Albert Park Hotel

It was a shame to see such a beautiful venue as Albert Park Hotel empty for so long - but what I definitely didn't expect was that on its reopening, gone would be the days of its pub fair, with the Hotel instead offering Asian Cuisine. 

The Hotel now offers a front bar, cocktail bar, formal restuarant and take-away counter. On this occassion we visited the front bar, ordering the xiao long bao (4 for $15), the chicken and chive pan fried dumplings (5 for $18), prawn wontons (5 for $20), five spice silken tofu ($18) and salt and pepper calamari ($26).

The higlight of the dishes was definitely the prawn wontons - fat, juicy and filled with large chunks of pranws.  Whereas the lowlight was the chicken dumplings - the chicken meat being far too pink inside for my liking. Otherwise, while the other dishes were "tasty", they certainly weren't anything to write about (especially the xiao long bao which fell to peices to matter how gently I tried to lift them from the steam basket), and to be honest I expected more for the price point. 

While I definitely won't be going back just for its food, with it's heritage-style Albert Park charm, friendly service and stunning outdoor area, I would definitely recommend Albert Park Hotel for a few drinks, and potentially a snack if you're starving. 

Food: 3/5

Venue: 4.5/5

Service: 4/5

Value for money: 2/5

Total: 13.5/20

Verdict: Like - get around to trying it for drinks at some point