While I'm not a huge fan of chicken, & rarely eat it, I have to say that the crispy-coated southern style chicken pieces here are the best...HEAPS nicer than greasy old KFC's. The chips are also great here, & chips are something that I do love; but I also love the fact that they're cooked on the spot; they're definitely worth the wait. Having a genuine coeliac to cater for makes it hard to buy roast chooks for dinner, but these guys are really accommodating. I order in the morning, before they prep the chooks for the day, & they roast it for me later, ready to take home for that easy meal, when I can't face cooking after a 12-13 hour slog at work. I think, that they're very reasonably priced too. The operators are absolutely the nicest couple you could ever hope to meet, & they have really nice staff.

Having had a café myself, I can honestly say that this place is pretty amazing. Hubby & I work in the area & he gets his coffees there every day, which are always top notch. Understandably, there were some minor teething problems when they changed coffee brands recently, but as professionals do, they worked at it, till they got the "machine, beings & beans" in tune with one another, & now it's always consistently great. Due to time constraints, we've only eaten there a handful of times, but it's always great quality, & incredibly fresh. Hubby had a big brekkie today & everything was cooked to perfection; my favourite thing on his plate was the pork & leek sausage...YUM!! It wasn't just some el-cheapo home-brand bar-b-q sausage claiming to be gourmet, it really was a fantastic sausage, I'm glad to report. I had a steak sandwich, & although it was a public holiday, the Turkish roll was SO fresh, & the sandwich itself was seriously, seriously good! I've also had the lamb & tzatziki burger in the past, which was SO much nicer than I expected, (only because I'm the queen of tzatziki making & a little demanding when I eat out), BUT my favourite thing on the menu, for when I'm having a bad morning, is the bacon & egg sandwich; it's seriously awesome & the tomato relish just makes it something special. What I love most is that the place is spotlessly clean, & there's nothing pretentious going on; it's a simple place, with a simple menu, doing simple things REALLY well, with just enough twists & just enough choices. It's always good coffee; it's the only place in the area that does a proper wet chai & not that awful powdered stuff, & it's really, really good food...you can tell that the cook/chef genuinely cares about what he's putting on those plates. MOST importantly the service is second-to-none...first rate, professional, & the staff are really friendly.

Dustin & Stephanie would have to be the best pharmacists in the area, & 2 of the nicest people I've ever met. Hubby & I have only lived in the area for 3 years, but my parents have been here for almost 28, & these 2 pharmacists have taken such good care of my very sick Mum for many, many years. In our household, 4 out of 5 of us need regular medication, & they certainly know what they're doing here; we trust them implicitly for all our pharmaceutical needs.

It was a while ago now that I ate here, once with my Mum (who rarely gets out due to chronic illnesses), which was really awful. All my poor Mum wanted was a toasted ham, tomato & cheese sandwich & a cappuccino. The ham was awful, & the bread was stale, which is sometimes okay for toasting but not when it threatens to break your teeth; & the coffee never arrived, even after politely reminding them TWICE. Maybe because my Mum was a typical little "ethnic-mama-looking-type" that they gave us no to little attention, but these were definitely NOT nice service people.
SO...about a month later, hubby & I thought we would give it a second chance, but it was even worse, sorry to say. Now, I've run a restaurant with my family before, & I currently run a small café, & there is NEVER any excuse for poor food, or more importantly, even poorer service. I only gave 2 stars because I know how damaging these reviews can sometimes be for small operators, & that's not my intention here, but if I had to be brutally honest, we'll never eat here again. It really is not as inviting as some would have you believe & I feel they could all use some serious customer service training.

Approximate cost: $way too much for the poor quality

Had a catch up dinner here with some friends back in December & I have to say, I wasn't expecting much because I hadn't heard of it before, but WOW! what a fantastic surprise. There's no faulting the place; the service was sensational, & the food was simply gorgeous. I loved that it seemed so laid back & casual, yet at the same time the staff were so professional & attentive. My stand out dish was the pork jowl, although all the food was beautiful & how it should be; fresh, simple ingredients perfectly cooked & beautifully presented. What I also loved, was for that time of the year & as busy as they were, there was none of this 'time-limited' malarkey that some of the other restaurants were imposing at that time. We were left to just sit & enjoy our food & company till we were ready to leave & the staff were fantastic about it; they never rushed us or even hinted at how late it was (almost midnight when we left), which is very, very rare these days. We've already recommended the place to lots of friends, some of which have already been & loved it as much as us, so we will definitely be back & promise not to stay so late next time.

