Dining Out - Submarine Cafe
As part of my stop at Holbrook on the way over, I grabbed lunch at the Submarine Cafe located right next door to the HMAS Otway.
Some of the inside area, as well as the counter and view through to the kitchen. All the wood framed panels are menu things. The blackboard in the distance is the specials board
They've got quite a decent menu, with at least half a dozen gourmet pie options, multiple daily specials, and a wide range of subs and focaccias.
On my visit, they had a Chicken and Camembert Pie that it turned out I couldn't go past (even though it took me a good 5 minutes to make a decision).
The pie special came with a side of fries and salad
This was a much larger meal than I'd normally had while on the road, and also a longer stop than I'd normally have. It was however completely worth it. This pie was one of the better pies I've had in a long time, with a great creamy sauce holding the chunks of chicken together with everything else that was in it. The taste of the cheese was nice and strong, without being overpowering also, which can be a problem when it's one of the named contents.
Always good to be able to slice the pie in half and have it stay together like this and not be dry
The pastry was crisp and flaky, and the chips were nicely cooked also. They also served the salad without dressing, but with a single serve dressing that you could add to it if you like. Handy for those that don't like salad dressing, and useful to stop the salad from drowning in the dressing after sitting in it for too long. It also meant that the pie came crispy to the table with no salad dressing running under it.
If you're in Holbrook, I'd suggest giving this place a try over the other options, even with the decent bakery and zambrero at the service station. Take some time, sit outside on the patio and enjoy a meal looking out over the park and submarine.
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Surprising how a dressing done right can make of break a meal. Hogs Breath Cafe only knows how to do way too much or none at all. I wish they gave the option of a serve to add yourself.
The right dressing, and the right amount of it is a very personal thing too, which is another strike against pre-dressing of salads. I love a good balsamic dressing, but it wouldn't go well with some things, where an italian or french dressing would work much better, since balsamic is a much stronger flavour and good at overpowering other things.
The only issue with adding the dressing yourself is the mixing it through the salad to get every bit of the salad to know the dressing. Not so bad if the salad is contained in it's own little bowl, but difficult on a plate with the other bits of the meal
And there were come back to it being a personal thing. You see I don't mind the dressing not being thoroughly mixed in and gather it as I go.
Glad the longer than normal stop was worth it, that pie does look pretty good!
I'm sure in the future I'll make longer stops at various places, as the couple of longer stops I made this time around made a lot of thing better
Wow, that is a nice looking meal, and you are right about the pie looking nice. It is great when you can get a nice pie like that. I hate when they are that dry that when you go to cut them, the pastry goes flying across the table. Nice to see a salad with it too, would cut the creaminess of the pie nicely i reckon.
Absolutely. As you can tell in the last image, cutting the pie open didn't cause the pastry to go everywhere, but it was still that nice flaky and crisp pastry that you want in a pie.
The salad was simple, but certainly is a nice side to have with the rich creamy pie filling.