Lunch at our Local Pub
On the weekend we had my brother and two nephews to stay overnight. As my 6 year-old nephew has officially stated that the The Ranges Hotel in Gembrook is his ‘favourite food place in the whole wide world’ and also because it is now tradition, we had lunch there on the Saturday. We took drawing sets and iPads and the boys were set. We bought wine and beer and we were set.
Our neighbouring town, Gembrook, is around an hour South-East of Melbourne. The Ranges Hotel has been standing since 1896, and is opposite the last stop of the famous Puffing Billy. The hotel had stood empty since we moved here 4 years ago but whilst we were overseas at the end of last year, after a huge renovation, the hotel re-opened as a family-friendly bistro and bar, and they haven’t been empty since. The exterior, as you can see below, is typically Australian and the interiors are modern traditional, and warm and friendly.
As usual, the food was gorgeous. My brother, the Hubby and myself all had one of the weekend specials – beef cheek in red wine sauce, with mash and garlic crumb. My brother had the pear & almond tart with ginger cream and salted caramel, whereas I finished lunch off with the absolutely fabulous Top Deck Chocolate Mousse with mandarin cream, which I always insist the Hubby order along with the mains in case they run out before pudding time and my life is over. The older nephew had the Chicken Schnitzel – always a favourite and the most tender chicken you will ever have – no salad on the side please, and the youngest had the Fettucine Bolognese, served in a miniature enamel blue and white pie dish. Some of our other favourites include the Parma (I have never been a fan until now but the way they cook that chicken – I’m a convert!), beer battered barramundi, John Dory with mussels and white beans, a 1kg lamb shoulder that served my 2 brothers and hubby, with some to spare, squid ink tagliarini, braised beef short ribs and beautifully simple, perfectly cooked steaks. There’s always a few specials aswell but it pays to get there early in case they (or the chocolate mousse) run out. We almost always start with the. Mac and Cheese Croquettes – I’m sure everything else is fabulous but we just can’t seem to go past them. The chef, James Turno, previously headed the kitchen at Grossi Florentino – it explains a lot.
The local bus runs almost past our house and drops us off outside the pub – how very handy. Finishing the meal off with American honey whiskey for the (grown up) boys and another glass of the very lovely Chestnut Hill Chardonnay for me, we walked a very, very small part of our lunch off with the 2 minute walk to the bus stop to head home. The homeward bus stop is also yards away from the skate park so we sometimes time it so that the boys can drop some tricks before we head home (is that the lingo?!).
We also, always, have to allow the youngest nephew time to pop over the road to say hello to Puffing Billy or whichever of Billy’s friends is at Gembrook Station at the time. Any shyness goes straight out of the window when he gets a chance to chat to one of the drivers or conductors about one of his greatest loves, trains. It’s always a pleasure to watch and obviously, even better when he actually gets to ride on the train.
After a lovely long lunch, we took the 695 home, struggled all the way to the sofa and collapsed in front of the tv. Luckily I was quite tired from the couple or 3 glasses of wine I had had and fell asleep through the 13-year old’s choice of mountain biking on YouTube.