The Harbour Fish shop at the Apollo Bay Fishermans Co-Op

Breakwater Road
Apollo Bay
VIC 3233

The Harbour Fish shop at the Apollo Bay Fisherman's Co-Op is situated away from the main strip of shops and eateries. You can find it just off the Great Ocean Road as it heads out of Apollo Bay towards Marengo, just past the Golf Club and above the harbour.

The set up is pretty basic and makes maximum use of the location. The shop itself faces the water, with tables and chairs outside, mostly uncovered. Inside is the classic counter with the usual options on the menu. We placed our orders and headed outside to admire the view for 10 minutes while we waited for our order.

We then made our way down to the beach to eat. I went for the classic flake and we shared the large chips. The fish was perfectly cooked and the batter just crisp enough. The chips were classic chip shop style, reasonably thick cut with crunch on the outside and soft inside.

The better half had her mind set on a fish burger all day and ordered accordingly. Although the fish itself was good, the roll was soft and uninspiring and the lettuce a bit limp. Overall it didn't live up to the expectation or anticipation

The meal cost $23 which is comparable with other local options. The location makes the Harbour Fish Shop as a great option on days the weather is being kind in Apollo Bay!

Great Ocean Road Brewhouse, Apollo Bay

29 Great Ocean Road
Apollo Bay
VIC 3233

We'd visited the Great Ocean Hotel as it was formerly known a couple of times so were interested to see it had been taken over by the Prickly Moses Brewery and become the Great Ocean Brewhouse. Other than some new signage, there hadn't been many changes to the exterior. Inside the biggest difference were the new and extensive range of beers on tap.

We sat at high seats near the windows in the bar section, rather than the dining area. There plenty of customers packed in on busy summer public holiday weekend.

The burger was well presented and went down well,but not especially memorable.

I received a generously sized serve of fish and chips which ticked the boxes and filled me up.

The meals came to $48.80, and they were served pretty swiftly. The crowd became more lively over the course of the meal as was to be expected. The beers available would encourage me to return, the bottle shop also stocks a good range of locally produced wine and beer.

Scorched Grill, Apollo Bay

135 Great Ocean Road
Apollo Bay
Victoria 3233

Scorched Grill is a new addition to the main strip of the Great Ocean Road through Apollo Bay, with a few seats outside...

... and plenty more inside.

The fit out is vibrant, modern and stylish, with a polished concrete floor and some great furniture.

The menu was burger focused, with a few hot dogs available too.

They are also licensed with a range of mostly craft beers.

The better half selected the 4 Pine Kolsch, but ended up favouring the Melbourne, so I got to enjoy the more hoppy flavours.

The Plain Jane is a pretty basic burger with the the patty accompanied by lettuce, tomato, ketchup and aioli. The brioche bun was on the sweet side and little dry too, there wasn't much sauce, so it didn't really live up to its good looks.

I went for the "meat free", which featured a panko crumbed field mushroom, along with cheese, tomato, lettuce, pickles and onion jam. The flavours worked well together and the overall number of moist ingredients helped it deliver satisfying mouthfuls.

The large serve of shoestring style chips was big enough to share, and the fries ticked the crunchy, salty and soft in the middle boxes.

The service was fine and it didn't take too long from ordering at the counter to receiving our meals. With the two beers, the meal ended up coming in at over $50, which seems a lot for a burger based meal to me! I'm not sure that we'll be rushing back, but if we do, we'd focus on the more well endowed burgers.

Apollo Bay Seafood Cafe

119 Great Ocean Road
Apollo Bay
Victoria 3233

Despite having stayed in Apollo Bay a few times, we had never got around to doing the fish and chips on the beach thing. Recently we decided to put that right, and decided to pick the popular looking Apollo Bay Seafood Cafe.

It was pretty busy inside on the Thursday evening in late January, but we only had to wait for a for a minute or two after studying the menu before we could order, then it was under 10 minutes until our food was ready. There venue was tidy and clean with quite a few tables to eat in, but we had already planned to head across the road though.

The fish and chips looked pretty good on first inspection, there are also some scallops hiding in there somewhere, they turned out to be pretty small apparently. I had the blue grenadier which was moist with a bit of crunch to the batter, however it was a bit oily, as was the case with the butterfish. The chips were great, crunchy exterior and perfectly soft inside.

