Cuisine Undercover- Harbour Town Hotel- 3 stars

I’ll admit to being quite surprised at the amount of people lunching at Harbour Town Hotel. Let’s face it, distance is usually judged in relation to the CBD and, to the non-converted, even Docklands is a hike.

And Harbour Town Hotel is located at what is in serious danger of becoming known as the a*** end of that, if that wheel doesn’t get up and running some time soon.

But, mid-week and there they were – people dotted throughout and not all of them wearing orange vests either. Some new grandparents who’d been loading up at Pumpkin Patch, a couple of middle-aged ladies in for a boozy lunch and day out, and the usual amount of business men knocking back the light ales.

And Docklands needs a few good, solid pubs in amongst all the fancy international stuff – and that’s what Harbour Town Hotel delivers. An impressively diverse menu comprises all the standard pub fare and some excellent value-for-money deals (An extensive  $15 lunch menu and weeknight specials from $12 - $15 pushing steaks, burgers, pizza and parmas). What’s more, there’s just enough unexpected options in there to make choosing difficult – something I both love and hate (more often than not making the wrong choice and being plagued with meal envy for the duration of my lunch).

The parma looked great on its way past but, in an effort not to alienate readers with yet another parma review, I went with the spicy chorizo and tomato risotto.  Hoping for a somewhat lighter dish infused with chorizo oil and perhaps a few crumbles of the rather rich meat, I was not altogether surprised with the thick, generous slices of at least one full sausage that dominated the dish. Quantity, not quality is, after all, a hallmark of most standard pubs. And while it was all a bit gluggy, it was still an oddly comforting meal that seemed to improve as I went along.

A bacon and onion soup ordered by my companion arrived thick and creamy, allaying fears of a watery or oily consistency.  Likewise, she reported it satisfying – a pretty pleasing result for a $7.50 meal.

I would have liked to have sampled more, but that’s the thing with a good pub dish – it fills you up.

The wine list is interesting – it must have been put together by a red drinker with some exceptional drops on offer (you can even pick yourself up an 87 Hill of Grace (not quite as good as the 86 or 88 – but still!).

However, while there’s a few good French sparklings, the whites are nothing too special. The beer list I suppose compensates – with more than 40 premium Australian and imported beers to choose from.

Harbour Town Hotel is perhaps not worth trekking across town for – but if you’re in the area or coming from the west – you’ll get a good solid meal and are bound to find a drop to please.