James Squire Hotel

James Squire Hotel

439 Docklands Dr, Docklands

(Ph) 9606 0644

B was back in Melbourne and said he felt like steak but I didn't want something that heavy since it was 40 degrees that day so wanted to find somewhere that does a bit of everything. Because we decided on dinner so late and it was the last Sunday before Christmas, a lot of the steakhouses were full or only had tables at 8.30pm or later. I finally came across James Squire Hotel at the Docklands - it's not quite a steakhouse, more like a pub but I had an Entertainment voucher for it so decided to go check it out.

We didn't realise but Christmas Carols were on at Docklands on this night so parking was horrendous here! We ended up parking at the end of the street on some random dirt/grass - lots of other people were parking there so we figured it'd be okay =P and lucky we did that and not park at the carpark - the line to pay for parking at the end of the night was sooo long!

James Squire Hotel is actually a brewhouse offering casual pub dining. None of us really drink beer (so I don't know why we came here but anyway =P) but we saw they had on offer a jug of Sangria for $15. The waitress looked at us for about a minute when we asked if we could order a jug before she said "okay". Later we figured she must have been a newbie 'cause there were various things we asked her for which she just looked at us blankly =/ The jug took more than 15mins to come - we asked another waitress and she said the drinks get made on the spot and it's being made - but how hard is it really?! It was so hot on this day and we were dying for our drinks!!

Finally!!

Mmm very refreshing with some strawberry and watermelon in it =)

I had read reviews that service is very slow here but our food came not too long after we ordered =) P went for the Slow roasted pork belly served on creamy truffled mash with confit garlic and jus $32.5

Looks pretty good served on a wooden board =) The crackling was unfortunately a disappointment - was soft and kinda chewy and definitely not crunchy =( I know they don't roast it straight away for you, but they could have at least ovened it again so the skin crisped up again! The actual meat was quite tasty but there was way too much fat on it, even for pork belly which you expect to be slightly fatty. The mash was quite good - really couldn't tell if they put truffle in it. And what is the point of the confit garlic?! Looked a bit lousy at the side of the board =/

I went for a Parma - Tender chicken breast coated with Chef's special blend of spices and bread crumbs, served with fries and salad. There 5 variations to choose from - S and I both went for the "Lash" - Napoli, charred bacon, button mushrooms, king island blue & mozzarella $27

Reading other blogs I think this parma used to be served with just chips with no salad - I'm glad they added some salad to the dish now 'cause what is a parma dish without chips and salad?! The "Lash" was a surprisingly good combination of flavours on the parma - the blue cheese was not too overpowering with the bacon and mushrooms =) The parma had a nice thin coat of crumbs and was nicely fried and not too soggy underneath the toppings. Chips were good too =)

B got his serving of steak - 300g Emerald Valley MSA porterhouse steak served with spice infused butter and fries $25

Looks pretty good with the slab of butter aye? B said it wasn't too bad =)


Food~
7/10 - since it's pretty much a pub, stick to pub foods like parmas, S and I both thoroughly enjoyed ours. It is a bit pricey compared to a normal parma, but with our 25% off wasn't too bad =)

Service~
2/5 - apart from the newbie waitress, it wasn't too bad and food didn't take too long

Atmosphere~
3/5 - quite nice with a beautiful view of the harbour

After our meal we went outside and found out there were going to be fireworks! We waited around for them - what a lovely end to the night =)

C.
xo

Shoppingtown Hotel

Shoppingtown Hotel

19 Williamstown Rd, Doncaster

(Ph) 9848 6811

Work Christmas dinner! At the family bistro at Shoppingtown Hotel =) I haven't been to a pub/bistro for a while so this was a welcome change =)

It was a few days before Christmas so there were many big groups holding Christmas parties - so many little kids running around and crying/screaming/being loud in general. I guess this is a family bistro but man! Lucky after a while they all went into the play room and it quietened down a bit =P

I saw the dishes being carried to other tables and decided I had to get the Shoppingtown Beef Burger - a delicious beef pattie with bacon, tomato relish, melted cheese, tomato, lettuce, wasabi mayo and a fried egg, served on a burger bun with chips $18.00

You go up to the counter to order and pay, and go up to the bar to order drinks, so it's a very casual restaurant.

Food came very fast =D

Yum! I thought it had come with a bonus salad (the lettuce pile) but then realised the chef decided to put the bottom bun + lettuce on one side, and the pattie + bacon + egg + top bun on the other side - so like a deconstructed burger.

After constructing it, it looked much bigger than I first thought lol.

Great big hearty burger =) Couldn't really taste the wasabi mayo though - who puts wasabi mayo in burgers anyway?! =P The fries couldn't have been crunchier, they're more like steak fries whereas I like shoestring fries better =) 2 of the boys had ordered the burger as well - one had managed to finish the plate, while the other couldn't finish the chips. I was slowly making my way through the burger and some of the chips, then decided the chips weren't worth my limited stomach space and carb quota so slowly managed to eat my way through the burger. My colleagues were all super amazed I finished it haha =P I look small but I can fit a lot in =D

I very much enjoyed my meal, most of the others were too (like the steak, the risotto, the parma) but the fish and chips were apparently a disappointment. Can't go wrong with a burger at a bistro right? =P

Food~
6.5/10 - not bad, food came very fast, though a bit expensive for burger and chips at such a casual restaurant.

Service~
2/5 - you go up to the counter to order food, and the waiters don't seemed to really know what's on the menu for the day - she said "corn risotto" instead of "prawn risotto" and had to go back to check with the chef. She said the kitchen was very loud and she couldn't really hear the chef, but seriously, can't you see massive prawns in the plate? =P

Atmosphere~
1/5 - omg it was loud to the max! It got a bit hard to have a conversation while the kids were being loud, was a bit better when they went off to the play room =P

Afterwards we went to play pokies haha I felt like we were in some rural town or something! Had my bistro/pub experience to last a while! =P

C.
xo