Monday 28 November 2011

Side Quest: Pink Pepper

This isn't a pub, I know that, but there was a claim it had a good vegetarian burger, and I can't let that go. As my loyal readers know, I'm very picky about my veggie burgers, so I had to give it a go.

I was there with friends and we shared a vegetarian pizza, veggie burger and chips. To keep some suspense I'll talk about the pizza first. It was pretty good. I'd recommend it when you're looking for a good quality pizza. I enjoyed the crumbled feta.

It's only wonky because we cut it
The burger:

It was ... good! I was impressed! However, I'm afraid I can't say I've finally found my veggie burger of choice. It's not really a burger. My definition of burgers usually includes some sort of patty (be that beef, chicken, lentils, chickpeas, etc) and unfortunately this was just vegetables and mushrooms. It was delicious, don't get me wrong, but it was more of a warm sandwich. I'm not very picky about those, and I'd has very nice, similar sandwiches on plenty of occasions.

So, was there a nice meal at Pink Pepper, yes! Was there a nice veggie burger, unfortunately not. I will keep you posted if I have any other discoveries.

Pink Pepper on Royal on Urbanspoon

Friday 25 November 2011

The Woodbridge Hotel

Aka "The Woody". I remembered it to be kind of grungy, and I didn't think it would be vegetarian friendly.

Food Choices
There was basically one option for a main. The "Woody Vegetarian". It described itself as a "potato and vegetable cake" and was $22. That was outside my budget, so I looked at the starters, besides the usual there was spring rolls, and a grilled mushroom with salad, both $11. I ordered the mushroom, my friend ordered the Woody Vegetarian and the spring rolls.


Food quality
Good! All three things were good. The grilled mushroom dish would probably not be enough for a normal person, but I don't eat much, so it was fine. I wasn't a big fan of the dressing on the salad, but it wasn't smothered in it. It would make a good entree for bigger eaters, or a pleasant meal for small eaters like me.



The spring rolls were big and tasty. Hard to go wrong with spring rolls. I enjoyed the plum sauce too.



The Woody Vegetarian was good too. I didn't get to try it, but my friend said it was tasty. It looked good. It had all the things a good vegetarian dish needs. Piles of vegetables and beans, with some bread and sauce. I'd recommend it. It was only just over budget!


Overall Rating

1 point per vegetarian choice (max 3):  1.5 - Half for each of the starters, half for the over budget main
Quality of meal (1-3): 3
Value for money (1-3):  1 - The main was over-budget, the mushroom wasn't particularly big, but the spring rolls were huge
X-factor (0-1): 0 - I don't like the atmosphere there
Total: 55%

Guess I will have to drink my calories tonight...

Woodbridge Hotel on Urbanspoon

Friday 18 November 2011

The Oxford Hotel

I had high hopes for The Oxford. It's one of my favourite pubs, as a pub. It has a pretty good atmosphere. I like the outside, yet undercover area. I had a private function there for New years eve, and it was cheap and everyone had a good night. They had a private "downstairs" area, that looks kind of like a dungeon. It's cute, I like it. I was excited to see how they went for food. I wanted to see The Oxford in my top 5.

Food Choices

Ccccccombo breaker! Back to the drawing board. No options. Seriously. There was a vegetarian pasta on the special menu that was $27.50 and some sides! That was all. Otherwise, no options. To make matters worse, there were lots of meat dishes with amazing sounding (vegetarian) ingredients such as lentils and quinoa. Basically they had everything they needed in their kitchen to make something amazing, and they were choosing not to. I looked through their sides menu, and they actually had a quite a range, all for $7.



I ordered the macaroni cheese. I was pleased. Most of the dishes were over $25, closer to $30 and I wanted to cut The Oxford some slack. I was going to give them high marks for value for money, even though mostly their meals were expensive, because I was able to eat something for $7.

Food quality


But they disappointed me... In the worst possible way. The macaroni cheese had bacon in it! It's partially my fault. I should have asked if it did. That said my friend did said to the waitress when she took our order "I wanted a vegetarian dish... I guess I'll just get the mac and cheese", which implies a meat-less dish is expected. It could have been misinterpreted, but let's move on. I was able to take the dish back and get a meat-free version. This meant that by the time I had my meal, everyone else had finished eating. It also meant that I'd finished my drink, consequently drinking my calories, and thus no longer being hungry.

This is not an attractive looking dinner


When I eventually got my meal I wasn't expecting much. It was pretty terrible. The pasta wasn't even macaroni, and it wasn't cooked properly. It tasted, and I'll quote my friend here "Like someone has taken some pasta and grated some cheese on top and gone DONE!". It really wasn't very special. My friend who had also ordered the same actually sent his back. I ate most of mine, but I wasn't impressed. Suddenly $7 seemed like a lot of money. I thought at first it was really reasonable for dinner, but when I realised I could get a bag of cheap pasta from Coles for 99c, and a block of cheese for a few dollars and I could make it myself it suddenly felt like a rip-off. In fact, I could make it better myself.


