The Mile End Hotel is located just outside the city on Henley Beach Road. I had organised for a group of 40 to have dinner here and was surprised to easily get seating after a last minute booking. Either this place was large and could easily accommodate, or this pub just isn’t that good. There was only one way to find out and that was to go there.

Location wise, it is very convenient as it is so close to the city. Like most pubs, they have a drive through bottle shop attached to the rear of the building and there is plenty of parking for their patrons. As far as the menu goes, there is a good selection of traditional pub fare as well as tapas and internationally inspired dishes.

Set in a double storey historical building, this is not your trendy pub that has undergone a million dollar renovation. Some parts of the place are funky and modern, some have a bit of old world charm, while other sections look like they’ve been done up on the cheap. Our group was dining in their beer garden which was cross between an adult cubby house and a highschool canteen.

For dinner, I ordered the Cheeseburger. The dish came out after a 15 minute wait and was average in presentation. The picture below is my friend’s Cheeseburger which looked a lot better than mine.

The beef patty was well marinated, tender and succulent, and very well cooked. It had a nice thickness and it’s diameter was the same size as the bun. The pickles were sour and added a nice crunchy texture. The gruyere cheese sauce was provided in generous amounts and had a creamy nutty taste. The cheese had a distinctive flavour which was a bit of an acquired taste. While I thought the burger was edible, my friend could only eat half. The brioche bun was nice and soft, and firm enough to hold all the ingredients, while the chips were well cooked and adequately salted.

The Chicken Schnitzel came out in record time, which was about 5 minutes after my friend ordered it. The schnitzel looked a decent size, but it was rather thin and was reminiscent of something you’d buy at the supermarket. To their credit, it was well cooked. It was fried to a light golden brown with a nice crunchy exterior. The chicken was tender and succulent, although because it was thin, it would have been difficult to get wrong. The truffled mushroom sauce had a nice thick consistency and prevented the schnitzel from being too dry.

The Lamb Shoulder Ragu consisted of slow braised lamb in an aromatic tomato and wine sauce. It was accompanied with ribbons of egg pasta and shavings of grana padano.

The lamb was tender and succulent, and the sauce was very well seasoned. The pasta was al dente, and the cheese had a subtle nutty texture. It was a well executed dish.

The Pulled Pork and Asian Slaw Salad was served with a sticky soy and sesame dressing and topped with peanuts and crispy shallots. The pork was tender and succulent, and added the necessary protein to an otherwise boring salad. The vegetables were fresh and crisp, and complemented the crunchy textures of the peanuts and shallots. The dressing was the downfall as it made the salad too salty and unpalatable.

The Tiger Prawns were char grilled with a romesco sauce. The prawns were tender and succulent, and had a nutty spicy flavour from the sauce.

The staff were friendly and the service was fast and efficient. The atmosphere was relaxed and the pricing was fairly average. My meal was part of a “Burger and Brew” deal which was burger, chips and alcoholic beverage for $16.50 which is fairly good value. The dishes do get pricier and go up to $36 for the 250g Cape Grim Scotch Fillet Steak.

The dishes were a bit hit and miss. Some dishes were over priced for what you got while other dishes were just poorly executed. My burger was fairly average and nothing to write home about.

WHERE: 30 Henley Beach Rd, Mile End