schnitzel or parmigiana, a vege parmy, a couple of delish salads and steak on the menu. Oh and then there's dessert, chocolate brownies and pineapple fritters served with vegan ice cream. The brownies are ah-mazing. I think I said the word moist at least five times in a single sentence whilst chowing down on one. 

Wanting to pay tribute to the glory days, the owners have brought back The Family name, done away with the pokies, TAB and all those other gambling options, replacing them instead with a kitchen that’s best described as dude food with vegan options, along with some pub classics.

The food is backed up with a drinks list that puts the fun back into cocktails and whilst the names all sound like a bit of a laugh they all pack some serious punch. Must tries include the Coconut Margarita, Turbo Shandy and the Lagerita, which comes with its very own upside down tinny.

The highlight on the cocktail list is without a doubt the Punchbowl. A massive, very 80s looking plastic bowl, filled to the brim with a sangria inspired flavour, fruits and even some Allen’s lollies to garnish this bowl of punch.

It all comes together in a venue dressed in bric-a-brac that makes The Family uniquely Newcastle. How many other pubs have a shrine to Yahoo Serious, aka, Young Einstein?!

Owner Steven Forbes said that, “I grew up in Mayfield but after spending the last 10 years running pubs in Sydney it was time to come home. I chose The Family because it’s similar to the last pub I ran, The Oxford Tavern. In just 12 months we flipped the Tav from being a dodgy 24-hour stripper pub in Petersham full of pokies to being a community minded venue that was awarded Best New Pub of The Year at the 2014 Bar Awards. I’m confident we can do something similar here at The Family because we’re not just called The Family Hotel, we are a family hotel”.