Bar Merenda — Restaurant in Northern Victoria Region

Spa weekend 23-25 Aug for our birthdays. So many people had told us to go so we were so looking forward to it! From the second we walked in the first interaction with the older gentleman was off. He was getting annoyed reading the chefs menu because we had allergies. One citrus and vinegar and the other gluten free. He was rude about apparently NOT understanding what the allergies were. It was like it was an inconvenience. The other waiter was not personable at all. I asked for extra butter and it was thrown on the table. Mind you 3 people sharing one tiny 30gm bowl of butter with 8 pieces of bread to butter. Potatoes were delicious the lamb was fatty.no gluten free bread??? We ordered torte and coffee and the older gentleman replied this is a bar we don’t have coffee. How do you have desert without coffee?? If you decide to order the crisps don’t bother. It’s a packet of chips with pickles on top!! Overall disappointing and not worth the trip...

I visited during my trip, the staff were very accommodating and friendly. the set up was a bit confusing, I only wanted dinner as since I cannot drink alcohol (I am a green P plater) I would have only non-alcoholic drinks. Despite that, I was sat downstairs at the bar, not near, but on the bar. While upstairs seemed to be the actual eating area. That was confusing and a bit odd. Even the staff member I spoke to seemed a bit unsure. But despite this food was good, though portions were a bit on the smaller side, only just enough to fill you up the food was nice, Maybe a tiny bit rich for the smaller portions, but that might just be the country in me talking not being used to such high prices. Other that those things the food was nice, atmosphere was a little odd being in the bar, and service was very nice overall...

We didn’t manage to get a table for lunch so we booked for 3pm. We decided to try the chef menu. It came no were 3 entrees, 4 mains plus a salad and leek vinaigrette. Out of the 3 entrees, the ham hock terrine was super delicious. I like the olive focaccia bread too. For the main, I love the chicken best. It was slow cooked in red wine, the rich flavor blended in so well and the chicken was cooked to perfection without the meat being too soft. The rare beef was pretty good too. The Cod Brandade seems a bit dry but tasted ok. We finished the meal with the sinful creme caramel. It texture was so smooth that it melt in the mouth. There was no fancy presentation but the food was really good. Advance...