AKA The Buffalo Brewery
One amazing feature about Boorhaman, is there is really nothing there, except for some farm houses and a pub. I am not familiar with the area, so stand to be corrected, but it appears as if the Pub is located somewhere between where the maps describe as the actual location of Booraham, and Peechelba East. What I am getting at is there is no town or similar surrounding infrastructure, just this pub on a single lane road in the back blocks of Victoria’s North East. This is not a bad thing, for a hotel anywhere is like an oasis in the desert of life, and more so this place, as we reached it by bicycle.
We were staying at a B&B some four Kms away, this being the first night of bike riding holiday. However due to other sight seeing commitments, we had not tested two of the bikes that were to be used on the ride, they were more or less put together, but had not had any adjustments or fine tuning done to them. So it was to the pub for the shake down cruise, and off we set, with barely functioning brakes, nearly half of the available gears, and chains that had a tendency to fall off.
However this is about the pubs, and not the late night that was put in on completion, sorting the issues, so lets get on with the review. There is something about a pub stuck in the middle of nowhere, almost as if it is challenging any questions as to its right to a viable existence, that seems to increase its positive atmosphere. When we arrived, which was just before the kitchen closed, there was a fair size crowd in attendance, including a fair size group enjoying a fancy dress Christmas Party.
The pub is also a boutique brewery – The Buffalo Brewery – and has about half a dozen or more local brews on offer. I sampled a couple but the points had to go to the CUB product on this occasion, although, as my 15 year old son was accidentaly served a handle of home brewed alcoholic ginger beer, I was obliged to drink this, and was thoroughly impressed with it. So, if they could make their beers as good as their ginger varieties, the brewery would get more points. Anyway there was no fault in the Carlton Draught that I had there, nor the quality of the feed we enjoyed. Staff and locals alike were friendly and welcoming. So yep, a pretty good pub.
Reviewed on 12 December by Mike and Rebecca (and Cameron)
1518 Boorhaman Rd
Boorhaman VIC 3678, Australia