The Elpho, as it's affectionately know, is my local for another week or so. It's off the beaten…read moretrack, so to speak, so it's definitely a 'locals' pub. There aren't too many passers-by out this way unless there's an event on. Staff are very friendly and know everyone by name. The current owners reopened the pub almost a year ago after a kitchen fire that saw the Elpho closed for about 3 years. They remodeled the interior so it's fresher but still retains that country pub feel. The kitchen is open Wednesday through to Sunday and offers up your average pub menu and the food is tasty and pretty well priced. A burger with chips & salad or a parma will set you back around $15 or something like crumbed lamb cutlets are $20 (and I can vouch for them being freakin' delicious!). Downfall being that it's hard to pick when they're going to have a quiet or busy night. It's always safest to call up and book a table just in case because we have been denied meals in the past due to unexpected busy nights. We held an event here in August and they were very accomodating, admitting that they wouldn't be able to cater for the number of people we were expecting so they organised a woodfired pizza van to set up out front for our hungry attendees. When a few hundred people turned up (many more than we expected) and drank them out of kegs and stubbies the owner drove into town to purachse more alcohol for everyone. Now that's a commitment to customer service! They have a huge beer garden out back and stock local brews from Harcourt. They even have their own pale ale on tap. It'll be sad to leave this local behind but we're hoping to use them for another event in the future.

This place wasn't bad. In fact it was quite nice. Sure, it wasn't one of my favourite places, but…read moreit does have some charm, and the service wasn't bad either. I basically ended up here for some breakfast, and that pretty much hit the spot. In a way it was a nice cafe located in a rather nice part of Bendigo's town centre. Sure, the place didn't add up to those in Melbourne, but it still has some charm about it.

Haven't tried the coffee. My smashed avo was excellent. The caramelised orange added a great twist…read moreto the bacon, feta, avo combo in sourdough. With a coming on purpose to try.

Thought I would post on today's experience…read more First time in Bendigo, as soon as we drove in the wife and I both commented on how much it reminds us of New Orleans, it has a very similar look/feel. So decided to see if there was some American food, was not disappointed by the yard bird. Sitting out on the balcony eating hot wings, brisket burger, southern fried chicken, drinking bourbon and Dr Pepper. Feels like I'm back in the states.

We had a late-ish (after 2pm) lunch on a Saturday afternoon at Yard Bird so there weren't very many…read moreother patrons. We opted to sit inside in the air conditioning but the bar is also surrounded by a great balcony with tables overlooking the centre of town. The menu offers pretty much everything you'd expect from an American restaurant and is fairly priced but the theme is poorly reflected in the decor. Yard Bird is situated upstairs in an old Irish hotel so it's hard to throw a couple of baseball cards and Budweiser signs around and call it an American bar. I ordered the shrimp po boy and while I was impressed with the generous portion of food I received it was night impossible to eat. When something comes in sandwich/roll form you expect the be able to pick it up and eat it but the whole outside of the roll was covered in shrimp sauce and it was poorly packed (for presentation). It didn't taste too bad but the shrimp really did feel like they were pre-packaged, crumbed and frozen. I understand that seafood is generally on ice but I would expect crumbing/battering/coasting to happen in-house and whilst I can't say for certain this hasn't been the case here, I can say that it didn't seem like it to me. My partner ordered the southern fried yard bird (chicken) and was impressed with the fact that he received breast meat rather than drumsticks and wings. It wasn't amazing food but it certainly wasn't terrible and the price helps that along a bit too. I'd definitely like to give Yard Bird another try at a bustling time.

Had a booking arrived 5 minutes early to find out they hadn't written booking down but found us a…read moretable. A lot of hype on this pub so was expecting good things. I wasn't going to mention the girl chewing gum while taking my order but it is what it is. I asked for Scotch fillet with mash and veg I made it clear no chips.... What arrived was Steak and chips I was a little bemused and returned it . Steak was good medium but the mash was clearly nuked but expected. . Now it seemed to me with a full house 1 waitress stood out as the only person doing the whole pub while 2 other girls just stood behind the bar chatting. The atmosphere is good maybe a little music would be good. Oh don't ask for coffee unless you don't mind waiting to pick it up .( HOT) Overall food 3/5 Service 2/5 Ambiance 4/5 .

