Thursday, 19 July 2012

Review - The Imperial Hotel

Friday, 25th May 2012


The Imperial Hotel
8 Bourke Street,
Melbourne

Cuisine: Modern Australian, Italian


Taste Rating: 7.5/10   Value Rating: 7.5/10

The Imperial Hotel on Urbanspoon

It was the wettest May day in Melbourne since 1995. We battled the rain and the wind to arrive for lunch at The Imperial Hotel.

The Imperial Hotel sits across the road from Parliament House in Melbourne. It is one of Melbourne's oldest pubs and the building retains the traditional look inside and out.

We walked in about 12.15pm. I had made a booking JIC as this place is normally busy and especially if it is a Friday. When I rang up, the guy said they had a booking for a table of 40 and advised us to get in early so we would not be caught up in the meal ordering of the large group. Good advice and all went well with our order.

I ordered the Lamb Rump ($26.90) with potato gratin, beans, baby carrots and rosemary jus. One of my lunch companions ordered the Gourmet Wood Fired Mediterranean Pizza ($16.90)  with mushrooms, baby spinach, sweet potatoes, bocconcini, semi-sundried tomatoes, Italian herbs and napoli sauce. The other lunch companion ordered Caesar Salad (18.90) with grilled chicken, a poached egg, baby cos lettuce, crispy bacon, parmesan shavings, croutons and anchovies.

The lamb rump and potato gratin looked great on the plate.  However, I didn't like the lamb because of the thick layer of fat on top. It was made to look nice with criss-cross cuts but it was still fat. My two lunch companions tried the lamb and liked it. So it comes down to personal preference! I asked for Medium Well Done but the lamb was more Medium Rare with very pink meat. I did like the potato gratin - finely sliced potatoes with a grilled  slightly crusty top. 

I had a couple of slices of the Pizza and it was great. I especially liked the spinach and sweet potatoes baked into the pizza. Again, as with my review of the pizza at The Metropolitan Hotel, the bocconcini was melted and cooked, rather than fresh mozzarella bites - it must be a pub thing! The person who ordered this declared 'Good Pizza'! It was indeed very nice with lots of delicious ingredients.

I also liked the grilled chicken in the Caesar salad. The poached or coddled egg was nicely done. It was a well presented salad and looked like a bird's nest with an egg in the middle! Anchovies were included in this Caesar salad but were not listed on the menu.

To finish off, we had a yummy Sticky Date Pudding with butterscotch sauce and vanilla ice cream. The sauce tasted like maple-flavoured syrup with butter rather than butterscotch. Just worth mentioning, this dessert is a decent sized serve. We wanted to order the Lemon Tart as well but the waitress said they had run out. They had also run out of Rice Pudding. A dearth of desserts today!

Overall, I enjoyed the meal at The Imperial Hotel. Aside from the fatty lamb rump, the dishes were tasty, with good sized servings and of reasonably good quality. I would come back and try the other mains.





 Wet & Windy Melbourne
Crossing the road to The Imperial

 Menu

Menu - Lamb Rump

 Menu - Chicken Caesar Salad

Menu - Mediterranean Pizza

Lamb Rump

Potato Gratin

Baby Carrots, Green Beans

 
Fatty Lamb Rump
'Medium Rare' rather than 'Medium Well Done'

Mediterranean Pizza

 Chicken Caesar Salad
Looking like a bird's nest with an egg!

 Grilled Chicken in the Caesar Salad

 Sticky Date Pudding
with butterscotch sauce and vanilla ice cream
Looking out at the Rain
Parliament House across the street

2 comments:

  1. Eating Best Pizza in Melbourne after battling with the rain and wind can be a good fun and joy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi,

      Totally agree with you! :)

      Cheers,
      Arrow

      Delete