"...WANTED IT TO BE BETTER..BUT..SO SORRY..IT JUST WASN'T..."
Went to see the Q&A session of "The Dressmaker" at the LIDO, Hawthorn today... Wow!!! - wish I was reviewing that, instead...
Anyway...
On the way home, we decided to stop at THE RIVERSDALE HOTEL, Hawthorn East for Dinner - Had been before.. a couple of years ago.. found it disappointing.. Was truly hoping it had improved.. It must have.. Surely..?
It could be such a fabulous local pub - You know.. a nearby place.. where you could eat frequently - when friends or family turn up unexpectedly.. or when you just feel like a good pub Parma or Roast, and a couple of refreshing drinks, in a 'nice clean cool large space'.. that 'smells of beer'..
Look, I am truly and sincerely SAD to say that whilst The Riversdale is a 'nice clean cool large space' - it still neither 'smells of beer', nor fits the 'food brief'......
Rather.... it's lost in a time warp that no-one needs to suffer any more.. or not in Melbourne town, hopefully - "a stereotypical 1950's Aussie food experience" - Insipid.. Tasteless.. Yuck..
And the worst of it is.... their prices are like it's the year 2020...
So embarrassing....!!!!
I can only assume that the owners, cooks and staff - ALL DISLIKE FOOD.... and /or seriously have a huge dis-respect for the 'dining public'...
For G's sake - it could be so so so simple to turn it "all around"....
For a very big start -
1. you do not make 'Garlic Bread' with hot dog rolls, margarine, garlic powder and dried parsley flakes... WTF..!! And charge just under $8 for it..
2. you do not serve par-boiled.. then just re-heated.. chunks of undressed.. unseasoned.. no olive oil or any sort of sauce to be found.. 'Broccoli, Cauliflower and Carrot'..
3. you do not use 'gravox' to make a 'Gravy'..
4. you do not use that 'yuck tasting horrible disgusting cheap vegetable oil' to bake your funny little 'Potato Cubes' in..
5. you must treat your 'Aussie Spring Lamb' in a kinda respectful way.. it should have been just ever so slightly pink, tender and without ribbons of fat hanging off it - I just don't think it was.. Spring Lamb, then alone Australian...
6. you don't overcook frozen 'Oven Bake Steak Fries'..
7. you don't serve a 'Side Salad' undressed..
8. you don't ever serve frozen 'Battered Fish' to paying customers
Thank G for the generous little bowl of jarred "Masterfood's" tartare sauce - it helped get the fish, chips.. and salad.. down....
Hey..!! We were hungry..!!
ONLY ONLY GOOD BIT - the little supermarket 'Bake At Home Roll' with a sachet of real 'Dairy Butter' - comes complimentary with all meals.... Gosh.. t'was just so delicious - "in comparison to everything else"...
Wanted dessert, but one look, inside that glass pantry on display, put me off.. immediately - Just those B awful FACTORY MADE 'cakes, pies and tortes' you see around the traps.. much more often than you should..
So then - 1 x Garlic Bread, 1 x Fish, Chips & Salad, 1 x Roast of the Day, 1 x Guinness, 1 x Lemon Soda - COST $65 - A PREMIUM price for RUBBISH food - I really didn't think I'd see this in Hawthorn East......
[Apparently, they survive on a continuous 'Shopadocket' promo - Hey.. It's a very empty bargain - their food's not worth even a half price discount..]
To the owners/managers of this once ICONIC Local Hotel - SELL or RESIGN - Such a 'wicked waste' - Such a 'lost opportunity' - Such a 'crying shame'......
Any half-decent cook, using any half-decent ingredients, with any half-decent food knowledge DESPERATELY NEEDED to give the exceptionally forgiving long-suffering locals a break......
Visited on Saturday 31 October for Dinner for two. read more