The pub, which is believed to boast the oldest continuous licence in Hamilton dating back to 1865, stood out as a favourite for the Sydney-raised brothers who eventually settled on purchasing the Lambton Park Hotel in 2014 before recently taking over The Bennett.

"We have always had our eye on this pub," Dan Turner says, standing in the main bar at The Bennett. "When we first came up, we looked around at a few pubs and the Lambton pub was one of them and the one we ended up purchasing. But this one, we loved the location, the bones of the building itself and just the potential we saw in it."

The pair, along with friend and business partner Simon Finlay, sold the Lambton Park Hotel in mid-2018 after completing extensive refurbishments during their four years as owners. Shortly after, the opportunity arose to purchase The Bennett Hotel.

"The timing did work out quite well for us. We sold that in August and then we got the phone call in September that this was a possibility," Dan Turner says.

Since taking over in January, the hotel's dining area has undergone a renovation, with the operators of the pub's Chinese restaurant moving on after 24 years.The Bennett's bistro opened in April. The dining area is light, bright and modern, with mint green wall panelling that complements original tiles that feature on the pub's exterior.

''We are keeping original elements and refreshing others. It's a great local pub with great bones, so we don't want to lose that," Turner says. "We want it to be a really good local."

In the coming months, the space will expand when a wall is knocked out to create a more open-plan feel that will allow for an additional 30 seats.

Head chef Shane Edwards, who followed them from the Lambton Park Hotel, is at the helm in the kitchen which operates seven days a week for lunch and dinner, with a focus on offering a balanced menu of classic pub food with a modern twist, offering small plates, burgers,mains, counter meals, salads, and desserts.

The crab toast (blue swimmer crab served on grilled flatbread with creme fraiche, lemon, chilli and olive oil) entree comes at the recommendation of Joel, while Dan's picks are the barramundi served with garlic and herb gratin, broccolini, cumin pumpkin puree and shaved leek, or the Korean fried chicken burger with chilli, sesame,crunchy slaw, and hot sticky sauce.

"It's quite a saucy, juicy burger. It's fried and then dipped into hot sauce," Turner says. "People can't get enough of it and it's selling out our cheeseburger, which is rare. The barramundi is a solid dish in itself and, for winter, the ragu with brisket is beautiful."

The salads are also worth a look, too.The winter salad combines chargrilled cauliflower with fried beans, pumpkin seeds, baby spinach and beetroot hummus, while the otto salad has jap pumpkin with glazed carrots, lentils, gorgonzola, toasted pinenuts and honey vinaigrette.

"We haven't got down that track of offering just another Caesar salad," Turner says."Our salads are full of flavour and each one is quite different."

There is a weekly specials board as well, which this week includes beef goulash served in house-made bread.

"Everything we make is in-house. We are lucky because we also have Ethan, who is a pastry chef, in the kitchen so we make all of our bread in-house," Turner says. "It's about doing as much as we possibly can ourselves."

The Bennett's specials include two-for-one counter meals and greens on Monday, $15 pot pie on Tuesday, $15 steak with unlimited fries on Wednesday, $10 burgers on Thursday, and kids eat free on Sunday.

In the main bar, there are 24 beers on tap, including a rotating range of craft beers.The Bennett also has its own branded brew The Lame Dog, which pays homage to the pub's original name.