I've always thought that the Alma Hotel was a nice country pub especially in the historic town of Willunga, that is until I had a lunch there this week. Very unimpressed. I don't like leaving negative reviews but this was definitely a bad experience.
The interior was reasonably presented, the floors nicely polished wood, historical ceilings in the front of the dining area was nice as well. In the dining area the bar/order area was old and daggy the ceiling as well. You could partially see the kitchen and the vibe was one of unease - as though WHS is not followed here. This unease was followed by a kitchen worker sneezing quite loudly. Our meals arrived - customer service was poor, not what I would expect for a country pub, not like the Aldinga pub or the Strathalbyn pub at all. Where's the friendly banter... my fish had bones - it wasn't supposed to, the arancini balls were the worst I have ever had at a restaurant AND they came with a free hair! The sticky chilli sauce was nice though. The garlic bread was also good.
The menu was limited - from what I could see no vegan or vego options. The desserts sounded nice The front bar area also looked nice. I left feeling quite urrky and I won't be back...
Read moreWell well well, the Alma hotel hey? My family and I have lived in willunga for the last 20 years and have an appreciation for local food and service. We have had many great meals in the past at the Alma hotel however we visited tonight and had the worst we’ve ever had in any local restaurant. My partner is a hospitality worker and knows better than anyone the pressure put on kitchen staff during a busy period however the wait on the food was ridiculous. Our table waited for roughly an hour and the table next to us who ordered at a similar time were waiting for much longer. Onto the quality of the food. The marinara pasta was just plain pasatta straight out of the jar, completely flavourless. Not a herb or flake of salt in sight. The cauliflower dish was just cauliflower cooked 3 different ways but so bland with little variation on the plate. The lamb korma curry was so bland that it was inedible. We love our community and had high hopes for our local pub but unfortunately the entire experience was a let down. Credit to the floor staff for being lovely and holding the floor. This review comes from an appreciation of food and service. We hope the Alma hotel management takes this...
Read moreWent back to the Alma for the first time in nearly ten years expecting to see some change as my previous experience wasn't very good. To my surprise it was more of the same. I had a beef schnitzel with the Aussie topping. The schnitzel itself was okay. A little burnt around the edges of the batter but it wasn't bad. The topping consists of barbecue sauce, cheese, bacon and an egg atop the affair. Thankfully the egg was perfectly cooked and this was definitely pleasing to eat. For the rest of the dish unfortunately, the pieces didn't compliment each other well. The barbecue sauce was extremely thin almost like the consistency of soy sauce. It was quite sweet also and didn't have the familiar taste of other barbecue sauces. The cheese was tasty and i don't have a lot to complain about it other than it seemed to be of poor quality as it began separating into the primary cheese substance and a small patch of oil on my schnitzel. My only last complaint was that the bacon was cooked way too far and very dry.
Overall the food was edible but not something I...
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