Mad cow disease is a brain disorder in adult cattle that may be spread to humans through diseased…read moremeat, hence a curiously yet puntastically named cafe, maybe I will skip the beef. With an open view out to the water I visited on the first day of a long weekend and the vibe was relaxed. Coffee arrived with a layer of milky foam I was frothing to drink it and it didn't let me down. Flavours were subtle and it went down smooth and easy. Food was a delicious umami delight. My order was the Madcowes Hash ($18), the large croquette was crispy, kasundi mushrooms meaty, egg soft and oozing offset nicely with crisp watercress. Looked good and tasted great .. olive oil was so fresh it was almost fluorescent green! Grab the bull by the horns and pop into this cafe when you're next in this small seaside town. Papers a plenty! Music - none, just the sound of voices reverberating around. Less ambiance but easy to chat

I'm glad I found this place !…read more Looking for a place to have a quick meal while i was visiting Phillip island, I ended in Cowes, I first went to another place, without any reviews and that I couldn't even see on Yelp, to give it a try. I sat, saw the waitress passing in front of me and watching me two times, and after 5 minutes without getting any intention (at least maybe, giving me a menu?) I decided that, well, maybe it was enough. THANK GOD (or whatever I don't believe in) because I ended up here instead ! Decided to go healthy (that's impressive Pierre) and had the Mad Cowes chicken salad (as you could see in the pictures) and it was a freaking good as it looked awesome ! The seasonning was just perfect, the chicken was not dry at all, and... I HATE THE CUCUMBERS (ALL OF THEM) You don't know me, but it's a big deal, if I say to my friends that I ate cucumbers, they would die instantly. It's like Superman eating Kryptonite, or... Batman eating his dead parents ! (it's a big deal) I had a perfect lemon meringue pie with a marvelous Mocha and that was it, I'm in love. oh and add a friendly staff, and a wonderful view on the ocean. YEAH

A nice breakfast spot in the main street of Philip Island, Cowes…read more I ordered the Greek breakfast with goat sausage and avocado. It came with pitted olives and tzatziki. Love a breakfast adventure. Coffees were strong and as ordered. You may choose a classic cup or a 'mug'. Friendly service and a great choice of side tables to people/dog watch too.

Gulliver's has a nice ambience and decent amount of seating. However, any humour you use with the…read morestaff may be lost due to language barriers so it's a very matter-of-fact service approach without any charisma. The coffee reflects the same lack of passion and could only be considered 'okay'. The apple and rhubarb friand, and raspberry cheesecake, were both enjoyable albeit not exactly what you'd expect (the cheesecake was a good panacotta, for a cheesecake!)

Excellent quality chippy. Nice batter. Walk across the street and eat you fish and chips on the…read morebeach!

Best Fish & Chips we've had on our Sydney/ Melbourne trip. The Shark (Flake) is fried perfectly and…read morenot at all greasy. Nicely fried on the outside (tempura batter) and perfectly tender on the inside. BF and I each got the $13 combo platter that comes with a piece of fish/ chips/ fried prawn dumpling/ potato cake. BF usually hates fried food but raved about the food here, especially the potato cake. The prawn dumpling is a fried shrimp dumpling that Chinese people usually steam for dim sum, I didn't expect it to be good but now I am of the mind that all shrimp dumplings should be fried like this! There are a few tables in doors but we got stuck with the lone table outside as all the inside tables were taken because of the rain. However, as luck would have it, the weather cleared up and we got the best view on the island! Great food, great views, can't go wrong with The Big Fish Cowes!

First time here plenty of space, not crowded for a Sunday Afternoon. Very good and friendly…read moreservice. Large selection on menu with reasonable prices. Beer battered fish and chips $28.00 with either side of rocket salad or vegetables. We had tge salad which was a good serve. Fish and chips were very good. Bistro also caters for dinner. Selection of beers on tap as well as Fat yak cidet. Would recommend and will co e back.

My husband & I dined here last night. Pleasantly surprised, we had a table outside overlooking a…read moregarden & the Hastings Marina. Table had white tablecloth & was set with quality dinnerware. Fast friendly service, complimentary bottle of iced water, waitress, (didn't catch her name, had green nail polish) nice smile,very efficient & knowledgable of menu. So much to choose from on menu. Husband had fish, I had Fettuccine Carbonara, both meals delicious. Nice to see lady manager approaching tables to check all is well. Lovely place for dinner sitting outside on balmy summer evenings.

