Well, this was quite a pleasant surprise, particularly since I did happen to have some time to kill…read moreup in Croydon. Well, visiting the local brewery was definitely going to be on the cards, especially since I discovered that it was just a short trip from the railway station. Well, that short trip certainly turned out to be for the best because I have to say that this brewery was awesome. Not only did they happen to have some great staff, but the beers were great. In fact, they went beyond great. Yep, this is definitely a place I would recommend checking out.

Great ambiance with easy parking. Great staff, delicious food and top notch beers. Highly recommend…read morepopping on down with your crew. Gorgeous open fire too

Permanently closed. this website is out of date. Needs to be updated to reflect what is on google…read moreabout Seamus O'Toole's Irish Pub.

Seamus McPeake's Irish Pub is the local pub for the residents of Knox and surrounds. Hidden away in…read morea corner of Knox City Shopping Centre's Knox Ozone, it is a small venue which has the energy more commonly found in venues of the inner city. Among locals it is called "The Irish". A traditional irish pub in every sense it sports dark wooden furniture and a few booths at the back - perfect for a catch-up with mates. There are little nooks and crannies in every corner with all kinds of seating from bar stools, to benches to seats that double as small tables. Service is quick, but not quick enough when it comes to keeping the place clean - it is pretty grimy and the chances that someone will spill a drink on you are pretty high so I would caution against wearing your best clothes. Dress code is smart casual - just keep it simple. Entry is only $5 and drinks are relatively cheap too which is always a good thing. The place is busiest on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights and because of its size is packed full pretty quickly. There is an outdoor smokers area, which is tiny but it doesn't seem to deter patrons from crushing against each other in order to secure themselves some room out there. The dance floor is tiny but again, when there is a will there is a way and there are a lot of very willing dancers here. Patrons range in age from the very young to the very old although there tends to be more males than females.

Located in a renovated cottage in the heart of The Basin, The Acorn on Forest is a prime example of…read moreThe Basin's growing popularity as a little hill's hideaway. With the suburb reporting recent booms in property value, and the freeway only 10 minutes away, The Basin has grown from a small village on the way to the more touristy area of the hills to a trendy little town of its own . The Acorn of Forest has more of a 'Wine Bar" feel to it than it's neighbouring 'Good old-fashioned pub' the Oak Tree. With a focus on quality dining and weekend breakfasts, you could say it's the 'bouquet' to the Oak Trees 'bucket'. The menu features dishes such as Quail, Veal and Kangaroo and while you can expect to pay a little more for your meal than at other nearby pubs, the Acorn is all about Quality over affordability. Popular with functions and parties, The Acorn also hosts live music on weekends, usually from a rotating roster of local favourites.

Amazing food, wonderful service and a terrific cosy atmosphere. They have great bands over the…read moreweekend to, which is a real bonus. Can't wait to go back again and again.

I have eaten here many times over the years. I stay at the Sage Ringwood around the corner. The…read morefood is always very good. The meats always cooked properly. I have never had an issue with there service.

Hunter & Barrel is fast becoming our favourite restaurant. The pork belly skewer was amazing, as…read morewas the rib eye. We also had the s'more brownie and the caramelised cheesecake, both of which were sublime. The staff are always lovely too. Bonus that we sat near the kitchen this time so we know what we want to order next time.

Honestly, there isn't particularly anything all that great about this pub. It is basically just…read moreanother one of those suburban pubs that I tend to visit because, well, I like visiting pubs. In a way it does have some charm about it, though that is probably about it. Well, they do have a nice beer garden, and a decent sized bistro as well. However, as I mentioned, it is basically just a suburban pub, with everything that such pubs tend to entail, such as a limited selection of beers on tap. Yeah, probably not a place that I'd spend too much time at.

Sunday dinner at a loose end chose the Olinda bistro…read more great friendly staff nice menu and chose the Scallopini off the specials board nice meal !! Bar staff equally helpful and friendly nice medium ambiance with soft music as background.

I attended the manhattan Saturday afternoon for a Parma and a few beers as I have done for the last…read more20 odd years. The food was absolutely deplorable. Pre cooked Parma that was reheated. I would have had more enjoyment eating a wet sock. Disgusting. The worst Parma I have ever experienced.

This places food is horrible. I had the Southern Fried Chicken burger and it was severely…read moreundercooked and tasted disgusting. I will admit that the ambience and environment is very upbeat and friendly, as are the staff. However, I can't give this place a positive review due to the quality of food.

Great food had. Staff were very noisy though. Only a few people in the restaurant and staff were…read morehaving a good chat across the room with each other. Four different dishes were ordered and all of us were very pleased. I had the Wagyu burger and was really surprised at just how good it was. Tasty topping and a good flavoured burger combined with the big chips was perfect.

