It Just Has To Be Delicious

Posts tagged ‘Pub’

The Galway Hooker, Scarborough

Continuing with the quest to find the best Sunday roast in Perth, we decided to give the Galway Hooker a try. It’s a traditional Irish pub in Scarborough – a mecca for backpackers who want to enjoy the bustle of the bars and cafes, and sunbathe and surf.

As soon as we arrived I was struck by how noisy it was. The pub was absolutely packed, and the waitress directed me to my reserved table which was in the middle of all the clamour. She explained that there was UFC being televised throughout the pub, and it would be noisy for the next hour or so, and she suggested that we come back later. As we had come a fair way (40 minute drive) we decided to stay, but it was impossibly noisy and hard to have a conversation.

I went to the bar and ordered two $28 roast beef dinners (the other choice was roast chicken).

It was certainly plentiful with several slices of beef, a Yorkshire pudding, some greens, squash, carrot, roasted potatoes and mash, with a nice amount of gravy. We also asked for horseradish, which was of good quality. The beef was a little variable, some slices were really tender where others were a little fatty or slightly tough. I would have liked a few extra roasties and no mash, and would have preferred to pour my own gravy, but it was still a nice plate of food, and I suppose they are catering to a lot of people and providing hearty Irish portions with something for everybody.

In terms of the noise, I really wish that they had a) informed me of the situation when I booked and b) seated us in a corner or booth rather than in the centre of the pub. I think on a different day, we may have enjoyed it more, but the noise, the table location, and the fact that it was ‘okay’ food rather than amazing means that we probably won’t return.

Last Visit – September 2023

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The Iluka, Iluka

The second instalment in the quest to find the roast in Perth took us to The Iluka, a pub in the beachside suburb of Iluka.

There’s no separate dining area, all of the tables are within the pub, so dining here comes with all the noise and clamour of a pub atmosphere. To be honest I think the Iluka are missing a trick here, and there is definitely space to have a separate quieter bistro area.

Initially we were taken to a table that was incredibly uncomfortable. Even though I had booked several weeks ago, there didn’t seem to be a reservation sign on the table (unlike others), and it was a very cramped table with a huge barrel base and high seats. There was no way to sit comfortably, you either knocked your knees on the barrel or had to sit with your legs open to get close enough to reach adequately. I asked the waitress for another table and she said that they were fully booked so it was unlikely. Eventually she came back and offered us a much better table, but with the proviso that we only had 90 minutes to order and eat. I thanked her for organising this and we happily moved.

That’s pretty much where the waitress service ended. We had the choice of ordering online via a QR code or going up to the bar. The choices for Sunday lunch are roast beef, a chicken maryland, or a nut roast. I went up and ordered drinks and two portions of roast beef with trimmings ($38 for each roast). It was a bit confusing because the tables have a number, but you also get given a separate number to put on top of the table,

I had a rather nice glass of Tai Tira Marlborough sauvignon blanc while we waited.

The meal was served by a waitress, but without cutlery and sauces, so I had to go and hunt them down. I couldn’t find any horseradish and when I asked, the waitresses said that they would bring it to me, but that didn’t happen. A few minutes later I saw a staff member putting jars of horseradish on the sauce table, so I got up to get some, but it was annoying that I had to keep getting up to get things.

The meal was great, and nicely seasoned. The beef was very good quality (although another slice wouldn’t have gone amiss), veggies (broccolini, anise red cabbage, mixed carrot and swede) were perfectly cooked and the potatoes were excellent. I liked that the gravy came in a separate pot and it was a nice amount. The yorkie was good, but not huge.

I’d like to say that I would go back for a meal of such good quality, but I am a bit in the balance. If booking again I would specify a comfy table – too many people were awkwardly eating food while perched on the high tables. Obviously I’d be aware of the mainly self-service approach in future and know what to expect. The quality was great, but a little extra thought to the environment and the service could have made the whole experience fantastic.

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The Beehive, Horringer, Suffolk, UK

The Beehive is a typical English country pub in Horringer, Suffolk. It’s a very pretty location, very chocolate box-worthy.

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We visited for lunch on a lovely sunny day and enjoyed the old pub atmosphere and the warm welcome.
I chose thai style chicken which came with egg fried rice. It was nice but a little heavy on the salt.

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My partner chose lamb shank with mustard mash. This was absolutely delicious, and probably the best meal of the three.

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Our auntie chose a seafood linguine, which was good, but very hands on, with lots of seafood in the shell. She enjoyed it but found it quite messy to negotiate and it would have been good if the menu had mentioned that the seafood was shell-on.

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For dessert the chef made me a dairy free ice cream sundae with berries which was very good.

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My partner chose the sticky date pudding which he thoroughly enjoyed.

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The Beehive is a great location for an English pub lunch, and the food is prepared with love.

Visit Date – September 2019

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Inglewood Hotel, Mount Lawley

Inglewood Hotel Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

The Inglewood Hotel is a fairly traditional pub and restaurant at the North end of Beaufort Street in Mount Lawley. We attended for a Christmas function and sampled the set menu. There were three choices of starter, three mains and two desserts.

