The Gallery Restaurant at The Courthouse Hotel

My husband and I dined on excellent food and friendly , helpful service. The meals were served with seasonal vegetables.. he had the daily special of local lamb cutlets and I the eye fillet with seafood topper. Both were melt in the mouth especially the...More

On a terribly hot evening, this restaurant was a breath of COLD fresh air! Seating for about 50 people, and well-patronised on a Friday night, it is in the heart of the lovely old Courthouse Hotel on the main street of Howlong. Our family party was very well catered-for, with cheap kids' meals in large portions [$10 each, including ice-cream]; and a really interesting selection of adult meals. My Coffin Bay oysters [6 for $17] were huge, and beautifully flavoured. The Polish meatballs were suitably soft and plentiful; and the seafood crepes were enormous,. The most impressive meal was the French-marinated cutlets - who ever gets 5 cutlets these days! Tender and delicious, served with a delicious and large serving of rocket and goat cheese, for $29. A pretty good wine list [though we didn't drink]. Lovely, polite and friendly service. Plenty of parking on the street. So glad I found this restaurant - I will be back, given my daughter lives in Howlong!

Didn't know what to expect when we walked in through the bar area. The restaurant is at the rear of the hotel and is a beautiful old room with historic photos on the walls.The meals were absolutely sensational. The steak was cooked to perfection, medium rare as I requested, it was perfect. Prawns in the pasta were fresh and large and the barramundi was excellent. The service was very good and the prices were reasonable. I will definitely be back.

The dining area is now known as The Gallery and The Kitchen was by previous operators. The important thing is the standard remains good. This is a copy of my thoughts just posted to The Court House Hotel entry: The Gallery restaurant as it is currently known occupies the rear part of the Court House Hotel. Nothing special about the space but the food is the best you'll find in this small town. Clientele is locals and visitors to the Golf Club and Resort nearby. Kitchen currently operated by a mother daughter combo and they do it well. Good starter selection. We had oysters (fresh in that day) Kilpatrick and a delicious and exceptional serve of a spring roll type creation filled with pulled pork and fennel with asian dipping sauces. Mains were massive serves. Too much spinach and ricotta ravioli but tasty. The eye fillet was perfectly med-rare and the seafood sauce was a meal in itself - prawns, mussels, scallops and calamari. Over the top and veg as well! Desert shared was a delicious pineapple cheesecake with sorbet. Good wine list especially Vic north-east labels.

I submitted the following review for the Courthouse Hotel but probably should have included it here, for the Kitchen at the Courthouse Hotel. "We thoroughly enjoyed the two nights we came here for dinner. It's quiet in June so we were given the table beside the open fireplace both nights - very nice. Wines were reasonably priced and the barramundi was excellent (I had this both nights, it was so good). My partner ordered the steak the first night and found it a bit tough and disappointing. He had the pasta special the next night and raved about it. The service and atmosphere was good and we'd definitely go back again."