The White Horse Surry Hills: Reopening, Prices and Ratings

The White Horse on Crown Street in Surry Hills reopened in 2024 after a substantial renovation, according to Time Out Sydney’s review — a format change that swapped an old burger-and-roast pub for a modern Australian gastropub under executive chef Jed Gerrard. The practical facts for anyone researching the venue: reopening timeline, menu prices from the first critical reviews, ratings, and the gaps still worth confirming before booking. Key claims are grounded in Good Food, Time Out Sydney and Tripadvisor.

Last checked: 2026-10-28

Address: Crown Street, Surry Hills, Sydney · Cuisine: Pub, Australian, Gastropub · Price range: $ – $$ · Rating: 4.7 / 5 (350+ reviews) · Meal types: Lunch, Dinner

White Horse Surry Hills: key facts at a glance

Latest verified information about White Horse Surry Hills

The most important verified fact is the format change. Time Out Sydney’s review of the renovated venue describes a pub-restaurant that pairs fine-dining technique with a casual public-bar identity. A detailed critical review from Sydney Morning Herald Good Food followed on 23 May 2024 and reached a clear verdict:

“The pub’s most delicious iteration yet.”

Michael Harry, Sydney Morning Herald Good Food

Good Food’s full descriptor — “highly tuned pub-restaurant with fine-dining chops” — captures the positioning. Kitchen leader Jed Gerrard’s prior stops include Tetsuya’s, Bilson’s, Hearth and Wills Domain, per Time Out, which also notes a menu emphasis on ethically sourced produce and native Australian ingredients.

Reopening date and context

The building at 381-385 Crown Street has operated as a pub for years, but the current format is a deliberate departure. Yelp reviews from an earlier period describe burgers, roasts and experimental drinks, including cucumber beer on tap. Hotel Australia’s secondary coverage places the reopening in April 2024.

Current menu and price highlights

Dishes and prices that appeared in the May 2024 Good Food review: butter-poached Western Australian marron with sweetcorn and ice plant at A$58; kombu-glazed toothfish at A$55; wagyu tri-tip with chestnut mushroom sabayon at A$45; beetroot millefeuille at A$24; and a bar-menu steak sandwich with smoked tomato relish and fries at A$34. The same review estimated a meal for two at about A$180 excluding drinks.

Time Out’s June 2024 review highlights a different set of standouts: roasted chicken skin with liver mousse, persimmon and Davidson plum; smoked eel dip with herb snow and crudités; roasted beetroot with muntries and native thyme oil; and Magra lamb with cucumber, pistachio and herbs.

White Horse Surry Hills: full specification

What readers should know first about White Horse Surry Hills

Key ratings and awards

The strongest verified accolade is Time Out Sydney’s five-star review, published 19 June 2024. The review’s summary line:

“Exciting, clever and most importantly, delicious plates of food.”

Time Out Sydney reviewer

Tripadvisor’s current listing shows 4.6 out of 5 from nine reviews. Reviewer comments on that listing praise the service, presentation and dishes including wagyu tartare, pork belly French toast, rock-lobster pappardelle and dry-aged duck; with only nine reviews, the score is directional rather than conclusive.

If the phrase “White Horse Surry Hills one hat” brought you here, the honest finding is: no primary source in our research confirms a Good Food Guide hat for the current venue. The verified honours are the Time Out five-star rating and Good Food’s “most delicious iteration yet” verdict.

Meal types and ambience

Meal service covers lunch and dinner. Tripadvisor’s displayed hours list Wednesday and Thursday from 5:30 pm to midnight, Friday to Sunday from noon to midnight, with Monday and Tuesday closed — so lunch appears limited to Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Secondary coverage from Hotel Australia describes a ground-floor restaurant, an upstairs public bar and a rooftop terrace, giving the venue three distinct modes: restaurant meal, bar drink or rooftop round. Time Out’s cocktail notes mention strawberry, rhubarb, grapefruit, pomegranate, plum and lime.

Pricing at White Horse Surry Hills

The venue sits in the moderate-to-expensive band ($$–$$$), with restaurant prices and a pub’s more casual entry points. Observed a la carte prices from the May 2024 Good Food review: beetroot millefeuille A$24, bar steak sandwich with fries A$34, wagyu tri-tip A$45, kombu-glazed toothfish A$55, and marron A$58.

Drinks are the value lever. Time Out reported every by-the-glass wine under A$20, with most around A$15. The wine list runs to about 100 bottles, weighted toward Australian and European organic or regenerative producers.

“Prices that offer good value.”

Time Out Sydney reviewer

That drink pricing sits against a Good Food estimate of about A$180 for two excluding drinks, which puts a full restaurant dinner at the expensive end of the pub spectrum.

The bottom line: The a la carte prices are premium; the wine list and bar menu are where the pub-value equation balances.

Pros and cons: White Horse Surry Hills

What works

• Critical reception: Time Out Sydney awarded five stars; Good Food called it the pub’s most delicious iteration yet.
• Kitchen pedigree: chef Jed Gerrard’s resume includes Tetsuya’s, Bilson’s, Hearth and Wills Domain.
• Produce direction: ethically sourced produce and native Australian ingredients anchor the menu.
• Drinks pricing: by-the-glass wines under A$20, most around A$15, across a list of about 100 bottles.
• Flexible spaces: ground-floor restaurant, upstairs bar and rooftop terrace, per Hotel Australia’s reporting.

