The Union Hotel, Brunswick

109 Union Street,
Brunswick,
VIC, 3056

We'd had dinner at The Union Hotel in Brunswick a while back, this time we met friends for lunch, and on a spring day sat in a covered area in the garden out the back. It has the look and feel of a backstreet suburban pub, albeit one that has been gently modernised.

I had the fish of the day, barramundi which came with kiffler potatoes, spinach cherry tomatoes and capers. The skin was super crispy, maybe just a bit too crunchy, and the fish was a tiny bit on the dry side and fairly small, other than that everything was well prepared and combined nicely.

The chilli bean enchiladas were topped with melted cheese, guacamole and sour cream and were served on a capsicum, spanish onion and cherry tomato salad and was a generous plateful... so much so I got half the serve to finish! The enchiladas were tasty but somewhat dry.

The grilled sausages were certainly generously proportioned and cane with bacon and parsley mash, greens and jus. They seemed to go down well.

The service was smooth and friendly even for our fairly large group. The mains were around $20 each, and I'd certainly happily go back.

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Dognation

2 The Causeway
Melbourne
VIC 3000

Phil suggested meeting at Dognation for lunch after reading good things about it. It is at the Little Collins end of the Causeway which runs down from Bourke Street Mall.

I was expecting Dognation t be small, but not literally a hole in the wall... well there was one table with three chairs, but that was occupied... The menu offers five hot dogs from different cities, including Berlin, Tokyo and Melbourne, with appropriate ingredients and flavours, and a choice of multigrain or white rolls.

We made our choices waited a couple of minutes, received our stamped boxes and headed up to Bourke Street to find a bench to eat on.

I went for the London ‘Bangers & Mash’ Dog containing a British beef & pork sausage, almost hidden beneath plenty of mashed potato, smashed peas and gravy. The toppings were well prepared if a little difficult to eat without any cutlery! The multigrain roll was fresh and enclosed the sausage which was lean and meaty. I'm not sure if I've ever seen a ot dog like this in England, but the flavours were certainly familiar.

Phil's Mexico City Chilli Dog contained a Mexican Beef, pork & bean sausage, topped with spicy chilli
con carne, cheese and jalapenos which he enjoyed.

At $8 or $9 a go the well loaded hot dogs are pretty good value, although they didn't fill us up 100%at lunch, maybe we are just a bit greedy. They were some of the best hot dogs I'd seen or tasted, just don't expect a seat!




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Grill 3182 - St Kilda

16 The Esplanade
St Kilda
VIC 3182

We don't normally choose restaurants in large hotels however as we'd won a voucher and despite some average reviews on urbanspoon we headed to Grill 3182at the Novatel in St Kilda.

The dining area occupies the ground floor section facing the Esplanade at the front of the hotel, overlooking the bay, seating also available outside.

The fit out inside was clean and modern, but couldn't quite escape the we are in a big hotel feeling. On arrival the table we had booked wasn't available so we took advantage of happy hour at the bar.

Once seated we perused the menu, which had been updated from that shown on the web. The tales we'd read of poor service already started to ring true, as a waitress didn't know much about the dishes and even confessed to be being very new. We also overheard complaints about long waits for food!

In fact our entrées came after a reasonably short period of time. The scallops with fennel and beetroot salad was packed with strong flavours which overpowered the only just done and cold scallops...

The seasonal vegetable soup came in a huge bowl and was simple but also well prepared and satisfying.

We waited over half an hour for our mains to come out, a little longer than was comfortable, especially as a table ended up being re-arranged right next to us during the wait.... I had the salmon with pea mash and roasted tomatoes. The fish was a just little on the dry side, the mash was more potato than pea, other than the colour there wasn't much different from a slightly dry standard mashed potato.

The beef cheek came with some undercooked seasonal veggies and came with an intense sweet sauce that overpowered the meat.

Our side of chips were great!

Overall with the almost amateur level of service and hit and miss dishes, I'm glad we didn't have to pay the full $145 for the meal!

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The Gertrude Hotel

148 Gertrude Street
Fitzroy,
VIC 3065

Brendan and I had strolled past the Gertrude Hotel after a previous lunch, and were interested enough by the recently renovated pub to return. As the name suggests it's situated on Gertrude street in Fitzroy, and was originally the "The Drewery Family Hotel" with a history to suit the area's colourful past.

Inside the front area still has a pub feel, albeit a stylish modern one, with stools and high tables, there were also tables outside on the wide pavement. It serves a range of interesting beers which I had to resist.

The restaurant area at the rear of the building has some original looking features, but also dark wooden tables and bench seats and leather seats.

Although we were ordering from the bar menu we were seated in the restaurant area where we received table service, there quite a few other tables occupied in this area and a one or two outside. After ordering we were brought some good quality bread, butter and salt.

We both took advantage of the Tuesday $12 special on the chicken parmigiana with chips and salad. I prefer chunkier chips, but the thin ones were super crunchy. The salad was fresh with a subtle dressing. The parma covered a big area but was fairly thin, and mine verged into the slightly dry territory, but not enough to stop me from devouring it all.

The service was certainly at a level above what I'd expect at a pub, certainly one serving food at the price of their specials! I'd be happy to go back again to try another lunchtime special, or in the evening/at a weekend to grab a beer with food.

