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!

Rolling Pin Pies & Cakes, Queenscliff

40 Hesse Street
Queenscliff
Victoria 3225

The Rolling Pin Pies and Cakes cafe in Queenscliff is proud of it's award winning achievements!

I decided to give it one of its products a go...

The Wholemeal Vegetarian Pastie, has apparently twice been judged "Australia’s Best Vegetarian Pastie". The wholemeal pastry shell encased the tasty combination of veggies which hit the firmness and moisture sweet spots.

They clearly know how to make pies and live up to their prizes!

Yard 58 - Courtyard Cafe, Queenscliff

58 Hesse Street
Queenscliff
VIC 3225

We were looking a for a late lunch in Queenscliff and the Courtyard seemed to fit the bill.

So we headed down the corridor and found our selves in the main white walled room with access to the eponymous outdoor area.

The long black was good.

The chicken broth with dumplings, beanshoots, spring onions, chillies and coriander lacked much flavour although the dumplings were good.

I went for the veg and barley soup with sourdough toast which was hearty.

The bill came to around $35 with the hot drinks, the service was good and it is a nice spot for a light bite.

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.

Anglesea Golf Club

1 Golf Links Road
Anglesea
VIC 3230

The stroll from town up to the golf club on a summer was pleasant and once we were alongside and then within the grounds the famous local fauna was on view.

We made our way to the Bistro and opted for a table outside rather than in the busy dining room. The main menu covered a classic club dishes, pasta and salads, with specials on the chalk board. I timed the trip to the counter badly and had a bit of a wait and that meant a bit of a wait for our meals to. the view from the outdoor deck did make the time pass more quickly.

We asked for the swordfish with the sauce on the side, so I'm not sure how it would normally be plated. The pan seared fish was small and a bit over in our opinion, the serves of potatoes snow peas and asparagus were also on the petite side.

As I was near the coast, I couldn't help choosing the Fish and Chips. The three pieces of fish were crisply battered, the fries good and the salad fresh.

The food came to just under $50 and the wait staff were friendly although we did have quite a wait for our food. The location, views and fauna were the highlights of the visit, we wandered past this fellow on the way out....

Anglesea Hotel

24 McMahon Avenue
Anglesea
VIC 3230

We made it to the Anglesea Hotel on a Friday summers evening just before they stopped serving food at 8:30. We found a table outside, rather than in the dated feeling interior dining area.

We swiftly scanned the menu featuring plenty of standard dishes and the specials before ordering at the counter.

The seafood linguine did feature some decent mussels, prawns and scallops but the creamy tomato sauce was a miss.

I stuck to a basic dish of chicken schnitzel with chips and salad which was well executed. The sauce was fortunately contained as I'd chosen poorly and it didn't suit the dish.

Both mains were in the mid twenty dollar range. The service was fine but I don't think we'd go out of our way to rush back.

Cafe Maritana, Ocean Grove

1 Flinders Parade
Barwon Heads
VIC 3227

We chose Cafe Maritana initially based on its enviable location close to the water near the bridge across to Ocean Grove. There was no menu up outside but we decided to take a risk and head on in. The fit out inside simple and classic with wooden tables and flowers on the tables. It turned out that the menu was almost tapas style with plates to share.

We kicked off with the bread with dukha, balsamic and olive oil. The bread itself seemed pretty basic but the oil, vinegar and dukkah were all good.

The prawns were big, fresh and flavoursome, if only there had been more!

The Persian Beans combined the legumes with olives, feta and more dukkah. Whilst each of the components were good, the combination didn't quite work for us.

The tempura soft shell crab was another winner.

 Our final selection was the mini-bucket of chilli salt whitebait which packed quite a flavour punch which we enjoyed.

Overall it was a little hit and miss and it would have been great to have a bit more variety with the salad garnish, as rocket appeared in 3 of the dishes. The service was friendly and well paced. The bill came to $98 with a 3 drinks.

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.