plough hotel

on wednesday, 23 may, went in for lunch with a friend and ordered my usual tamarind chicken. my friend - who also is a regular at the place and had ordered wagyu burger before chose to order the same. this was at least our fifth time. every othertimewe were both impressed with the food but sadly this time, neither he was nor was i. his burger was ok but my tamarind chicken was anything but. putting slices of roasted pumpkin (lots) and covering it with parsley leaves - with sparing chunk or two of bbqed chicken. absolutely no tamarind flavour or taste. was totally disappointed this time. hope they make it up for us next time, because we like the place and we will give them another chance.

4/5 edited . great place to get a really nice steak or a few smaller options and some red wine !
i come here nearly week and it is always good , there are a few things that aren’t consistent everytimei go so that’s why they don’t get the full 5 stars . one of the new staff member waiters he is fantastic at his job , very funny and very knowledgeable .

we went here on mother's day. our table wasn't ready at thetimeof our booking and we had to wait about 20 minutes. our main meals were all pretty nice, but the kids meals were a disgrace. the kids cheese burger was the size of a 50cent piece (smaller than your average slider). won't go back in a hurry...

i've been a big fan of the plough for 5 years since moving to the area. sadly it has declined in the past 12 months or so, with hit & miss food and increased prices.

unfortunately my visit last friday has turned me off completely.

not feeling like a heavy meal, i decided to order an entree and a side (as well as 2 oysters as a treat). i ordered the scallop special and the roasted asparagus.

when it arrived i was impressed by the presentation and the flavour of both dishes, but the size was a joke. there were two scallops, some puree and 3 tiny pippies (i don't like pippies and they were not listed on the menu, so i suspect they ran out of scallops and hoped i wouldn't notice). the tiny piece of "crackling" was microwaved and inedible. this dish was $27 - for 2 scallops! insane. there was a delicious sauce, that could have done with some lovely crusty bread to mop it up, but i wasn't paying even more money to order bread.

then the side dish (which i would usually expect would serve two people) had 6 small asparagus spears and 12 peas. barely a serving for one person let alone a decent side dish. this was also a rip off at $15.

when you add that to the $4 each for the oysters, i ended up paying $50 to walk out starving :(

i didn't make a fuss at thetimeas i was on date night with my partner, but i had to write to tell of my experience, in the hope they will pick up their socks in regard to the portion sizes - like they used to be!!!

my husband and i had dinner here for the firsttimelast sunday after some friends recommended it. we both ordered steak, medium rare (how we usually have it at other places) with rocket and pear salad on the side. we both really enjoyed our meals until around 2am the next morning when we were both sick on the toilet with food poisoning. we did not eat anything after dinner so we could only have gotten it from here. unsure if it was the steak or the salad the caused it. we will not be dining here again.

the plough hotel has a brilliant vibe, soft lighting and warm interiors. the staff are friendly and attentive too. i think we must have caught them on a bad food day because the food wasn't that tasty. my canelloni lacked flavour and was a little bland, i had to really use the salt and pepper to give it flavour. my partner had the duck which he said was nice. we also ordered a side of broccolini which was heavily overcooked and mushy and had a blob of what tasted like crunchy peanut butter on the side, with a mountain of grated cheese - was very odd. the decription said "cashew butter" but definitely tasted like peanuts. so the food was a let-down, i think nexttimewe'll go for something more pub traditional, as other customers looked happy with steaks, pies etc.

was here last wednesday late afternoon 29th feb for a few beers and dinner. i simply cannot fault this place, 2ndtimehere. service is excellent, plenty of staff on hand to serve drinks and food promptly. we had a number of small dishes that were of excellent quality, very tasty indeed. the tap beer selection was good and the quality of those beers was very good. with the one menu you can eat in many different areas of the pub. will certainly be back...well done.

the plough is as old as the hills and an absolute footscray icon, its facade dominating the street corner. if you remember the plough of old then it might betimeto return. the restaurant sprawls a few rooms and serves up modern cuisine of a standard a little difficult to find among pubs of the 'scray. we had a shared entree, pizza and pasta for main on a busy father's day visit and still managed to be in and out in 45 minutes. despite this, we weren't rushed. service was timely and helpful and the meals will ensure repeat business from us. probably not what i would recommend for a kid-friendly lingering lunch or dinner but certainly swift enough to take the kids.

