South Australian Hotel — Restaurant in Mount Gambier

HIdden Gem with Great Atmosphere Walking out of sinkholes looking for a feed, we found a nice little "pub" on Google.

Didn't expect to walk into a dining area that look so nice, wall side Bench can use some cushion but overall a very warm and welcoming environment

Servers are welcoming and not pushy, only show up when you have finally decided what to order from their slightly simple menu.

Me and my wife order 2 entrees, 1 Main and 1 side and its a good portion for 2 hungry tourist driving 6 hours from Adelaide.

Shallot tart is sweet and caramelized with sour cream and mustard. Tart is slightly overdone but it's probably we are sharing and find it a bit hard to cut it open

Beef Carpaccio is a little letdown. Rockets leave do pair well with raw beef, but I feel like there can be more citrus in the dish, a salted eggyolk is a good pair but not enough to cover the whole fish, portion is generous though.

Lamb Rump is somewhat a mixed emotion, the rump is executed greatly with medium rare but it's underseasoned. Artisan carrots is bit overdone at the end so it's bit crispy and seems heavy on salt. The purree underneath is underseasoned and doesn't pair very well with the lamb. wife end up dipping the lamb in the aioli that comes with the chips to finish them.

As we kinda lost hope, there is a glimpse of silver lining that is the Thick chips, crispy on the outside with herbs and salt seasoned well, extremely fluffy on the inside and paired with Aioli it's a good compensation to the other slightly disappointed dish.

There are definitely some adjustments needed in the menu to make this a great pub diner. Considering the price of this rural town diner is not exactly cheap compared to a more metro area pub, I hope this is not one of those one time diner for tourists and are looking to improve. For the service and environment they definitely deserve a retrial, will visit again the next time we visit...

I wanna give 5 stars but I can’t - we hired the top floor for our 40th birthday. Their were ants in all the spirits and we couldn’t order till it was replaced (ok fair enough with covid the space hadnt been used) The owner said we could stay as late as 2am when they were due to close. The lady with the orange coloured hair and blonde roots was verbalising how many minutes she had till knock off - like literally every 10minutes! Then announced it was 10:30 she was closing and we can go home. Er? What? We had 30 people enjoying themselves that weren’t rowdy and your like “don’t care Im going home” So we took our money to another venue and gave them our dollars instead.

The meal was terrible (I didn’t eat mine in the end) and 2 people got sick the next day.

The girl that was originally at the bar was fantastic.

I did consider ringing the venue and explaining what happened but then someone else may get sick from the meal and I don’t want anyone to go through it.

We asked to use the pool table and were given 5 cue sticks (2 broken, 2 didnt have tips and 1 was dodgy) … we play professional pool comp and understand that people dont look after things but seriously … its not difficult to place a tip on the cue sticks.

Will we be back? Sigh …. Probably not. Its a great space but the girl with the badly coloured orange hair and blonde roots just ruined it with her pity train I wanna go...

After mentioning to a nurse at the Mount Gambier Hospital that we’d had a very disappointing dining/food/service experience at another local venue, she eagerly and highly recommended the South Australian Hotel for the best food in town—and we are so glad she did. Since that first visit to the SAH we have become regulars, and each and every time we dine here, we are always welcomed with such genuine warmth by the wonderful team.

The atmosphere is inviting and relaxed, with chic, modern decor that makes every visit feel like a special occasion. The food, prepared by their very talented chef, is consistently outstanding—fresh, beautifully prepared, and always delicious. Every dish on the menu is perfection. The Lamb Rump, Beef Bourguignon Stuffed Onion, Cauliflower Tacos and Mini Japanese Pancakes are my top favourites. My mouth is watering just thinking about these dishes.

What really sets the South Australian Hotel apart is the exceptional service. Taylah and Majella, in particular, have gone above and beyond to make us feel valued and at home, and their friendly warmth and professionalism that never goes unnoticed.

If you are looking for the BEST venue to dine in when you’re in Mount Gambier, look no further. The South Australian Hotel has truly set the standard for excellent food, professional service, and wonderful hospitality. Highly, highly...