The Terminus Hotel

The Terminus Hotel is in Abbotsford just after the dangerous part of Victoria St. I would have run there but I was a little bit worried about the druggies that are there.

Luckily for me, there was the 109 tram that has a lot of people traveling on there and it only takes about 15 mins from the city.

I had heard about the Terminus Hotel from where's the beef as they had a good time there. I also heard about them from the Urban list.So when Dimmi offered a 50% off the total food bill I was hooked on going and trying their vegetarian burger.

And tried it I did. It was the best one hands down, compared to what I ate last week at Nik @Nicholson. This time the service was fast even though the pub was busy. And they were happy to serve me rather than forgetting me. My waitress was very attentive.

All pints of beer are $7 and mine was huge. I had the bartender surprise me and he got me a Carlton Draught as that is what they do best in. The brewery is around the corner and they have a few kegs here.

Do come here for a mid-week meal of burgers and beer.

Temperance Hotel

Temperance Hotel is in South Yarra and they had some amazing deals. But lately most of the Southside has been really quiet. The shops here are struggling and some of the restaurants here are the same.

Bar where the drinks are being poured

But the Temperance has had many people coming back and many functions going on. In fact their bar is always busy and the bartenders are always smiling. They never are pretentious. When the new guys don't know something they always ask. People are happy to ask the bartenders questions about the wine and beer and they should.

My pint was the Pure Blonde which is light in taste and calories and as for the food I had fish and chips. Friday is their local $15 fish and chip night. Here I had a huge plate of fish and chips. The fish was just alright but the chips were soggy.

The tartare sauce was good and the tomato sauce was even better. Normally I don't like tomato sauce but it worked well with the fish. Oh and the salad wasn't too overdressed. I could taste the freshness in the vegetables.

Rating: 13/20- darn the soggy chips! Oh well I'd come for a drink and a meetup with the Crosbie crew once in a while. That's if they do decide on holding it there.

The Exchange Hotel

RNIS paid for their own drink and did not have to pay for the burger meal. This meal was taken from their good food gift card which you can buy from the Age online.

The Exchange Hotel is in Port Melbourne right near the end of the line and where the Spirit of Tasmania is. Hence it is really popular with the locals and visitors alike. But the wait times for food are very long. As I had to be somewhere else in a hurry I took my chips away. I was very hungry and agitated at the wait. At Bells Hotel we didn't have to wait this long. Our food only took about ten minutes to come. The place was not even packed- it was steady with a lot of punters just drinking.

At least the staff were friendly about it.

The beef burger for $19 (normally $24) took about half an hour to come. Other people were not happy with the wait times and there were several tables waiting for ages. At least the food was good (except for a few gristles in the burger and the super sweet bun).

But at least the patty was cooked. The burger was small but not too small. It was supposed to have bacon but this did not. At least I liked the onion ring in there,

The chips also were really great. I loved the chicken salt and the crunchy taste.

The drink came out before the burger and I devoured this in no time. It was a lemon, lime and bitters. I would have gone for the beer but they seemed a tad bit expensive and it was on the late side for me.

Rating: 13/20-ok food but would mainly come here for the drinks and the locals night on Monday. Hated the wait.

Ludlow Bar

RNIS dined here courtesy of Dimmi Rewards and did not have to pay.

For a time we ran or walked past Ludlow in Southbank right on the Yarra river. I had always wanted to try their food and drinks out but never got the chance until now. Here they have a $20 weeknight special which includes one main and a drink. The mains change daily depending on what they have.

They have indoor and outdoor seating and since it was a lovely sunny evening I was happy with being put outdoors.

For drinks I had the lemon lime and bitters rather than wine or beer. I was just not in the mood for beer.

I had their steak medium rare and it was cooked really well. It was a 200G Sirloin steak. The chips were french fries and the salad was fancy.

Rating: 17/20- will come again just for that steak.

Bells Hotel

This hotel is in South Melbourne and they have pretty decent meals from what I have heard. Here they had $15 main meals for the members of the Crosbie Crew and $15 steak specials. They were pretty huge and I was not in the mood for huge. After all I have had a huge beer, chips and other things earlier on in the day.

So instead I went for the $8 kids fish and chips which was small but ok since it was delivered to the table closer to 8pm. I got here at 7:30pm when none of them arrived and they did not know where we were sitting. I also ordered close to this time.

From there on they got the tables mixed up and people's steaks and salmon did not come until after 8pm. I would hate to pay full price for the service and the smallish plates of steak with no chips. Oh well at least they were happy.

I got to try the coucous on someone's salmon dish and it was waaay too tangy. It also had a lot of dressing. My chips seemed ho hum and the fish was great. I also tried someone else's parma chips and they were pretty good. Perhaps there was two chefs in the kitchen each with very different ideas of quality?

Oh well its fine and dandy for the drinks and parma but not the service. And dang it took them time to get the heater to work.

Maori Chief Hotel

This place is Moray St in South Melbourne just one block away from Clarendon st. The place is hidden which means that not many bloggers know about it. I didn't find out about this until one of the Crosbie crew members invited me to their Parma/pub night. Apparently this happens once a month.

The place is run by the Kiwis and they do a good selection of wines and imported beers. But seeing as I might be having beer tomorrow night and a burger I thought I might like to keep it low for a while.

The fish and chips for $18 was reasonable. Although the fish was a little bit bland. Don't get me wrong- it was fresh, just bland. And the chips were ok this time, not like Goody's. They were actually nice and crispy.

I haven't had lemonade in a while so this was a first.

They had a $15 burger special and the burgers are massive. The group really liked their burgers. The burgers though were difficult to eat with fork and knife so most used their hands.

