The Axedale Tavern is an old country town style pub and bistro. It might not look like much on the outside but is quite large with lots of indoor and outdoor dining areas, along with a bar, and a pool room with a pool table and juke box.

We had made a booking and asked to be seated outside as there is a kid's sand pit and kid's outdoor toys available. Instead of a table number, each table is assigned a country town (Mildura, Cobram, etc). We were also offered colouring pages and pencils for the kids and there were a selection of children's books available for kid's to read. Inside there was a toy box with some small wooden toys for kid's to play with but our kids didn't use them as we ate outside.

The menu was quite good with lots of typical bistro meals. I ordered the Chicken Parmigiana and my partner ordered the Scotch Fillet. The kids' menu was extensive and included a drink. The kid's both ordered the calamari and chips. We also requested a small bowl of vegies be brought out and they happily obliged. The meals were brought out after a bit of a wait, however it was quite busy when we were there. All of the meals were good portions and we probably didn't leave much room for dessert but the dessert menu looked very appealing!

For dessert I had a Chocolate Brownie covered in a chocolate espresso sauce and my partner had the Brandy Snap stack. Both desserts were huge! The kids ordered sundaes that had interesting names - I can't remember exactly what they were called but there was a princess ballerina one with vanilla ice-cream, pink toppings and pink and purple sprinkles.

We really enjoyed our meals and appreciated the friendly service, and didn't mind the wait for our meals - it was worth it.

Approximate cost: $24

My experience at the Axedale Tavern differed from the other member's review. I found the food to be of generous proportion and great taste and quality. They have all the usual bistro meals (chicken parmigiana, steak, open steak sandwich, seafood basket and lasange). All the meals arrived at our table of 8 at the same time and were very hot. The staff were pleasant.

Approximate cost: $20

Unfortunately this hotel was taken over by people who do not know how to run a pub let alone a restaurant in a pub. What once was the local drinking hole for the locals has now become a don't go zone.