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I chose the beef cheek croquettes with watermelon and feta salad for starter. They were a little under-seasoned on their own, but the addition of the sweet balsamic and salty feta made for a nice mouthful when sampled together. My colleague chose the vegetarian bruschetta which she said was also a little under-seasoned but the artichokes were a nice touch.

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For main course I selected the fish – grilled goldband snapper with edamame, pickled cucumber, chill, gem lettuce and red onion salad with lime dressing. The fish was a little on the dry side, but not overly so, and the pickled cucumber was lovely, I would have liked more of it. The salad had way too much lettuce and red onion and I think that a vietnamese style salad would have been a nicer accompaniment. The fish skin was nice and crispy and the fish had a lovely flavour.

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My colleague had the vegetarian cranberry and pistachio loaf with caramelised fig and mushroom parcels and salsa verde. The description sounded much nicer than the dish that was presented, however, my colleague enjoyed, she said that it was like a chunky risotto.

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Another colleague chose the quarter roast chicken with lemon thyme baby potatoes, honey roast carrots and leeks, with pan gravy and sage stuffing. He enjoyed it – it was a fairly standard roast lunch.

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Of the two desserts I chose the warm dark chocolate hot pot with raspberry ice cream and orange candy bits. It was lovely but quite rich and I couldn’t finish it all. I enjoyed the raspberry ice cream more than the chocolate – it was like a brownie mixture and quite runny underneath the crispy topping.

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The other dessert was house-made christmas pudding with vanilla brandy snaps. The texture was more of a cake than a pudding, but my colleague enjoyed it very much.

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Considering that this was a Christmas lunch and our tables totalled 23 diners, the staff did well to serve all of the meals in fairly good condition. There was a lengthy wait between courses though, and the meal wasn’t really a stand-out feast for me, it was fairly average, but also very good value at $48 for three courses.

Last Visit Date – December 2018

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Restaurant review, Vegan/Vegetarian

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Cornerstone Ale House, Jindalee

Cornerstone Ale House Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

The Cornerstone Ale House is in the northern suburb of Jindalee, a little way north of the end of the Mitchell Freeway, a modern area where the architects have included pretty lakes, ponds and fountains.

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I was invited to review the Cornerstone bistro, and we were given a quiet table overlooking the outdoor deck and one of the nice ponds.

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The menu is quite varied with many pub favourites like pasta, chicken parmi, bangers and mash, lamb shanks and steak, but it also includes some more sophisticated options like pork belly, thai chilli crab and beef cheeks. There is also a specials menu, and the special curry of the day was beef vindaloo.
We started with a glass of New Zealand Southern Skies sauvignon blanc – very reasonable at $6.50 a glass, and a nice fruity sauvi which we enjoyed very much.

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For starters we chose the pork belly bites served on pulled pork and onion jam and the buffalo wings with BBQ marinade and coleslaw.
The pork belly bites were perfect. Beautifully cooked pork and a lovely crunch on the crackling, just a nice amount of onion jam, and 4 nice chunks of pork. I would order these again in a heartbeat. I would even think about ordering a double portion for my main – they were so good.

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The buffalo wings were also very nice, sticky and well cooked. We were provided with a finger bowl and extra serviettes. the marinade was slightly sweet for my tastes, but it didn’t affect my enjoyment of them. I do love coleslaw, and the house made slaw was a good quality version and a nice backdrop to the meaty wings. Yum.

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For main my partner chose the special beef vindaloo which he thoroughly enjoyed. It was nicely spicy with well cooked beef and a dish that he would choose again. It was a generous portion of curry, but a small portion of rice, maybe in future we would ask for extra rice.

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I was intrigued to try the chilli crab which came as a very generous portion of two spanner crabs with prawns (there were at least 6 large prawns) in a spicy red coconut curry sauce. At $29 for this dish, I wondered how they make any money on it – it was a very generous portion for the price.

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I was provided with shell crackers and a meat picker, and found eating the crabs a very messy but enjoyable experience. This is definitely not a first date dish and I did wonder if others might choose it from the menu thinking that the crab meat would be already prepared and de-shelled, so it could be worth a slight change for the menu to state that the crab is ‘in the shell’. I didn’t mind though, and I loved it and made a complete mess of the table. Again, despite the generosity of everything else, the rice portion was a bit small, and I could have done with a little more.

For dessert we chose to share the sticky date pudding.

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This was a delightfully gooey dessert with a lovely caramel ice cream, and a great finish to a lovely meal. The wait staff were lovely throughout, after each course they checked to make sure that we were ready for the next course, and they made sure that we had enough table water and serviettes. The food portions were generous and very good value, and everything was tasty and well prepared.
I expected standard pub fare (which is generally hearty but often pre-packaged frozen food), and was surprised to receive food that was prepared with care, definitely homemade, and very tasty. I will be back soon to try some of the other dishes.

Visit Date – September 2018

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