Around the Warrandyte area on a Monday night, there are limited restaurants open for dinner…read more(without having to travel too far), so I have been coming to the Grand Hotel for quite some time now. The food is great, and is definitely a few notches above your standard 'pub grub'. The ribs with BBQ sauce are brilliant as they are slow cooked, the meat is super tender and just falls off the bone. On the current menu there is also an Asian inspired pork belly salad which is delicious, with just the right combination of sweet and sour flavours. The chefs here seem to have a good handle on how to cook a steak - when you order it rare for example, that's exactly how it arrive, something that seems to be a bit hit and miss at many other pubs I frequent. The meals are a little on the pricey side, but are good quality produce and serving sizes are more than sufficient. Aside from great food, and being open 7 days a week, the service is always great. All of the waiters are very friendly and attentive, but in particular, it's always a pleasure to be greeted by the smiling face of the waiter Nikki, who goes out of her way to ensure that guests are made welcome and that they have a pleasant dining experience. Be warned - the restaurant is often booked out, even on weeknights, so it's strongly recommended to book ahead. The only other downside is that often the specials sell out very early in the day/night, but there are plenty of other menu options to choose from.

The Croydon Hotel, Tuesday 26-01-2016…read more This establishment was once operated by the ALH group (Woolworths Ltd) is now operated by the Melbourne Racing Club (MRC) group which has the Caulfield, Mornington and Sandown Racecourses and 13 hotel venues around Melbourne including this one. I had completed a shift in the kitchen with the other chefs during the previous operators, so it was interesting to observe the changes completed to the Croydon Hotel. On arrival there is a pleasant change to the exterior of the building and some simple garden beds just outside of the front door. On entering the front door there is a warmth of natural light coming from the newly renovated bistro dining room. The kitchen has been moved from the northern side of the building to the western side of the building, this has allowed for the bistro to be on one level opening up to a deck looking north allowing that great natural light into the bistro. There are two large copper tanks on the left hand side as you enter the bistro and copper tubing running to the bar in the middle of the room. This is all concerned with the association the MRC has with Carlton and United Breweries and the sale of the "Brewery Fresh" Carlton Draught. The bar is a well illuminated with a light grey marble style feature and wood paneling and wood shelving which give the bar a good grounding in the middle of room. There is the 'Trendy' feature of the plant stand in the middle of the dining room which we I questioned in the past with other establishments and will question again, why! As there is some small potted herbs waiting to grow and trying to catch some direct sun light in the middle of the dining room which they will never get. There is also a charging area on this stand for the waiters note pads that they us to obtain the orders. This I found distracting, like any other hand held device is in a dining room the glow of these mobile devises detracted from the dinning experience. The waiters note pads would have better placed near the kitchen, away from sticky fingers of the smaller inquisitive diners and then remove the plant stand to fully open up the dining room to flow the warmth around the dining room. The carpet is a slightly psychedelic patterned with yellow streaks' through it which detracts from the dining room and is not a calming effect that would be more beneficial. The Tables and chairs were a mix of light colored wood stain and some dark stained, which again mixes up the room and again, why. We dined at lunch time on Australian day with the dining room about a 3rd covered, the waiters were covering the room with efficiency, good poise when coming to the table, at tentative without being overbearing well presented in the good bistro waiter attire and good knowledge of the menu. the two meals that was ordered were the Chicken Saltimbocca and the Grilled Salmon. The Chicken Saltimbocca with pea risotto cake. This dish needed another vegetables such as an oven roasted tomato, beetroot, brocollini or similar to brighten up the dish and give some diversity. The dish needed some sauce to moisten and to carry the dish, especially after consuming the chicken I was left with the risotto, which is good green pea risotto but it was only green pea risotto. My wife had the Grilled Salmon with sweet potato puree & cherry. Again the dish needed more of the pesto as a sauce as the dish became dry by the end, there was no crispy skin on the salmon and the salmon was a little over cooked so a again dry by the finish of the dish. There was no wine list and the wine was by the glass with no bottle prices listed and when I asked the barman he was not fully across the list and prices, which was a bit disconcerting. So we decided on the Yarra Ridge - Sauvignon Blanc which was a light crisp, with citrus and floral notes which was a very good example of a Yarra Valley style of the Sauvignon Blanc. Today there were no desserts on the menu just cakes on display so the dessert was missed by us. Although there was a persistent fly in the dining room which did detracted from the experience we look for the positives in that the dining room which was still under renovations when we visited so it will be good to return to appreciate the full vision of the newly renovated Croydon Hotel and see this establishment move forward.

I dined at this hotel with my son, we both ordered porterhouse and both our meals tasted perfect,…read morethe steak was cooked just right as was the vegies and mash, it was very busy and noisy, but the staff were friendly and helpful, a very nice meal