Restaurant Review: Great Northern Hotel

Location: 644 Rathdowne St, Carlton North
Phone: 03 9380 9569
Link: gnh.net.au
Cuisine: English/Irish
Overall Impression: 7/10

Hand pumped, cask conditioned beer. This is how beer used to be (before big corporations started pasteurising and carbonating it) and how beer should be.

After years of mass produced, artificially carbonated beer flooding the market and becoming the new ‘norm’ in Australia, hand pumped beer is beginning its resurgence thanks to breweries like the Holgate Brewhouse in Woodend, and temples of beer worship such as The Royston and the Great Northern Hotel.

Holgate ESB

This genuine, English style of beer shows greater complexity and depth of flavour than its artificially carbonated and pasteurised competitors. A pint of this brings J and I right back to the time we spent in the UK. We were glad to hear that they recently installed a second hand pump!

Apart from excellent beer, Great Northern Hotel provides good food at reasonable prices.

Asian Style Beef Salad

Marinated and fried beef strips, cucumber, chilli tomato, and bean shoots with a soy and sesame dressing

Veal Parmigiana oven baked and served with a choice of beer battered fries and salad or vegetables and baked potato.

Spaghetti Bolognaise a rich red wine and beef sauce, nestled in fresh cooked spaghetti and topped with shaved parmesan

Our visits are always satisfying so it is easy to see why Great Northern Hotel has been gaining a cult following in recent times.