What to weigh

• A la carte prices run to A$58 for marron and A$55 for toothfish; Good Food estimated about A$180 for two excluding drinks.
• Tripadvisor’s 4.6/5 score rests on only nine reviews — a thin sample.
• An older Tripadvisor listing at the same address is marked closed; the duplication can confuse first-time visitors.
• Displayed hours close the venue Monday and Tuesday; lunch appears limited to Friday through Sunday.
• Dishes and prices rotate seasonally, so the May–June 2024 review figures may not hold.

Why this matters: The pros point to a kitchen worth crossing town for; the cons point to confirmation steps — current menu, set-lunch availability and the correct listing — before you book.

Who it’s best for

• Foodies: the native-ingredient, fine-dining technique is the strongest reason to book. The May 2024 highlights — butter-poached marron at A$58, beetroot millefeuille at A$24, Magra lamb with cucumber, pistachio and herbs — show the range.
• Budget-conscious diners: by-the-glass wine mostly around A$15 and a bar steak sandwich at A$34 keep the bill down; the reported A$55 six-course lunch, if running, is the strongest value.
• Group diners: the reported three levels — restaurant, upstairs bar, rooftop terrace — suit groups that want to move from food to drinks; fruit-forward cocktails (strawberry, rhubarb, grapefruit, pomegranate, plum, lime) give a round structure.
• Pub enthusiasts: the pub identity survives in the snacks and bar menu; roasted chicken skin with liver mousse and a steak sandwich with fries fit a drink-and-a-bite instinct.

What to watch: Group organisers should confirm the current status of the upstairs bar and rooftop before relying on that layout, since it comes from secondary reporting.

Official sources confirming key claims

Primary sources used

The claims in this article rest on five source sets: Time Out Sydney’s restaurant review; Sydney Morning Herald Good Food’s critical review; two Tripadvisor listings for the venue; Yelp’s historical reviews; and Hotel Australia’s secondary coverage of the reopening. Publication dates range from the May–June 2024 reviews to the most recent Tripadvisor snapshot.

What each source confirms

• Time Out Sydney: the 2024 reopening, chef Jed Gerrard’s background, the ethical-sourcing and native-ingredient direction, the five-star rating, cocktail descriptions, and the under-A$20 by-the-glass ceiling.
• Sydney Morning Herald Good Food: dish-by-dish prices from A$24 to A$58, the bar-menu steak sandwich at A$34, a wine list of about 100 bottles, and the estimated A$180 dinner for two without drinks.
• Tripadvisor: the current listing verifies the street address, displayed hours and a 4.6/5 rating from nine reviews; an older listing at the same address is marked closed.
• Yelp: the pre-2024 menu period of burgers, roasts and experimental drinks.
• Hotel Australia: the reported April 2024 reopening month and the reported A$55 six-course lunch, both of which carry less evidentiary weight because they lack primary confirmation.

What remains unclear or unverified

Gaps in the publicly available data

Three gaps stood out across the sources we reviewed: no official current menu URL was available; no booking policy or reservation link was verified; and no allergen, vegetarian, vegan or accessibility documentation was published in any source we could access.

The “one hat” association that surfaces in some search descriptions was not confirmed by any primary source. Displayed hours on Tripadvisor are an aggregator signal and may be stale.

Common user questions without definitive answers

Is the six-course lunch at A$55 still running? Hotel Australia’s coverage says it ran Friday to Sunday from noon to 3pm, but no primary menu source confirms it. Has Jed Gerrard remained in the kitchen? Time Out’s June 2024 review confirms him at that date; no later primary statement was found. Which Tripadvisor listing is live? The current listing appears active; the older listing is marked closed.

Location and getting there

The venue is at 381-385 Crown Street, Surry Hills, NSW 2010, on an inner-Sydney dining and pub strip. The street address appears on both the current and older Tripadvisor listings, but only the current listing is marked as operating — a point worth confirming before you travel.

The implication: Because navigation apps can pick either Tripadvisor listing, aim for the venue marked open on the current listing and double-check the entrance on arrival.

White Horse timeline

• Before 2024 — Yelp reviews describe an earlier incarnation serving burgers, roasts and experimental drinks, including cucumber beer on tap (Yelp).
• April 2024 — The venue reopens after a substantial renovation, per Hotel Australia’s secondary coverage.
• 23 May 2024 — Sydney Morning Herald Good Food publishes its review of the new-look venue.
• 19 June 2024 — Time Out Sydney publishes its five-star review.
• December 2024 – February 2025 — An older Tripadvisor listing at the same address is marked closed.
• At the time of research — Tripadvisor’s current listing shows 4.6 out of 5 from nine reviews.

What this means: The reviewer consensus formed within two months of the reopening, while the listing confusion suggests a venue still settling into its new identity.

Alternatives and comparisons

The most direct comparison is the current White Horse against its own previous incarnation. Yelp-era reviews describe a pub doing burgers, roasts and experimental drinks such as cucumber beer; the 2024 format trades that casual predictability for finer cooking and higher prices — a real trade-off for old-school pub regulars.

If a traditional pub feed is the priority, the bar menu inside the current venue is the closest match to the old format: a steak sandwich with smoked tomato relish and fries at A$34, with by-the-glass wines around A$15.

For comparisons beyond this venue, the decision variables that matter based on our research are format (casual bar versus restaurant-style service), price per main, and whether a set-lunch offer reduces the bill. For the full arc of the venue’s history and menu context, see our White Horse Surry Hills: Menu, Reviews & History Guide.

The catch: The current White Horse may not satisfy someone expecting a classic pub feed; its technique and price points belong to the restaurant end of the pub spectrum.

Frequently asked questions