Meating Place Cafe, Birregurra

43 Main Street
Birregurra
Victoria 3242

We've stopped for lunch in Birregurra before, previously normally at the Royal Mail Hotel. Last time we were in town there was new management at the pub, and although there were a few well priced traditional pub counter meals available, it wasn't quite what we were looking for. 

We wandered down the street and decided to try the Meating Place Cafe at the Birregurra Farm Foods shop, which was pretty busy, both inside and out.

We found a table near the outdoor wood fired pizza oven, which needed to be dusted off, as it wasn't often used.

We ordered a couple of coffees, my long black was great...

..and the flat white went down well too.

I ordered the olive tapenade and hummus with flat bread from the oven. This arrived quite a while ahead of our other dish and we both shared it. The components were all good, if heavy on the salt and they blended well.

The mushroom pizza certainly sported plenty of funghi and perhaps just a bit too much cheese too.

The service was very friendly and just about managed to keep up with the long weekend crowd. The bill came to $42 including the coffees. The Meating Place would probably be our preferred option when heading through town next time.

Royal Mail Hotel, Birregurra

49 Main Street
Birregurra
VIC 3242

Birregurra is a small town 18 km east of Colac, just off the Princes Highway on the way to Apollo Bay. The Royal Mail Hotel in Main Street was first licensed in 1871 but the current building is more art deco in style, certainly from the outside.

We stopped in en route to the coast on a Saturday for some lunch and found  ourselves a seat outside in the courtyard and perused the bar menu, there was also a longer restaurant menu, with more substantial dishes.

We both went for the chicken Royal Mail Sliders, which arrived as described, the only slight surprise were the brioche style buns. The chips were crunchy and perfectly cooked. Each of the sauces with the mini-burgers was distinctive with the peri peri standing out, both in spiciness and as an overall standout.

I finished off with a decent long black to aid the next chunk of driving.

Birregurra isn't somewhere I'll find myself that often, but I'd happily go back for a bite. The service was friendly and efficient and they managed to deliver my coffee just as I was finishing off my food!

View Foodscrazy restaurant map in a larger map