We had our wedding at pier 10 on the 17/4 and Stuart and his team made this a fantastic night to…read moreremember for us and our guests. The venue suited our style, and Stuart made sure everything was as we wanted it and nothing was too much trouble! We had to change to an indoor wedding 10 mins before the ceremony and Stuart and his team swung into action and it was fantastic. During the night Stuart made sure we were ok and had enough food and drinks. We were concerened there may not be a heap of food being a cocktail wedding but all our guests raved about how much food there was and even the quality. One of our guests is an executive chef at a two hat restaurant and he even said he usually has to lie to the bride and groom about the quality of food at a wedding, but he thought it was great! The Confit Duck was great, the pork sliders were a hit as was the spinach and ricotta dumpling. We had a good range of Beers on thanks to stuarts fantastic prices & the pinot gris was popular! Stuart thank you for being a great host and organiser and making sure our day was easy and special. We will be back for dinners & lunches as this is a place that has deservingly earned a place in our hearts.

This little gem is like the sparkle in the Mornington Peninsula's eye. A beautiful winery with a…read morerestaurant and cellar door with spectacular views over the vineyard down to rolling paddocks and finally a glimpse of the ocean. The wines are brilliant and not limited to the locally grown grapes like Pinot Noir and Chardonnay as they also produce a Shiraz from grapes grown in Heathcote and a Yarra Valley Cabernet. They have about four different sparking wines to top off a very impressive line up. The restaurant is pretty special with an evolving menu from a wonderful chef. Do yourself a favour and try it out.

Stopped in for lunch. Had two prams with us and a four year old. Very accomodating for parents with…read morechildren. Friendly staff and great service. Good variety of both food and beer. Try the sampler and oysters. Will come back for sure.

Rusty waters-trusty (tasty) beer! This little place of potential happiness is about 5-8mins before…read moreCowes! The interior could use a little bit of spruce-the-goose. There is a decent selection of beers and a tasty cider on tap. Though I'm not sure if you really need three Ales on tap. Generally speaking there was an extensive bar here to tempt you with. I didn't have to pay for my drinks as the entire place was shut for an uber relaxed engagement party, so not sure about prices. Which leads me onto my next concern- cranky staff :( As a first time visitor, and declared newbie, I had no idea what was on tap. What was brewed on site? Could I buy some to take home?? I still don't know and the bar staff had no interest in educating us at all. The interior areas were open and spacious with a bar area and upper class style restaurant area. Whilst not in the main drag of Cowed the Rusty Waters Brewery has a lot to offer. A great spot to grab some unique Victorian beer and some great ciders before heading into town. The Bride also mentioned that the kitchen whips out some fantastic food. No doubt next time we drive on by, we will stop in for a drink or two.

Fantastic view with even better seafood. Absolutely loved coming here with my family and would…read moredefinitely be back. The service was great; our waitress was attentive and helpful. Highly recommend the swordfish burger, some oysters, and the prawn dumplings. Everything we tasted was delicious and I wouldn't hesitate to get these again. The menu is really big and it was difficult to choose, but I'd love to come back and try other dishes.

The food was okay. Nothing really outstanding. The service was very slow to get started but…read moreimproved as our evening went on.

We came to Panhandle for a quick bite before heading back to San Remo for a gig. A sign out the…read morefront of the restaurant called it a Family Cantina, and as soon as we stepped through the doors it was obvious it was truly aimed at families. Even more tacky random Mexican stuff lined the walls, ceilings and wherever else it could be nailed to and the sounds of screaming kids welcomed us in. We didn't have a booking but got a table without a hassle, but I could see it being very busy in here during peak holiday times. We ordered a margarita sampler each, which was four different flavours of margarita in small glasses of (Lemon, Strawberry, Pine Lime and Mango). They were all very quite and didn't taste like there was much alcohol in them at all. After our recent travels around America the sight of queso on a menu resulted in that being quickly ordered. It had a lot more beans in it than anything else and not a lot of cheese, but it was quite nice and the chips that came with it were tasty. For main I ordered a soft taco combo plate, which were okay but nothing special. Someone else at our table ordered the fajitas which was quite a large dish and was rather tasty. I probably would not return to Panhandle, but if you're in the mood for what is probably the only (Tex) Mexican on Philip Island it's worth stopping in to.

Ok, so I am giving this place the benefit of the doubt. It is Mexican food in Australia. It was…read moredefinitely not the best, but it works. It had chips and salsa which was what I needed, since I was somewhat tired of eating beef. Now that being said. This is the cheesiest Mexican food place on planet earth. If you could buy a cheap souvenir the owners have bought it and it now sits on their walls. There were mexican hats, texas license plates, cowboy pictures and about everything else possible. Wow... The service was actually good. Although we were the only people in the place, not a good sign at 6pm.