Imperial Hotel

Once again, the definition of a beer garden has been stretched in this pub. In fact I didn’t realise that I have walked into it until I noticed all of the ashtrays on the tables. Basically it is an area of the pub that has a roof that can be opened up, or closed in case of rain, though it never felt like I actually went outside. I quite liked this bar, though the prices were about average. The toilets were a little hard to find, though I did end up seeing the balcony (which is not really an outdoor balcony, it is simply overlooking that room that could be called a beer garden, but I find it really hard to actually say that it is).

Good pub food — the seafood chowder was sssooo good! Steak was tasty and the apple and pear crumble was…

My first two visits were pleasant — the first, I had an amazing risotto. The second, a nice steak sandwich, though the steak had more gristle than I expected from an establishment that grows its own beef. But still, both solid and enjoyable meals — plus the homemade chilli jam is like crack, it’s so delicious.
But my last visit was a disaster.
It was a Thursday and we decided to take advantage of the pizza upstairs, since the current downstairs menu doesn’t cater for vegetarians (evident in the fact I ate a steak sandwich my previous visit; I’m a demi-​vegetarian). The rooms upstairs has very poor signage, topped off with a ‘Reserved’ sign for one seating area placed in such an area that suggested the entire room was closed. When asked for assistance, the staff either didn’t have a clue about what was going on upstairs or treated us like idiots.
So, we find the bar serving the pizza. Turns out that the entire main room is booked for various groups, and the only open seating is in a small, sub-​room known as ‘the Snug’ — honestly, it ended up so packed with people, I would have closed the entire room for the various private events. We honestly felt uncomfortable being there, but were tired and hungry, so we stayed.
I wish we’d gone. The pizza menu comprises of roughly 5 pizzas, and only one is vegetarian — a margarita. The kitchen did agree to rmove meat from a prawn and capsicum pizza, so we ordered two.
The pizza was terrible. The cheese was so liquid it was like bechamel sauce, and the pizza toppings were boring. It was sloppy mush and so very disappointing that it will be a very, very long time before I venture in for anything more than a cold drink.

Newly refurbished the Imperial has a nice, modern and casual atmosphere. The menu is simple and caters for most tastes. The steaks look really good and I had the seafood chowder, which at $ 15 is very tasty and good value.