Woodlands Hotel

I can't honestly say I liked the decor at Woodlands - an old pub that's been given an extreme makeover - but I was amazed and sometimes flummoxed by it.

In the upstairs dining room, massive nutcracker soldiers loom over tables. The carpet works like an Alice in Wonderland optical illusion, there are plush blue booths, and a general impression of gleaming fanciness. It's comfortable and quiet.

Communication with the downstairs bar and kitchen is via radio mic, which is weird but practical. Walkways are lined with statuary and trinket-filled museum cases. At the back, there's a pot-planted smokers' barn with plenty of wrought iron, which is picked up in triffid-like ironwork in the women's bathroom. I'm not sure if it's earnest decoration or overwrought irony, but the decor certainly offers talking points.

The food is by Jocelyn Riviere (ex-Courthouse in North Melbourne) and the menu reflects his Mauritian heritage in exotic dishes such as split-pea fritters and pork with choko fricassee. There's plenty to enjoy: the food is skilfully cooked, pert where it should be, and yielding in the right places.

Those fritters are appropriately crunchy and substantial without being stolid, lightened by fresh tomato chutney. House-made boudin noir (black pudding) is fried with tomatoes and chilli to create a substantial starter with lovely depth. Grilled chicken ribs are slathered in lime-spiked peanut dressing for tasty snacking. Eggplant curry is just the right side of squeaky. Cold rare roast beef is topped with tomato sorbet and candied tamarind: it intrigues if not delights.

Overall, the flavours in different dishes overlap too much - tomato seems to be in almost everything. The oozy caramel banana tart dessert outguns an eggy coconut pudding.

The service is eager and endearing, but there were basic errors, like bringing all the food at once then spending a lot of time fitting it on the table like a difficult jigsaw. We were asked many times if we liked everything, but not often enough if we wanted more wine.

Woodlands offers plenty of enticements to locals, with curry and barbecue nights and a welcoming array of board games. If the jarring food and service issues were smoothed away, I'd be curiouser to return to this curious wonderland.

Rating

3 out of 5 stars