Pub Of The Week: The Dingley Hotel, Dingley Village
Listen back to Tony’s full review
The Dingley Hotel
334-338 Boundary Rd, Dingley Village
Phone: 9552 2000
VENUE:
There are two pubs in Melbourne deserving of their own postcode. One is the legendary Burvale Hotel, Nunawading, and the other is today’s pub, The Dingley Hotel.
Located in the south-east, a haven for magnificent sand belt golf courses, the Dingley is spread out in two conjoined massive parts; The international, focusing on accommodation (and insanely popular with its proximity to the golf course) and the hotel, recently built, the focus of this review.
Ultra modern, The Dingley Hotel runs pretty much to the form card of monstrous outer suburban pubs, with the Sports Bar (trades 20 hrs/day) replete with every imaginable sport covered on the latest, largest screens.
This sits hand in glove with a large pokies area before heading to the main dining room.
Sensibly, the degree of separation between these two rooms allows for clear air with diners immune from the clatter bang of machines and punters.
Pokies: Yes
Tab: Yes
The main dining room easily seats 200, with a delightful view of the beer garden on show. Warm days out there would fill up quickly and comfortably.
The pubs main dining area has spacious seating, allowing a quiet couple to be as accommodated as a table for 20. So important to see a wise head directing traffic from the floor, ensuring diners are kept up to date with how meals are progressing and being on hand of any issues arising from the hospitality provided.
Like many pubs located in the ‘burbs and being this size, a steady stream of live entertainment is at hand. BABBA, the legendary ABBA troupe is performing shortly here, but the Dingley has its share of trivia, pot/parma night, and acoustic music. (This is in the sports bar, 5-8pm, Fridays, a curious time as the races/footy would compete with Sweet Baby James).
Anyway, the food menu is extensive, familiar to millions, and generous in size. 8 entrees, 20 mains, 12 pizza. For seniors, all meals, save for the 250g Porterhouse, fall $20 or under.
Entrees, for example offer mac n’ cheese, bacon crumbs ($15), sticky pork ribs ($18), with mains hovering around $30, for say, a full plated chicken parma ($28), seafood nasi goreng ($30), prawn linguine, garlic, chilli, cherry tomatoes, parsley, white wine, olive oil ($28).
Highlights were herb crumbed fried mushrooms, tartare sauce, lemon ($14), with 10-12 pieces plated, hot and moreish, and the main, beef schnitzel, cabbage slaw, chips, lemon, creamy mushroom sauce ($32), a beast of thing and most tasty.
(If you like slaw, then the Dingley is for you. It appears on 7 mains, a modern day record, I think!).
The pub is best summed up thus: steady, consistent offer, in keeping with its surroundings.
And that’s not such a bad thing.
SCORE: 13.5