The Grace Darling Hotel
I’ve visited The Grace Darling Hotel twice in the last few months, once for dinner and once for Sunday lunch, and both times I have been very impressed with the food and the service.
I was even brave enough to venture away from my ‘always order the chicken parma when in a pub’ rule and ordered the lamb spit roast for lunch today.
Om. Nom. Nom.
I don’t think I’ll need another meal for a few days.
When we visited Grace Darling for dinner a few months ago, we went with a big group of friends. I was the only person on our table of eight to order an entrée, which was the river prawns:
Needless to say, I did not get to consume as many of these crunchy delicious treats as I would have liked to. Sharing is caring I suppose…
I DID order the chicken parma the first time I visited and let me tell you, this is one of the fanciest chicken parmas you will find:
A terracotta baked thigh with pancetta provolone cheese, slow roasted tomatoes, breadcrumbs and parmesan. This thing fell apart when I looked at it, so tender and soft. Definitely not your average pub parma.
The only other happy snap I managed to take of main meals that night was of the salmon:
And it was so long ago now that I can’t for the life of me remember what my friend said about her dish. Looks pretty though doesn’t it?
Even though I couldn’t finish my parma, I ordered dessert. How could I resist when honeycomb chocolate torte was on the menu:
I may have undone my top button in the car on the way home…
When we returned for lunch today we were seated in the atrium – a beautiful area with a glass ceiling and pretty hanging plants. Considering the downpour yesterday, it was lovely to feel as though we were dining outside without having to worry about the hazardous Melbourne weather.
Today I resisted ordering the chicken parma and went for the lamb spit roast. $25 bought me this:
and this:
Honestly, there was more than enough food for two people. Next time I will definitely be sharing this dish. The lamb was juicy, tender and tasty. The bean salad, potatoes and Italian coleslaw were perfect accompaniments, and the tzatziki was the creamiest most delicious tzatziki I’ve ever tasted. I worked away on this dish for about an hour before I gave up. I was defeated.
Here’s another shot of the prettiest chicken parma in Melbourne, which Mr ordered after seeing it last time:
Mr’s Dad ordered the roo burger with dill cucumbers, spiced red peppers, caramelized onion and lemon myrtle mayo, which is what most of the boys ordered last time we were there:
It disappeared pretty quickly.
The Grace Darling Hotel is the place to find your slightly more upmarket pub meal. A little pricier than some (parma is around $18) but worth the extra pennies IMHO. My only gripe is that the toilets are a little bit manky. But the food, service and ambiance are fantastic. Definitely worth a visit or two; we will be back for sure.
The Grace Darling Hotel 114 Smith St Collingwood VIC 3070 9416 0055
Food gobbler. Wine lover. Kitteh keeper. Gen-Y. Fiancée. Twitter addict.
Fighting the war against Leggings As Pants one fashion victim at a time... 
YAY!!! Another post! Love your review :)
XXASAB
PS. sending you the bill to fix my keypad due to the flood of drool while looking at those pics (especially the choc torte) ahah x