The Croydon Hotel, Tuesday 26-01-2016
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. read more