This was a pretty awesome pub, but then again that had a lot to do with the really nice beer garden…read moreout the back. Actually, it is more than the beer garden because there is also a pretty nice range of beers on tap as well, which surprised me somewhat since this pub does happen to be located a bit further out from the city centre than I sort of expected it to be. Okay, the service was a little slow, but then again it was a slow day when I paid it a visit. Still, as a pub it is pretty good, the staff are really friendly, and I really do like the laid back atmosphere.

Amazing customer service and food is 100% good but sometimes the schnitzel is dry and chewy but…read moreeverything else is super good

drove 16 km from Bendigo Pottery, and the steak is good.read more

Moving from Newtown in Sydney, with its abundance of pretty much everything, to Elphinstone in…read morecountry Victoria, where we have a single pub and post office, was a pretty big deal. I was basically having to exchange going out for cheap and awesome meals all of the time for actually doing some grocery shopping and cooking for myself. And then this place opened! You'll find Moto Bean Cafe in Malmsbury, about an hour and a half north of Melbourne straight up the Calder. The setting for this place is just awesome, right opposite the botanic gardens. The building is brand new but you're instantly drawn in to its cosy bosom. There's plenty of seating and if you get in early you might be lucky enough to nab one of the lounges by the open fire. There's seating on the deck outside too and ANOTHER open fireplace out there - the perfect setting for afternoon drinks (I'm not sure if they've sorted out their liquor license yet but it's on the cards). Malmsbury's become a bit of a hipster/yuppie/rich old folk getaway suburb so the food and the prices cater to their kind. Remember, I lived in Newtown so I'm used to paying about $15 for a big breakfast. Here you're likely to pay around the $22 mark. But it's pretty darn good. I'm led to believe all their produce is local and they're trying to grow a lot of it themselves, which is nice. They make a great coffee and milkshakes are naturally served in a jar with a handle. And they've always got delious looking cakes on hand (I recommend the caramel crunch cake). All in all, this place is pretty darn good and I try to get there once every couple of weeks. You're likely to fork out an arm and a leg for a couple of pies and coffees at the Malbury Bakery around the corner anyway so why not sit down and really take it all in.

Great chips. But that's where it ended for us. The beef burger had lots of gristle, and the chicken…read moresandwich was overpowered with mint or pesto - the sandwich was warm, the chicken was cool. And BYO chair if you don't want a sore bum... that is if your bum even fits in the metal chair to begin with. Trendy but impractical. The place looks great though.

A small and unassuming bakery just off the main street. Theres nothing particularly inviting about…read morethis place but we were just after a couple of pies to go. I chose a chunky steak pie and whilst there was nothing overwhelmingly delicious about it I found the big chunks of steak so tender and 'melt in your mouth' and I did not encounter one piece of chewy fat or gristle which tends to then me off instantly. Not bad for an on the run bite.

This is a small pie shop in the main street. It does not look much from the outside. I tried their…read morecheese and bacon pie which is a favourite of mine. I must say that it was the very best cheese and bacon pie I have ever had! Under the top crust was a layer of real bacon, the eye part and on this was a quality tasty cheese. It is the sort of cheese and bacon pie I would make at home if I was any good at cooking. The price was also very reasonable. Next time I am passing through Castlemaine, I am sure to stop and have another.

The thing that first caught my attention with this pub were the girls from a regional netball club…read morerunning around looking for clues for some treasure hunt and whoever had laid out these clues must have done a particularly good job with this place because the girls were absolutely stumped (though they didn't end up giving up and having a beer). It is quite a nice hotel though, with a small beer garden out the back, seating out the front, and a number of other areas which look quite comfortable. There was also an area that is underground, and sticking my nose down there I noticed that there were tables and seats there as well.

Great modernised pub with good tap beer. Bar menu is good but the restaurant menu is WAY…read moreoverpriced. Nice friendly staff.