Mundaring Weir Hotel

We have, over the years, visited Mundaring Weir on many occasions. We have not, however, eaten at the Mundaring Weir Hotel which is just a few minutes away from the weir. So we decided to give them a try for lunch.

Apparently, there has been an establishment on this site since the turn of the century and was originally built to service the workers and visitors to the weir. In 1898 a single storey building called the Reservoir Hotel was built. Then in 1906, a two-storey building was added and the hotel was renamed Goldfields Weir Hotel. Not sure when it was renamed again but whatever name it is sporting the building still retains much of the decor and character of the original.

Food is only served during the day and it is what they term “counter food”. Back home in the UK I guess we would just refer to bar meals.

I had the Steak Sandwich which is described as “Graziers porterhouse steak with onion jam, cheddar cheese, beetroot & rocket with BBQ and ranch dressings. Served with chips”.

Gerry and Denise both had the Snapper Burger “with lemon & dill aoili, lettuce, chopped salad and beer battered chips”

All agreed that the food was very good although we would have preferred the food to have been served on plates rather than the wooden board which allowed the food to slide of onto the table. The star of these meals was the beer battered chips which were crisp on the outside and full and fluffy on the inside.

The girls each had a “midi” of refreshing Orchard Crush apple cider while I had a midi of an amber ale called Nine Tales . Both brews are from the James Squire Brewery. One thing I can vouch for is that Australian craft beers are seriously good and a long way removed from the horrendous lagers, such as Fosters, which they insist on exporting to us.

Mundaring is about an hours drive out from Perth and the road out to the hotel takes you though picturesque woodlands interspersed with open farmlands.

On a previous trip out to this area we had encountered kangaroos crossing the road. On this occasion we spotted a much more diminutive creature, a Bobtail Lizard.

Apparently these fellows are quite often kept as pets but come with a government health warning  “CAUTION: These lizards can deliver a painful and bloody bite”. See this video.

Around the hotel grounds I came across these guys ….

After a BBQ lunch what do you need, why a nice cold beer of course….

These guys are obviously quite used to humans around the hotel grounds. They let me get quite close before taking off to the nearby trees.

All in all a pleasant afternoon.

Well pleasant except for the flies which were very much in evidence whenever we stepped out of our car.