Railway Hotel
Address: 35 Anderson Street, Yarraville
Phone: 9687 2034
Sunday roast lunches at pubs – $10, $15, $20, $25?
Do you get what you pay for?
As far as we know, the Spottiswoode Hotel continues to offer a grand $10 deal on Sundays.
Others we know of in the inner ‘burbs deliver $20+ offerings.
This Sunday, my son Bennie gives up on his desire for Vietnamese tomato rice in the face of his dad’s determination to go roast.
We head first for a certain Williamstown pub we believe now has $15 roast lunches on the menu but, on arrival, we discover they will not start until the following weekend.
Plan B is return home, park the car and walk to our local, the Railway Hotel, which has been advertising $18.50 Sunday roasts – sort of a middle ground, price-wise, with two kinds of meat on offer.
Will it be worth the extra dollars?
We pay, get our number and wait.
Bennie chooses the pork.
I try a mouthful.
Perhaps not surprisingly, it’s dry but – good stuff – tender enough.
And it is full of strong, good piggy flavour.
The crackling is a tad salty but all of it is crisp and a joy to eat.
One pub manager has told me it’s simply impossible in regards to power bills to serve roast vegies at these sorts of prices.
That I don’t mind.
The spud is roasted and herbed and very good.
The beans, broccoli and carrots may be steamed but they are wonderful – cooked more than al dente and perfect.
I select the roast beef.
It’s fabulous.
It appears to be smothered in good gravy. But as it turns out there is just enough gravy – and only just enough – to support the meat.
I am served three slices that are just shy of half an inch thick.
The meat is tender and tastes grand.
It breaks apart in strands that I’m more familiar with from dining on brisket at barbecue joints.
This is new and wonderful territory for me when it comes to roast beef.
There is so much of it, I keep offering Bennie hefty chunks even as I close in on the final slice.
I am on a serious food high as we skip down the street for some sugar and spice from our fave ice-cream joint.
The Railway Hotel Sunday roasts have convinced me that sometimes, at least, you do get what you pay for. And it’s still a bargain.
Kenny Weir is the founder of Consider the Sauce, the definitive guide to eating in Melbourne’s western suburbs – www.considerthesauce.net