The views from our perch on top of the dunes were stunning.

The bill came in at $22.10, which seemed pretty good value for Apollo Bay, and I'd be happy to head back, although there are several other 'chippies' to try in town!

Thai House, Apollo Bay

18 Pascoe Street
Apollo Bay
VIC 3233

On previous visits to Apollo Bay, we either hadn't been in the mood for Thai dining or had found the restaurant closed. This time it ended up being the first eatery we visited. We sat outside under a Singha parasol.

After selecting a couple of Thai beers and perusing the menu, we ended up going with two old favourites... I wouldn't normally bother with a shot of the rice, but the presentation was pretty special, and it was a generous 'small' sized serve.

The roti light and not too greasy.

The prawn pad Thai contained all the key main ingredients, but the flavours in the were a little off, perhaps sweet chilli sauce had been added? Unfortunately this pushed the overall impression of the dish into average territory.

The green curry chicken however was fantastic, with great authentic flavours complimenting the fresh veggies and chunks of chook.

The bill came to just over $70,generous the service was efficient, given it was a busy summer Saturday. We'd probably head back if we fancied some Thai while down on the Great Ocean Road, but might try and stray further on the menu...

Nautigals - Mexican

57-59 Great Ocean Road
Apollo Bay
Vic 3233

We first ate at Nautigals in 2012, and on our most recent visit it has moved to a Mexican menu on the evenings it is open for. It's worth checking as outside holiday periods if it will be open, as it is often open as a daytime cafe only in the week.

The Mexican theme hasn't been taken too far, although we did spot this sombrero. We ate in the courtyard, which was pretty quiet when we arrived at around 7 on a Saturday, but it soon filled up. 

We shared the bean paste tacos for entree, topped with chopped tomato, red onion and avocado, they were super tasty and disappeared in no time.

The chicken enchiladas topped with a little tomato sauce, cheese and guacamole and served with sour cream and jalapenos, a simple green salad and chips were great value for under $20.

The grilled sweetcorn was some of the best the better half had ever had, sweet, soft and juicy with an awesome spicy sauce. She is a corn fan and has tried plenty of it at different Mexican spots, and this was apparently a winner!

I had a veggie burrito which again had a sensible amount of cheese melted over it, so hopefully didn't raise my cholesterol levels too high. The flavours and textures were authentic and satisfying, and the plate certainly filled me up.

The service was casual and friendly, but still pretty efficient. The meal came to $78 including a few beers and we'll certainly be popping in again when visit Apollo Bay next, if they are open for dinner.

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Cafe 153, Apollo Bay

153 Great Ocean Road
Apollo Bay
Vic 3233

03 5237 1123

On the corner of Hardy Street and the Great Ocean Road, in Apollo Bay Cafe 153 is at the northern (Lorne) end of the strip of cafes, shops and pubs. We headed there with some nervousness after reading some average reviews on urbanspoon, mainly focussed on the service, but also on value.

On arrival, the two service staff seemed a little overwhelmed with a flurry of new diners, including a grounp of 7, when there were already two larger tables seated. We were shown to a table by the window of modern, clean and bright interior.

The menus weren't too long but contained some interesting options, I've included them below as they are different to the current online examples, the starters cover plenty of offerings from the ocean...

...as did the mains...

... and indeed the specials.

We shared the house gravlax pizza for entree, which show cased the smoked trout brilliantly, with the goats cheese working much better than expected, all on a small thin and crispy base...

I went with the seafood chowder for my main, the soup was thick and reasonably flavoursome, the seafood was the real star, with great mussels, prawns, fish and scallops. I probably could have done with another slice of the lovely sourdough.

The concept of a Brazilian claypot was new to me, but the seafood stew was beautifully flavoured, packed with plenty of mussels, prawns, fish and scallops and topped off fried soft shell crab. It certainly had the better half raving about it for a couple of days!

We found the service to be friendly and pretty efficient once everyone was settled, certainly more cafe than fine dining, but that was to be expected. Perhaps when Apollo Bay is packed in the holidays it can get very busy, but is that 153's issue? The view across the bay to the Otway hills is fantastic and the good food was worth the $100 we paid including a few drinks. We'll be thinking of heading back next time we are visiting!

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