Grace Darling Hotel — Restaurant in Melbourne

With a cold wet Sunday forecast - what could be better than a family Sunday roast in front of a roaring fire? So with a 'Sunday Roast' advertised, we booked a table 'near the fire' at the Grace darling. On arrival - no booking noted.... strange No table available by a fire.. contrary to what we were told on the phone last night... odd Ordered drinks at the bar: -- Bloody Mary with a warming shot of sherry - out of sherry... disappointing.. -- Aperol spritz - out of Aperol... But its on the drinks board above the bar??! -- Raspberry lemonade? - No raspberry syrup... hmmm Eventually find us a table... not near a fire, but in an atrium... not what we had in mind.. but, oh well, we are here now.. Wine list? Limited selection made even more limited because we are told they are out of stock of most of the wines listed... OK we'll have what you do have.. Roast?? No, there is no Roast.... oh, but that's why we are here... alright let's chose something else Order entrée ... yeah, edible... but not so great. Would you like Tabasco with Oysters - Yes please.... after a while - Sorry, we are all out of Tabasco (So what was that in the Bloody Mary?) Mains arrive with the table still fully cluttered with entrée plates and platters... right, so we'll clear some space for the waiter to put main dishes down.. Three out of four dishes (Pork Belly) delivered, to be told about the fourth dish, they have run out of lamb shanks and a serve of Pork Belly will be provided instead! ....right... so why did we even bother ordering from the menu?? On a scale of 10 Pork Belly gets a 4 or 5.. Still, we are all having lunch together... so laugh and go with it.. Desert.. oh, that would be nice with a coffee and maybe a sticky wine... - Sorry, we have no desert wines (not surprising, I guess ... after experience so far..) but then... Sorry, we don't do coffee or Tea.... what??!! really?? At this stage, we figure it really is a lost cause and go elsewhere to finish our lunch The waiting staff were apologetic, but could not offer any explanation for everything being out of stock... Laughable maybe... but really crap contemptuous experience.... And not inexpensive (even considering they did not charge for the undelivered Shanks..) Just so pleased not to be entertaining out-of-towners showcasing Melbourne as the foodie / coffee capital it is touted to be - would have been sooooo embarrassing In summary - don't waste precious moments of your life...

I attended the Grace Darling for a friend's 40th birthday on Tuesday night. The party was held in the cellar - the first time I had been down there. The decor was very original, colonial cellar, with white-washed stone walls and a fire place. The room was a bit dark, but plenty of candles made for a warm atmosphere. The food was fantastic! It was a set menu, with choices of chicken parmigiana, vegetarian parmigiana, lamb shank, steak, or fish. I ordered the lamb shank, something I haven't eaten in years. The lamb was tender and dripped from the bone, The accompanying vegetables and salad were delicious. Unfortunately it took longer then expected for the steaks to arrive, and everyone else had finished dinner by the time the steak orderers got their meals. I understand it can be difficult to get everyone's meals out together for a group of 30 people, as well as everyone else in the restaurant. A free drink was offered to all the steak eaters as compensation, which was a classy move by the pub. I've eaten here before, and thoroughly enjoyed the night. I will definitely eat here again, or even just go for a drink. A comfortable and understated...

My thought upon walking into the Grace Darling.... "what the hell have I stumbled into here". You have to admit, a complete dive look from the outside is transformed into a comforting, warm, inviting space where patrons appear huddled over their tables deep in conversation, drinks and a fantastic fare of locally sourced food. The staff are the epitome of Collingwood, there are all the different flavours here and I finally found the chatty social staff member who filled me in on what night it was, steak night - I knew of course, the drink specials and a plethora of options to sit. It was so inviting I actually sat at the bar. The place was packed, its clearly a winner with local community and you can see why, the only place I felt the Grace Darling put a foot wrong was that initial moments of waiting for "my" outwardly type of bartender to appear to help me. There was a huge amount of staff on, all busy, all polite but mostly reserved. The meal was absolutely delicious, steak cooked as ordered and proportioned well. The cider was cold, on tap and in happy hour. Bliss, I'll be seeing you again Grace - apparently the lamb shanks on a...