Maori Chief should invite some bloggers and host a bloggers night seeing as only four other bloggers know about the place. They should host this night on a quiet weekday night with dessert and their free tea and coffee deal.

Riverland Cafe and Bar

Riverland has been around for quite some time now (apparently five years, I'm told) but I hadn't discovered it until last year. They are in an old style building and like Arbory most of their seating is outdoors. But they do have outdoor heating for in Winter it can get really cold. There is limited shade though.

I declined going in for a while as it looked waaay too expensive. But having Arbory's burger and paying that price I figured that it was okay for them to charge it. Rent in the city is quite high and they need to survive.

It was a busy night and punters were watching the footy and cheering on their team. Most of the punters went for beer and many of them had burgers.

Well I had their famous beef burger ($19.50) which was just ok. The chips were good though and the egg mayonnaise although good had that weird tang to it. I couldn't put a finger to it. The beef was slightly rare- it had that pink colour inside. The bun was a little bit sweet, but I did enjoy the onion jam in there at the end. The onion ring however was soggy.

Rating: 14/20- it was ok. I would be happy coming here for a drink and ice cream in the summer. I think I prefer Arbory's burger anyday.

Bridie O reilly's in Brunswick

RNIS scored a free $4.50 parma but they paid for their own drinks.

Here the parma was one of the best and the place was super busy with about 200 parmas being given out. The parma deal was advertised on Facebook on Monday and already 200 people snapped it up. Many including us have booked a table knowing that it would be quite packed to the rafters.

Bridie O' Reilly's is an Irish pub said to serve good food and drinks at decent prices.

Bridie O' Reilly's is near everything- train, tram, bus you name it and it is at the start of Sydney Road.

The bartender was overworked but he seemed friendly.

The lines moved quickly and the parma was given out in no time. It was prepared a few hoours earlier and same as the salads. But I already had my salad and there was no need for another,

The parma was alright though. It was hard to cut without the correct steak knife as it was so thick. The bird was cooked right through. Pity that salad was an extra $2. They forgot to ask if I wanted garlic bread, but luckily I did not mind as there was plenty. It was an extra $6 just for it. The chips were just ok though, not super fancy

Do come to Bridie O' Reilly's for their super cheap meals.

District Five Bistro

RNIS was invited to dine here and did not have to pay

This place has been opened for three months so the owner James was looking for people to review his place. James and his team are mainly Vietnamese.

Here they are an open pub which took over from the Old Ascot Vale Pub. Their next door neighbours the Tram Bar sells the drinks and provides the lively entertainment after 8:30pm each night. We enjoyed the entertainment very much.

Mon's Adventures on Weekend Notes really liked it.

There is a steak guide for those that don't know which steak to order.

They are known for their $12 steaks, a thing that James said that everybody likes. Normally you would pay $20+ in a pub but this is cheaper. You order and pay at the bar and then they give you a buzzer. Whilst waiting for my steak  I watched the chef make it and he did a bloody good job of it. The chips were nicely seasoned and there was not too much of them. The salad was fresh and didn't have a lot of that dressing

But the piece of steak looked small but it was moreish. The mushroom sauce was really nice.

For the entrée we had the Asian roast pork which was yum. Here they did the lovely pickled vegetables and the roast pork was homemade.

We also loved the cake which was a sweet way to finish off the night.

Rating: 16/20- liked the steak. Do come by for their steak. There are also other things on the menu such as their parmas which are huge and their fish and chips.Many thanks to James for the invite.

Next time I'll come for the beer as well which looked amazing but I couldn't have it due to training the next morning

The General Assembly

The General Assembly is a pub that serves American food. I have heard ok reviews from Pigging out around the world and others on zomato. Here I was invited by Dimmi so I did not have to pay for anything.

The place is a huge one showcasing beer.

They specialise in Matilda bay beers and old cans of beer. In fact they have a huge history of beers.

The service was quite slow even though the place was busy.  The guy that served me was attentive.

 Here I had two courses and bread and it was a filling meal. For the mains I had baby barramundi and for dessert I had the chocolate fondant

The fish was fresh and it was a small barramundi. It was not deboned but that is ok as Chinese we are used to eating the bone. Here it was cooked just right and it took fifteen minutes to cook. It came with lemon inside and lots of spring onion and coriander. The other table of eight didn't know what to do with theirs and they also didn't know it was quite small.

However a bowl for washing hands would be nice. In many Chinese restaurants bowls for washing hands are provided. Luckily though I was right near the bathroom.

The bread was small for $4 but I enjoyed their herbed butter very much so and the bread was chewy.

The chocolate fondant was a lovely way to finish off the evening. It was decadent and the ice cream was really good.

Rating: 15/20- good food but marred by the slow service.  I would just go there for a drink and not much else.

Beer Deluxe in Hawthorn

There is a new Beer Deluxe in Hawthorn. I have been wanting to go to this Beer Deluxe for a while. I have passed it a few times but they always seemed expensive. Here they are renowned for their beers and beer food. And the footy. I had a voucher for this place.

This place is a favourite for the locals with their beer sales on Mondays (all beers are $6) and their $12 lunch specials. They also have trivia night on Wednesday.

I had their fish and chips for $22. This was quite pricey seeing as it was a small plate. But at least with the card the cider was free. And the cider went well with the fish and chips. The salad was small and the fish was whiting.

I really enjoyed the subtle beer batter on the fish and the fish was not overcooked. It was fresh though.

At least the chips were good. They really didn't need the tartare sauce with them though as they were good on their own.

Rating: 13/20- love that cider. Do come for the cider and the burgers. The burgers were huge!