Approximate cost: $75pp

I've been dying to eat here, after seeing the owner on Food Safari some years ago, but something always got in the way...namely distance. Hubby & I were given a Good Food gift card for Xmas, so imagine my delight when I realized that we could use it here!...& let me tell you it was definitely worth the 50km drive (one way). What an incredible experience. The staff were so professional, but at the same time personable, & the food was simply magical. We had a feast starting with the zucchini fritters, octopus salad & that simply gorgeous calamari with the apple/celery salad. What a treat! But my absolute favourite would have to be that spectacular brujet, (fish stew); this was no ordinary stew, it was perfect in every way. The pasticada (beef cheek) was also beautiful, & served with the best gnocchi I've ever had. I still dream about the food here & can't wait till my next free weekend so hubby & I can do it all again.

Approximate cost: $30.00

After a weekend in Bendigo recently, this place seemed to be one of the very, very few places open in Bendigo for Sunday lunch. The food wasn't memorable, but the service was excellent. Somehow, excellent service can make an ordinary meal seem special, whereas terrible service can spoil the best of meals. Anyway. Hubby & I decided to go for the Tapas menu, ordering one of everything to start with. The pumpkin croquettes with goats cheese seemed to be missing the goats cheese, or anything else really to give it that little 'pop' of flavour which was sad because they were beautifully cooked. They were out of the pork hock croute with gribiche, which was disappointing; BUT they had a rare beef croute with horseradish instead, & I have to say that it was sensational!! The beef was perfectly sealed & I'm not usually a fan of horseradish, but this was something else. The chorizo montadito wasn't impressive, with the chorizo tasting a little like csabai more than chorizo. But the scallops with cauliflower puree were really nice, as was the pork belly with pumpkin puree. The little stuffed mushrooms were also pretty good & a perfect vegie, gluten-free option of people that might need it. We liked the beef croute so much we ordered another. It's not the most memorable meal we've had but it's certainly worth a trip; even if it's just for really friendly service, which I would definitely go back for.

Approximate cost: $??

We recently had a 2 night stay in Bendigo & discovered this little diamond. We were so impressed on the first night, we booked in for dinner again on our second night, & if we hadn't already have booked our tickets for the Heathcote Wine Show on Saturday, we would've had lunch there as well. It is seriously one of the best restaurants that hubby & I have eaten at in a long time. What an awesome menu, only surpassed by it's awesome staff, Finn & Linc, (BTW, thank you both for your incredibly hospitality, fabulous banter, & (Linc) for the metal spoon to keep hubby in check...) Book yourselves a table & order the gorgeous scallops with zucchini, asparagus, preserved lemon & pistachios...it is one of the most divine things I've ever eaten; I'm still dreaming about it. A little tip when you're ordering the scallops, ask your waiter for a little bread to mop up the gorgeous juices at the bottom of the plate...YUM!! The Thai seafood curry is sensational, as is the charcuterie plate, & I'm not normally a pasta person, but the saffron pasta with spanner crab was juts dreamy. For dessert, I LOVED the lemon, lime & bitters marshmallow topped with sherbet. Next time we come to Bendigo, we'll have to stay for a week, & book a table every night, so we can work our way through the incredible menu.

Approximate cost: $28-35

After a long drive into town to do a menial task, I was freezing & starving when I spotted a sign spouting "fresh soup" (or something to that effect). So, spotting a vacant car spot directly out the front, I parked & headed on in. I then spotted a board citing 'famous' rice paper rolls, so a decision was pending...rice paper rolls or Moroccan lentil soup?...the soup won, but only because I was really cold! All I can say is Yum! Yum! Yum! It was exactly what I needed to ignite some p.m. motivation & the 2 women serving were both simply adorable; really friendly & polite. I assume one of them was Auntie Mai. There is something really warm & welcoming about the whole place, so I'll definitely be back to try those rice paper rolls, even without a menial task to tend to. Great little lunch spot & really good value, especially in that part of town.

Approximate cost: $very cheap

Hubby is an avid wine drinker. I wouldn't say he's a connoisseur, but he loves a drop of red & a particular style, of which we've never really been able to pin-point...except that he loves reds from Heathcote, having fallen in love with a few wines from that region...none so much though as the reds from Condie Estate. We first met Richie & Rosanne at the Bendigo Food & Wine Festival back in November. I immediately 'fell in love' with Rosanne who is the most adorable, sociable, & delightful person I've ever met, while husband Richie is not only a really lovely, modern, "country boy', but really passionate about what he does...hand made, organically managed wines. Yes, you read that correctly...hand made. Now I can't explain the complexities of his wines as I'm not an aficionado, but my father knows a little about wine & he is smitten with Condies' 2010 The Gwen, which I believe is a Shiraz. Hubby & Pops recently also tried their 2011 Giaracca, & according to Pops, (& considering 2011 would've been a difficult year for wine, apparently), this was a lovely drop too. Every so often, you come across a product that not only satisfies a personal, craving but becomes more attractive & delicious because of it's background story or because someone has produced it with real passion; this is one of those products. In the words of a famous guru 'do yourselves a favour", give Richie or Rosanne a call, pay them a visit & stock up on some thoughtfully crafted, beautiful drinking wines.

Approximate cost: $18-35 bottle depending on quantity