Barwon Hotel, Winchelsea — Restaurant in Winchelsea

Avoid, if you can. I was passing through the area with a travelling companion, and with several hours to go on our trip we stopped in here.

First, no contact tracing (QC Code or sign in) was set up. its as if COVID never happened. We ordered the Prawn and Lime rice vermicelli and the lamb and rosemary risotto.

Big Mistake. Total order was $50. then there was the wait. 30 minutes. I ask about our meals as we need to be back on the road. 45 minutes. 60 minutes. My travelling companion visits the ladies room, and tells me later no soap.

All would probably be forgiven if the food was decent. It was not. The vermicelli stated it was in a nuoc cham sauce. I know what nuoc cham sauce is made from. Water , sugar, lime juice, fish sauce, garlic. This one did not taste like that... more like water flavored water.

Then there was the risotto. Over cooked The risotto had entirely broken down into barley like shapes. over salty. Tasted like congealed onion soup mix.

We would have raised a fuss, but frankly we had to get to somewhere so we left, food...

The meals are enormous. We shared the Panko Crumbed Haloumi Fries between 2 people. Before I finished the entree, the Chicken Schnitzel and the main size Thai Beef Salad were delivered to our table. Neither of us finished our meals, purely because they were so large. The food was tasty but I think most people would be happy to pay fractionally less or the same and get a main course that was half the size. As we were attending a live show at the hotel, the main dining room was set up for the show and all meals were being served in the bar area or outside. I suspect there was a combination of lots of new staff and that all meals were being served in the bar area, but things seemed a bit unorganised. The table numbers didn't appear to be in any sort of order so staff delivering meals couldn't easily know which table they were taking the meals to, even with table numbers on display. All the staff were pleasant, it's a great venure for live music and I'd definitely go back, but would order an entree for a...

The Barwon Hotel may look a little grungy, but we were happy to find it a welcoming place for lunch. We sat in the bar dining area, with a nice wood fire (it was unseasonally cold for October), and put a couple of bets on while we waited. The kids meals were served super fast and really nice. The veggies were lovely, fish and chips generous. We both had Bob's special. The size was HUGE, and the panko crumbed sausage when dipped in egg yolk and gravy was seriously too die for. Chips excellent too! Crumbed sausages used to be a thing in the 80s/90s, they should still be a thing now. They also have Kievs and a range of good looking schnitzels. Staff and locals were very welcoming and friendly to top it off. We'll be...