1915 — Restaurant in Victoria

Greetings, my dear gastronomes, I’ve been whisked away to the shores of Geelong to dine at the curiously named 1915 restaurant. Now, let me set the scene: a bustling spot with pretensions of grandeur, but oh, what a mixed bag it turned out to be! So, grab a glass—something robust, mind you—and let’s dive into this culinary caper.

First off, the staff. Splendid bunch! Charming, attentive, and darting about with the kind of enthusiasm that makes you forgive a multitude of sins. They were the saving grace, topping up my wine and delivering plates with a flourish. But, alas, even their heroics couldn’t mask the whiff of profiteering that clung to this place like a cheap aftershave. The menu screamed “pub grub dressed up in a tuxedo,” yet the prices—good heavens! You’d think they were plating gold leaf instead of pedestrian fare.

Let’s talk about the food, shall we? I ordered the steak with mushroom sauce, hoping for a rich, velvety embrace of umami. What arrived? A watery, insipid dribble that tasted of precisely nothing. It was as if they’d waved a mushroom over a pot of dishwater and called it a day. The steak itself was passable, but for the price, I expected a cut that sang, not one that mumbled apologetically. This was pub food, plain and simple, tarted up with a price tag that could make a Michelin chef blush. And then—oh, the horror—the toilets. My word, what a disgrace! Filthy, neglected, and reeking of despair, they were the sort of place you’d hesitate to send your worst enemy. A restaurant’s loos are its calling card, a reflection of its soul, and these screamed, “We’ve given up!” I half-expected to find a sign reading, “Abandon hope, all ye who enter here.”

The whole operation had a distinct air of squeezing every last penny out of the punters. The menu was priced for fine dining, but the execution was more akin to a corner boozer on a bad day. It’s a shame, really, because the staff’s warmth and hustle deserved better. But when your sauce is a culinary non-event, your facilities are a health hazard, and your prices are an insult to the wallet, you’re left with a bitter taste no amount of wine can wash away.

So, here’s to 1915: sort out your loos, thicken your sauce, and stop charging caviar prices for fish-and-chip ambitions. Until then, I’ll be dining...

tl;dr - really fantastic service and food, one dessert option was literally inedible but the staff quickly remedied it and everything else was great.

Really nice set up, the building is huge and wonderfully renovated with a nice industrial design. We were booked in for 6pm on a Saturday and the overall atmosphere was a little bit lacklustre for most of the time we were there, as the size of the place made it feel quite empty. The energy picked up nicely as more people arrived and more tables were filled, though.

The wait staff were super lovely, perfectly matched the tone of each table they were serving and provided fantastic service from start to finish.

We went with the chef's selection multi course menu, which is a great option. Wide variety of foods with good portion sizes, bigger than a lot of other degustation menus. The beetroot dip and flatbread was absolutely delicious; everyone said the calamari was amazing and the chicken perfectly cooked; the vegetarian main option was a gnocchi that was very flavourful and the perfect consistency. I had the vegetarian menu, another diner had the vegan menu, and the other seven had the normal menu, and all of us had more than enough food and were very happy with the flavours of everything.

Except for the vegan dessert - it was supposed to be a cake of some kind, but there was unfortunately too much bicarb soda or baking powder used in the mix and it tasted horrible, just absolutely chemical and inedible. Which was a shame, because the berry sauce that came with it was absolutely delicious! But as soon as we told the staff they apologised, listened to our concerns, and immediately replaced it with a mango sorbet that was a highlight of the whole meal.

Over all a great night, fairly priced, delicious food, wonderful service from...

We reserved a table for lunch last Sunday and had a great time at 1915!

Beautiful renovated building with high ceiling and a lot of windows makes the whole space very open and welcoming. It’s located in the Federal Mills compound which is a lovely area with lots of pretty courtyards and greenery. Even though we weren’t very far away from the next table, we still felt we had privacy. The staff were friendly and attentive, food didn’t take long either. Some pictures on the menu will be helpful as the staff member we were speaking to wasn’t able to describe the dish (which was fine as we decided to go for safer options). Overall the restaurant atmosphere was nice and relaxing, with some occasional bangs from the broken door closer - hopefully it will be fixed soon.

Food wise we had absolute nothing to fault. We ordered the Black Angus Skewers and the char was beautiful. It was smokey and nicely cooked, well seasoned and the chimichurri sauce added even more flavors. For main we had the Porterhouse steak and mussels in coconut and chilli broth. The steak was chargrilled so again, amazing smokey flavor, the meat was tender and not too fatty. Buttered mash and rustic chips were good too. My mussels were cooked to perfection and the sauce tasted like a Thai curry with coconut, chilli and coriander - a bit too spicy for me but it was so good I couldn’t stop eating!!

Their menu has a lot of other delicious options and we’d love to come back to try more.

My husband is a wheelchair user and the restaurant is very wheelchair friendly (parking, toilet, no...