Great Ocean Road

P and I went on a 4 day road trip down Great Ocean Road =) I won't bother writing about each place separately but I'll write about some of the high (and I guess low =P) lights =)

Lighthouse Stables and Tea Rooms

7 Federal St, Airey's Inlet

We got recommended this tea room by a friend - and sure enough, it was a great recommendation =D

The owner/chef suggested we get the salmon quiche which came fresh from the oven - a tad expensive ($13.50 including salad) but was super delicious especially with the homemade salsa! Too bad some of the salad dressing made the base of the quiche soft =(

And we ordered the first of our many scones on this trip =P we saw the massive bowl of scones on the shelf and thought they were fresh from the oven too... but they actually microwaved it before giving it to us =(

Still was very tasty and fluffy! Though would have been nice if they gave us more jam.

Food~ 7/10

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 Nico's Pizza & Pasta
21 Lord St, Port Campbell

Our first dinner! There aren't that many restaurants in Port Campbell - only one small strip of a street with only about 5 eating places. We were craving some good Italian food =)

P chose the Meat Lovers - tomato base, cheese, tomato, chicken, ham, bacon, salami, spanish onion and topped with barbeque sauce $24.00 for large. Crust was super crispy and they were so generous with their toppings!

I wanted the Apollo Avocado Funghi - succulent chicken, crispy bacon, ripened avocado, mushrooms and a Napoli cream sauce, with tagliatelle pasta and parmesan $27.00 P normally doesn't like avocado or mushrooms but he said this was one of the best pastas he's ever had =D Not sure what the difference between tagliatelle and fettuccini is but was delicious overall <3

8.5/10 - could say was probably the best meal of the trip! We couldn't finish the pizza so took it home to have for breakfast =P


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The Ridge Organic Cafe
20 Gardner St, Beech Forest

I found this organic cafe near the Otway Fly - since P and I are on an organic food quest, we came to check it out =) They don't have a set menu for breakfast - they just ask you what you want in your breakfast from the ingredients they have in season. We got to choose from bacon, sausage, tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms and potatoes - and eggs cooked your way.

P's dish

And mine

Everything was super fresh! The spinach was cooked yet not wilt - how do they do that?! And the mushrooms were very fresh and juicy =) Think the bacon and sausages are made locally 'cause they weren't very salty like they often are. The best were the tomatoes - mini tomatoes (but not quite cherry-sized). Don't know how they cooked them - no burn/fry marks on them but super juicy and sweet!

Food~ 8.5/10

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12 Rocks Cafe & Bar
19 Lord St, Port Campbell

Our 2nd night here - thought we'd try the bistro, seemed like there were lots of people inside. We felt like seafood - decided to share the Seafood Selection Platter - assortment of fresh, grilled, battered and smoked seafood served with garden salad & chips $40 The waiter said it may not be quite enough for us two but we thought we should under-order instead of over-order like we did at Nico's =P

Very nice variety of seafood! battered fish, smoked salmon, 2 types of prawns, scallops, mussels and squid =)

We had room for dessert so we tried the Banana and Caramel Banoffee $9.50 I didn't know what a banoffee was - the waiter said it's kinda like a cheesecake which kinda put P off but it turned out to be more like a custard layered cake with meringue on top - was super delicious!

Food~ 8/10


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Cheeseworld
5331 Great Ocean Rd, Allansford

We came to check out the cheese factory - thought we could actually go in the factory but they've stopped giving tours due to OHS =( Still we had lunch here - got the Ploughman's lunch $17.50 Nice selection of cheeses with some cold cuts and super soft bread and homemade butter =) I normally don't like cold lunches like this but I love cheese, especially the fruit cheese <3

Our 2nd scone on the trip - this was super fluffy yet crunchy on the top. Don't know how they did it 'cause I'm pretty sure it wasn't fresh from the oven - still we loved it so much we got another one =P

We also got a milkshake made from the local milk (Sungold) which was made at the factory as well - yummo =)

Food~ 7.5/10

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Waves Restaurant
29 Lord St, Port Campbell

The local people told us Waves was the most high class restaurant here so we decided to come here on the 24th to celebrate <3 After our delicious seafood platter the night before, we wanted another one. It was $70 here but explicitly says it serves two.

Looks quite big and impressive - but actually wasn't as good as the 12 Rocks one =( there were 2 pieces of battered fish, pesto grilled salmon, battered calamari, mussels in a tomato sauce, a swimmer crab, fresh oysters and "Bloody Mary" oysters. The battered fish quickly became very soggy - how hard is it to make battered fish crispy?! The salmon was slightly overcooked, and the prawns had ridiculously sticky shells - not good quality! The Bloody Mary oysters were pretty cool though - pretty sure it didn't actually have any alcohol in it =P Overall, it wasn't bad but it wasn't great either, given it was 1.75 times more expensive then the one from the previous night! We finished the platter and still had room for some dessert - but we thought we had too much sweets for the day so decided to leave, not wanting to give them anymore business lol.

Food~ 4.5/10


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Alcove Cafe
34 Lord St, Port Campbell

It was Anzac Day morning - we knew not many places would be open for breakfast but we needed some food before our drive. Only Waves (which we didn't want to go back to), the bakery (which I wouldn't mind, but P wanted a cooked breakfast) or the Alcove Cafe was open. We didn't even know this cafe existed before but I guess it doesn't open for dinner that's why we hadn't noticed it.

Corn Fritters with 2 eggs and Hollandaise sauce didn't sound too bad $12.00 - but oh my gosh it was so nasty. First of all - what kind of corn fritters is this?! More like corn pancakes which were soggy and tasteless. And secondly, what is with that egg with the super yellow yolk?! I mean, if you see that, wouldn't you think of throwing it away and giving us 2 eggs that looked the same?! The hollandaise sauce didn't taste like hollandaise sauce, more like just cream - really wasn't very nice.

P got the Bacon and Eggs on Toast $12.00 - I told him to get the Bacon and Egg Toasted Sandwich for $7.00 instead since it's got the same ingredients but he was stubborn and wanted the Bacon and Eggs on Toast. What a mistake it was - the toast was soggy (maybe the toasted sandwich would be crunchier?) and the bacon was so salty.

I hate leaving food on my plate, but this was one of those very few times I've done that.

Food~ 1/10

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Apollo Bay Seafood Cafe
119 Great Ocean Road, Apollo Bay

We were really craving some good quality fish and chips after our disappointing Seafood Platter at Waves. We walked along the beach front shops and thought this cafe looked the most genuine to fish and chips and looked quite clean. We stood at the counter for 5 minutes before someone came to take our order even though one of the waiters was just doing something at the cashier - poor service! =/ We ordered a battered flake and chips, a grilled fish (forgot what P got) and 3 battered calamari - came to $18.00. There was an extra 50c charge for grilled fish - what the?! Wouldn't you think grilled uses less ingredients compared with battered so should be cheaper?! Had to pay $1.00 for tomato sauce or $1.20 for tartare sauce - really?!

Fish was crunchy on the outside and was quite fresh. The grilled fish lacked some seasoning - maybe really shouldn't have grilled fish at a fish and chips place =P The battered calamari was a bit disappointing though - more batter than actual calamari, we ended up just eating the calamari and leaving the batter.

Food~ 5.5/10

Seems like our food adventures started off awesomely but went downhill through the days! =( Next time we'll know! (if/when we go back =P)

C.
xo