The picturesque Mornington Peninsula south-east of Melbourne, Victoria has been a holiday destination and day-trippers for many, many years. I remember when I was really young my mother taking me there for holidays or even for the day. It takes almost 2 hours to reach it (some could do it in an hour and a half!) and it is most definitely a must-stop shop for visitors. The Peninsula is made up of many towns starting with Mornington and ending at Portsea. You can’t go any further than Portsea unless you’re prepared to swim in the water!
Spending many a childhood there, Mister asked if on one lovely Sunday we could have a wonder down there and spend the day. I said yes without hesitation. I just adore it there.
We drove all the way down to Portsea first. We decided to make a day of it and since it was a hot day we took with us two body boards. I’m only starting to learn to surf so I was more than happy to “surf” near the shore. Mister went off and did his thing.
When we decided to finish up we slowly made our way back into the Portsea “town” if you could call it that. Portsea does not really have much of a town. It is renowned for swimming, surfing and accommodation. However, the Portsea Pub resides along the waterfront!
Such an amazing pub, it couldn’t be any further than a dimly lit traditional pub. It’s very fancy, quick-smart staff and the food, my god, the food was incredible!
Mister and I ordered two plates to share but after tasting it I was finding it hard to share it with him. We ordered sautéed calamari and three dips with olives. The dip flavours were salmon, olive and to me the third tasted like pumpkin. Mister ordered a cider and I had a glass of Vasse Felix Margaret River white wine (When in WA I order Victorian wine and when in Victoria I order WA wine, go figure?). The combination was a match made in heaven. The calamari was cooked, or should I say sautéed, to perfection! Lightly covered with lemon juices, parsley and some spices, as soon as you placed it inside your mouth it melted instantly! I find it hard to cook calamari, mainly because I lack confidence with it, so when I take those first few bites of magnificently cooked calamari I really will rave on and on about it!
I was trying to steal as much calamari as I could from Mister until he told me to try the dips and bread. The bread was toasted with oil (a winner already!) and the dips were perfection! My personal favourite was the salmon dip as I love all things salmon.
It was starting to become hard which plate to eat off. I know I was sharing with Mister, although it was so delicious I didn’t want to, but mostly the food tasted so good I didn’t know which one to eat off! Now that’s a meal well done!
It’s not hard at all to find the Portsea Pub. Simply follow the Nepean Highway all the way south and follow the signs marked “Portsea”. Once you get to the end of the road, and trust me you’ll know your at the end as it becomes the ocean, you will see the Portsea Pub. And do try the Vasse Felix Margaret River white wine. I felt so posh sipping my wine with my fabulous food in this fancy “pub”!
The Portsea Pub
foodandtravellouise 