Royal Hotel Benalla

And we’re back. After a holiday break, the blog returns with the start of the first interstate trip of the Royal Tour.  For this leg, John and I were joined by our good mate Anthony.  Anthony was present on the first night that the Royal Tour was conceived of, but had up to this point not seen fit to join us at any Royals.  But that all changed when a trip to Victoria (Anthony’s favourite part of Australia) was on the cards.  So early one Friday morning, we set off for our first ever non-NSW Royal, the Royal Hotel Benalla.

Being in a different state and all, the initial drive down South of the Border.  So by the time we finally rolled into Benalla we were pretty ready for a beverage.  And being a country Royal, that beverage ended up being a VB.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.  Benalla itself is one of those big small towns. Like you may have heard of the place once or twice, but once you get there you’re genuinely surprised by how many people actually live there and how much stuff there is.

The Royal Hotel Benalla itself was big and kind of an amalgamation of all of the different types of pubs you might expect to find in a regional town Royal.  And then some. Also, if the bespoke signage is to be believed, it may well be the oldest Royal Hotel in the country (although Cooma and Leyburn are also in the conversation). We’ll do some research (i.e. have some some beers) at those other two and let you know.

There was the giant ‘nice, but fairly standard looking bistro’ bit right when you walk in.  There was the front bar/TAB area with a guy in a blue singlet that looks like Donk from Crocodile Dundee hooking into a $14 chicken schnitty (which, by the way, is a great deal).  And there was the extensive front and back beer gardens.  And just for good measure there was the biggest, most impressive, and to this point only indoor kids’ playground we’ve yet encountered on the Royal Tour.

We set up in the front bar section one table over from the guy eating the giant reasonably priced schnitzel.  And after all of that driving, boy did that VB tastes good. I know, I feel just as weird writing those words as you do reading them. The bar staff was friendly (and interestingly for Victoria, served schooners), random sport was on the TV’s, and the whole pub was just a comfortable place to sit back and have a couple of beers. So we did just that before getting back on the road and heading deep into Victoria’s wild interior.

The Royal Hotel Benalla is a big pub.  And it has a bunch of distinct separate areas all mashed together to make one Royal.  Both of those things can often lead to a bit of a generic, soulless pub.  But that’s not the case with Benalla.  Somehow everything comes together to make it a really pleasant Royal. And yet another one we’d definitely come back to. If we ever find ourselves back in Benalla that is.

Royal Stats

• Town/Suburb: Benalla, VIC
• Population: 9,316
• Date Visited: Friday, November 3, 2023
• Visited By: Cory, John, and Anthony
• Beer Sponsorship on Sign: Carlton Draught
• Beer Consumed at Pub: VB
• Price of Schooner of Said Beer: $8.30
• Unique Award: Best Kid’s Playground in a Royal
• Tour Progress: 28.7% (39/136)