The Lane Cafe, Ballarat

27 Lydiard Street North
Ballarat
Victoria 3350

After a busy viewing of the Archibald exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ballarat we crossed the road to the grand old Victorian George Hotel.

We headed to the adjoining Lane Cafe which is more art deco on the outside, but is linked to the main building.

Inside was more of a bustling modern vibe. The menu stresses a heavy reliance on quality local ingredients.

We both ended up selecting pizza's, the prawn, chorizo, chilli, tomato, basil, rocket, aioli and lemon number delivered a winning combination of flavours!

I went for the margarita with chevre and garlic added to the regular mozzarella, Napoli lane sauce and basil. Both the toppings and base hit the spot.

It took a little while for our meals to arrive but it was a busy public holiday weekend. The pizza's ranged from $14 to $24 each. I'd certainly be happy to go back for more!

George Hotel Ballarat

25/27 Lydiard St
Ballarat,
Vic, 3350

We were visiting Ballarat with friends and were a little worried about finding somewhere that would seat 8 of us for a casual dinner after 8:30. It was no problem to get a table at the George Hotel.
We sat in the dinning area, behind the main bar which was quite lively, especially when we left. There were a few other groups of diners.

The menu was slightly unusual for a pub, featuring a variety of asian dishes alongside more standard pub food.

I went for the fisherman's basket, with prawns, scallops and calamari as well fish, chips and salad. It was all pretty well cooked and tasty.

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Other diners had a mix of dishes, the steak got a thumbs down, but most people were happy.

A reasonable option and certainly OK for medium sized groups...




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Golden City Hotel

427 Sturt Street, Ballarat, Vic
03 5331 6211

We visited the Golden City Hotel for lunch. It sits right on Sturt Street in the centre of Ballarat and is a traditional looking pub from the outside. On the inside you quickly realise that  it is certainly focused on serving food.. We got one of the last 2 seat tables, but despite the number of diners we were served in a reasonable time. The menu was a mix of traditional Aussie pub food, with a few Italian dishes.

I went for the Italian pizza, with hot salami, olives, mushrooms and anchovies. It was a medium size, and just about right for lunch. It was a super thin base, but the dough was good and well cooked. The hot salami certainly lived up to it's billing, and the flavours worked out well.

The prawn linguini had a creamy white wine sauce which was a little bland, with not too much evidence of the promised chilli and garlic.

The meals were around $20 each... As we don't visit Ballarat often, I doubt we'll be back soon, but we might try the Golden City Hotel again.





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