Eating Out: Pelican Bistro, Altona Bowling Club

Altona Bowling Club
113 Civic Pde, Altona 3018

When you want a good, honest, basic meal at a decent price in a relaxed environment surely you'll be hard-pressed to find a better place for it than in Pelicans Bistro at the Altona Bowling Club.

I'll admit: it was my father and his lady-friend (AKA: "Dad-Wench") who first introduced me to this lovely establishment some 12 months ago. It's their place of choice for dinner at certain times of the year - such as when Dad-Wench (a member of the club) receives her free meal in the month of her birthday, or when she bowls the best that week. And invariably, as I live only 10 or 15 minutes from either of their houses, I'm invited along.

It is very much a family-oriented place, and quite modest as you might expect from your local "club". The menu is not overly large however each and every dish is well prepared and, for the cost, you could hardly ask for better. For dinner there is a selection of about a dozen $10 dishes, and only slightly fewer on the $8 menu. There's also a kiddies menu. All meals are served, as you may expect, with a choice of either chips and salad or roast vegies. Our meals follow and we were, as always, incredibly happy with our chosen nosh.



On our last visit I chose the roast beef with vegies - I love a good roast! Not much wrong at all with my meal - as you can see there was plenty on the plate, the vegies were neither over-cooked (on the part of the roasted ones) nor soggy (on the part of the others) and when I asked if I could have an extra dollop of gravy, since I love gravy, the ladies in the kitchen cheerfully obliged. $10 for all this!


My father chose to be different on this occasion - he chose the chilli chicken tenders with chips and salad. Unfortunately I think that he'd already swiped one of the chicken pieces before I could burgle the plate for a photo-op, but as you can see the presentation was nice, and again there was plenty of food there for a light meal. I can't remember whether this was on the $8 or $10 menu, but either way Dad was quite happy.


Dad-Wench had her usual - the fisherman's selection. Not being much of a seafood person myself I'm not entirely sure what she got - there's definitely some calamari there, also a few large-ish prawns, possibly a scallop and a few fish-bites. Don't let the packaged tartare sauce sway you. Again, for $10 including salad and chips, not a bad deal at all. Although I notice that, on this particular visit, the salads weren't quite up to their usual standard… perhaps there had been more snacking than I'd noticed before I'd whipped out the camera!

The bistro is also open for lunch. So, in summary, if you're out in the west and want a good meal at a reasonable price, this should definitely be on your shortlist. It's also only a short drive from Altona beach, which is a lovely place to sit and watch the world go by as you digest.

(I had planned to put up a picture of the beach here, but Blogger won't let me, for some reason).

** Please note: the term Dad-Wench is used with utmost respect and affection. She is a lovely lady indeed, and I am more happy than you can believe that she and my father found each other. I'm not overly fussed about my own anonymity, however I would like to try and preserve at least a little of theirs, hence the pseudonym.