THE GRAND HOTEL

http://www.grandrichmond.com.au/

333 Burnley Street, Richmond - ph: (03) 9429 2530

Had dinner a few nights ago at The Grand Hotel in Richmond with my husband. Cold winter Sunday night; we were just looking for a nice place close by for a warm meal.

After calling probably 10 restaurants around Hawthorn, Kew & Richmond, The Grand seemed to be the only one open for dinner on Sunday night.

We had been there before with a large group of friends and hadn't really liked it. I guess we had such a big table (around 12?) on a busy Friday night that service just didn't cope.

This time round, however, the experience was completely different. The restaurant was only half full and service was really attentive.

Our smiley waiter (wearing a bow tie that he mentioned he chooses to wear at the restaurant to look more elegant) was really helpful and efficient. He kept replacing our bread and keep our water cups full.

Sourdough bread served with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and butter

Ok - now let's talk about the food. My husband and I both ordered the specials of the day. I got the fresh home made pasta with rabbit raggu.

The pasta was cooked to perfection. The rabbit raggu was rich and the meat was very tender. The serve was a bit too big for such a rich dish, so I only had probably half of it - if you're ordering a side dish, sharing a main may be the way to go.

Home made pasta with rabbit raggu

My husband had the lamb on red wine sauce and really enjoyed it. It was a rich casserole-style slow cooked piece of lamb. I tried some of meat and it was really well cooked, falling from the bone and melting in my mouth.

Lamb with red wine sauce

Overwall, we really enjoyed the dinner and would definitely come back again.

Note: good option for Sunday night dinner - they are less busy and service is more attentive.