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Discover India

115b Princes Highway
Yarragon,
VIC 3823

We hadn't spotted Discover India nestled in the shops lining the service road next to the Princes highway in Yarragon, to be fair we are normally cruising past at 80k's an hour... We were debating where to eat in the area and found the restaurant on Urbanspoon, where it had a few positive reviews.

Inside the fit out is fairly modern with comfy leather dining chairs. The menu on the wall shows that during day western breakfast and lunch dishes are available, along with coffee, which I guess is a pragmatic decision given the location. There were a few other tables occupied when we arrived at around 7:30 on a Saturday.

We tried a few dishes, the including a new one to us, the Mutter Spinach, which featured green peas cooked with spinach, spices and herbs. We asked for this at medium spiciness, as by default everything is mild. The combination of ingredients, textures and flavours worked beautifully.

The Dal Tadka, with its yellow lentils seasoned with garlic, green chillies and cumin seeds produced a wonderfully delicate dish.

The the boneless chicken in the Jalfrezi was wonderfully tender and was complimented beautifully with the ginger, tomatoes and  spice.

The garlic naan was possibly a bit on the small side but otherwise up to scratch.

We chatted to the owner or manager and found out that she previously run restaurants in Footscray and St Kilda, we'd had lunch in the Rajdhani cafe on Barkly street soon after we moved to the area, but it had closed after problems with the landlord, It's now the Yummie Hong Kong Dim Sum. She seemed happy with the new location and with the opportunity to cook different styles of food.

The bill came to around $60 including a couple of Kingfishers, great value for such great food, I'm sure we will be back when we are in the area.
 

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Caffe Dell' Isola

1/7 Marine Parade
Arcadia,
Magnetic Island,
Queensland 4819

 Caffe Dell' Isola is a distinct presence with in the Hotel Arcadia site. Primarily a cafe it also serves some meals and is open until 8 for dinner on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. There are a few tables inside and plenty more under umbrellas outside.

We visited in the evening to try the authentic italian style pizza's. Somewhere on the menu, or maybe on a sign, there was a note that they don't use pineapple as a topping, which set them apart from the pubs. The menu covered standard and more adventurous options...

We shared a couple of generously sized pizza's. The Gamberoni & salmone featured some great tiger prawns, tomato, garlic, mozzarella, spinach and just a bit too much salmon. The combination was good and base cooked just enough.

The authentic marinara stuck to a simple traditional recipe with just tomato, garlic and anchovies on a slightly charred base. It was perfectly produced and simplicity let the quality of the ingredients show through.

If you looking for Italian style pizza on Magnetic island, definitely head to Caffe Dell' Isola in Arcadia, as long as it's open!

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Marlin Bar

3 Pacific Drive
Horseshoe Bay
Magnetic Island
Queensland 4819

The Marlin bar has an enviable position, across the road from the beach in Horseshoe Bay, with views of the wide bay and yacht bobbing at anchor.

We had dinner there and watched the sun set over the western end of the bay.

We shared the trio of dips with Turkish bread, the punchy red pesto was our favourite, the hummus ticked the box, but calling the balsamic and olive oil a dip seemed like a bit of a stretch!

I had the special crab with lentil and papaya. The crab was tasty inside it's crunchy coating, the lentil and papaya surprised me by working really well together and the salad had a great asian style dressing, fantastic value for $19.

The linguine marinara was adorned with plenty of great seafood and fush, but the accompanying sauce was a little on the runny side.

The Marlin bar could sit on it's laurels with it's fantastic sunset views, but the food lives up to the location, the service was pretty friendly and efficient too, and it's worth heading here if you are on Magnetic Island.

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Hotel Arcadia

7 Marine Parade
Arcadia
Magnetic Island
QLD 4819

07 4778 5177

This will be the first of few posts from our recent stay on Magnetic Island. The Arcadia pub, or to go by its official name,  "Hotel Arcadia" has a fantastic location overlooking the Eastern end of Geoffrey Bay and around the corner from Alma Bay. It's a big pub/hotel complex, offering accommodation, several bars, a pool, pokies and a bottle shop as well as meals.

We stayed nearby and ended up visiting a few times as some of the time it is the only option to get food in Arcadia, especially in the evening.

Pub standards dominate the menu, including the Fish burger below, which contained a generous, if awkwardly shaped chunk of crumbed and slightly dry fish. We weren't sure about the inclusion of cheese, and removed it... The burger filled us up at lunch though.

The 300g steak covered the plate, but was a little on the thin side. The accompanying pepper sauce was disappointingly thin and runny.

I went for the grilled fish and chips as a slightly healthier option, but fish may have been better suited to being battered...

 The chicken schnitzel was on special on Tuesdays, a bargain at only $8 that I had to investigate. It was huge and well cooked - not at all dry...

The crumbed prawns and calamari was fine, and followed a Magnetic Island/north Queensland trend for coating things in breadcrumbs!

On Saturday there is an Asian food stall/counter which serves good value ($12 a plate) Thai green and masaman curries, chicken and cashew nuts and a couple of other dishes. These were a pleasant change to the regular offerings and of a great standard, especially at that price. Eating outdoors and off plastic plates just made it feel a bit more like a visit to a food stall/market somewhere in south east asia!

The pub with its awesome views can be a great place to pass the time, and can vary in atmosphere from quiet to busy and louder with bands playing on weekends. The food meets expectations and the service was was fine too. Not a bad spot to spend some time while visiting the island.





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