we've been coming to the plough for years (would honestly estimate 10 times over the last 4 years) and we usually love everything about it. the decor, the atmosphere are perfect, and the food usually is to match.
however, yesterday we had our first truly bad experience at the plough.

after finding out our booking wasnt written down and didnt exist upon arrival, we were bustled into a busy section right next to the front door on a awful melbourne night. ah well - the food will be worth it (!)

after being seated and given our menus, we battled and battled to get a waiter's attention to take our order. after making eye contact, he finally came over but didnt say anything, and seemed like he was trying to get another waiter's attention.

after taking our orders, we realised we forgot to order drinks. again struggled to get a different waiter's attention to take our order, to have to ask again 15 minutes later (had obviously been forgotten).

the food came out, and the 300g porterhouse was incredibly bland. it was cooked well, but i had to put so much salt on it just so it had some taste. my girlfriend also couldnt finish her duck, and we left with a pretty bad taste in our mouth.

as a disclaimer, the restaurant was pretty busy on a cox plate saturday night - but it's no excuse for poor service and attitude. safe to say we won't be making the trip over town in a hurry anytimesoon.

the food was ok. accoustics made it nearly impossible to hear conversation with people at our own table. the big downfall was that i do not believe i have ever encountered such rude and lazy staff in my life. we were a group in attendance for a meeting. the staff insisted that splitting of bills was not possible and that despite refusing to come up with a viable plan, they were apparently "trying to help". after a painful conversation, it eventuated that it was possible (to split the bill), provided that each person went separately to the bar to pay their portion. the issue turned out to be that they didn't want us all standing at the register at the sametimewaiting to pay our portion (?!). when it came down to the end of the evening to pay, this arrangement was withdrawn, leaving an embarrassing situation for our group. it made me ashamed of the example this venue set for the western suburbs, as the guests were from elsewhere. we had to endure more painful conversation during which we were accused of having misunderstood prior arrangements, before it was determined that it was indeed possible to pay separately. finally the venue begrudgingly accepted payment. we were all disgusted, very annoyed, disappointed at the lack of ability to adapt exhibited by the staff, and will never return to this venue under any circumstances. too many issues relating to the culture that appears to have been created for staff attitudes.

are here twice.

firsttimewas average pub meals

secondtimethey ran out of chips so i had a choice of meal with out chips.

disappointed as how can you have any food place with no fried chips

from the outside looks like an old pub, step inside and it has a real modern feel. first visit i had the parma, it was alright. lasttimei visited i ordered the pizza. wow! great pizza!

firsttimedining here.
when we were seated, it seemed like the staff had forgotten about the table a few times. maybe because of the day we went. but they were nice and friendly anyway.
had ordered the crab croquettes and lamb ribs for entree.
both entrees were delicious. lamb ribs were very soft and falls off the bone. the crab croquettes, light fluffy on the inside and crunchy on the outside.
for main i had the steak, i've had better than this place. the meat was chewy, tough and dry.
overall i would come back but try a different main.

the food at the plough is incredible. i'm yet to have a bad dish here! i think the only thing that brings the plough down is the staff. not to say that they're not nice, they're all really lovely, but everytimewe come for lunch, we are forgotten about. we need to go up to the bar to ask for drinks or cheese or a dessert menu. i think the staff need to be slightly on the more attentive side.
however, we will be back, we love the plough and love the food!

i was super excited when thaitanic told me he found a new place for some good pizza . especially its in footscray (yes why not )
now you know people often say don't judge by a cover ? well you should never judged luong hotel from the outside then .
once you walked inside to this restaurant . it was so modern and rustic ,completely opposite on the outside . ( see don't ever judge a book a cover )
it was half full on a monday night at 7:30pm .
atmosphere was fantastic ,everyone was just enjoying themselves .

since we came here to get some pizza fixed , ( hell yeah ) of course we went ahead and ordered 2 pizzas :p

1.pancetta and mushroom pizza
2.prosciutto and pear pizza
the mushroom pizza was abit salty and the prosciutto pizza was abit on the sweet side but not overly sweet .
so when you eating them together one after another . surprisingly it all balanced it out .
both pizza on its own were very well seasoned . super thin base and crust was crusty .
ingredients were fresh and look for a monday casual night dinner .
service was attentive and friendly .
to me i think it ticks all the boxes .
can't wait for my next visit .
maybe i will see you nexttime:)