Overall Rating

1 point per vegetarian choice (max 3):  0.5 - 0.5 for the overpriced vegetarian dish. Nothing for the sides, even though there was lots of them. I cannot be sure they were vegetarian.
Quality of meal (1-3): 1
Value for money (1-3):  1 - Most dishes were quite expensive. $7 for that mess suddenly wasn't worthwhile
X-factor (0-1): 1


Total: 35%

Guess I will have to drink my calories tonight...

(You know, I say this ever week, but this is the first time I've actually done it!)

Oxford Hotel on Urbanspoon

Friday 11 November 2011

The Flying Scotsman

Food Choices

So, continuing the trend, there were a few options. Gnocchi ($20),  Vegetarian rissotto ($21.50), 3 vegetarian pizzas (Margarita: $13, Fat vego: $17.50, Tandoori: $17), Vegetarian platter ($33), Vegetarian burger ($16), 2 salads ($14, $16). So that's plenty of options, and plenty for under $20. Want to share a pizza or a platter and you're in for a cheap night out!

Tandoori pizza
Food quality

I ordered a pizza and shared it with my friend. I'm pretty sure I've had the Fat Vego before, and remember it to be good, but don't quote me on that. This time, however, I had the Tandoori pizza. If you like Indian food, but don't like spicy foods (like me, yes yes I know I'm picky), then this is the pizza for you. It was really tasty! You wouldn't think yoghurt on a pizza would be a good idea but it worked! It was a bit messy to pick up and eat, but other than that I was very pleased. I couldn't eat the whole thing, so I shared it with a friend. Nice and cheap. I had two other friends order pizzas, and they couldn't finish them either, so I'd definitely recommend this place to share a pizza.

The Vegetarian Platter changes with the specials
Two of my friends ordered and shared the platter. One friend said he was "in love" with the quiche. He then demoted to it "quite nice", and then didn't finish it. They seemed to generally enjoy it. I tried the quiche and wasn't impressed.

It doesn't look nice, but don't let that put you off
So apparently even though this looks awful it was really tasty. My friend said that even though they didn't like olives, it was still nice. He ate all the olives.

Overall Rating

1 point per vegetarian choice (max 6):  3
Quality of meal (1-3): 2
Value for money (1-3):  2.5 - There was a lot of options under $20, and $8.50 for a delicious meal. My only complaint is that there were meat pizza for cheaper than the vegetarian options. That just doesn't seem right
X-factor (0-1): 0

Total: 75%

Guess I won't have to drink my calories tonight...


The Flying Scotsman on Urbanspoon

Friday 4 November 2011

The Rosemount Hotel

I really like the atmosphere at The Rosemount. It was a nice night and we sat outside. The beer garden has bench tables, grass and pool tables. It's a great place to chill.

Food Choices

I seem to be on a roll here, another place with plenty of options. Besides the usual sides there was primavera pesto quiche ($15), vegetarian burger ($16), gourmet pumpkin salad ($16), vegetarian and margherita pizza (small $11.50 / large $15.50) as well as a vegetarian asian platter (small $30 / large $50). Obviously the platter was outside of my price range, but the idea is that those are to share. Which is always a great option. Not only was there a heap of choices, they were all under $20! Dinner for as cheap as $11.50 is pretty rare these days.

Food quality

I ordered the pumpkin salad.


It was really good. It was definitely my kind of salad. It had all the things that I love in a salad, plus things I wouldn't normally include, which just added to it. It contained "roasted butternut pumpkin, baby spinach, feta cheese & pine nuts tossed in a light honey balsamic dressing" and it was delicious. It had no rocket, which is great, because I don't like rocket. I am definietely a fan of baby spinach though, and the dressing was really nice. The pumpkin was cooked perfectly. $16 seems a lot for a salad, but compared to a lot of other pub prices, it was reasonable. I was very happy.


A friend ordered the quiche. She said it was average, and nothing to write home about. Her chips were a little bit too salty as well.



Another friend ordered the burger. He said it was good. However, I think I've established how I feel about vegetarian burgers. I didn't try it, but he said he'd recommend it.



Overall Rating

1 point per vegetarian choice (max 3):  3
Quality of meal (1-3): 3
Value for money (1-3):  3 - There was a lot of options under $20, including non-vegetarian dishes. I was very pleased with my meal, and the price was good.
X-factor (0-1): 1


Total: 100%

Guess I won't have to drink my calories tonight...


Rosemount Hotel on Urbanspoon