Royal Hotel Koondrook
After crossing the big halfway mark of the Tour at Barham, we headed off on the massive interstate trek across the Murray to the Royal Hotel Koondrook.
As a matter of fact, the trip was not at all massive. At 3 minutes (2.1km) it was actually the shortest distance between Royals on the entire tour. It narrowly edged out the 4 minutes (3.8km) between Lyndhurst and Mandurama during our Light Beer Lane leg.
After that massive journey, we pulled up out front of another unassuming pub and headed in for our first schooners in 5 minutes. We had been warned back at Barham that the Koondrook Royal was a bit on the wankier side (although I suspect a bit of close proximity Royal rivalry might have coloured that opinion a bit). But walking in, it did feel like a bit of a schmicker place.
The front bar was all brick and old school and was pretty crowded. But the major thing you notice is definitely all of the taxidermy on the walls. There was everything from deer to yabbies. But mostly deer. I’m not the biggest taxidermy fan, but I can confidently say that it definitely worked at the Royal Hotel Koondrook.
So we grabbed ourselves those long overdue schooners and wandered out the back to enjoy them in the beer garden. And what a beer garden that turned out to be! It was shady, spacious, and full of trees. There were tons of birds flitting about (the cool colourful kind, not the jerk ‘I’m gonna steal your food’ kind). It genuinely felt like were in the back yard of a mate’s place. Provided that mate lived in one of those leafy suburbs with well established trees that are generally too classy for the likes of us.
I’m going to the well yet again, I know, but we could’ve easily stayed in that beer garden all day. It was a great respite from a hot day in the car and the kind of place that makes you feel instantly relaxed.
We didn’t have time to stay for dinner, but jeez the food coming out of that kitchen looked awesome as well. I’ve since gone back and had a look at the menu and there’s about 8 things on it I could’ve easily ordered. Curiously there was no venison. Maybe they ran out of space on the walls.
But once again we piled back into the car and headed further into Victoria for our next Royal. But safe to say, the Royal Hotel Koondrook was easily one to put in the category of a Royal we would definitely come back to.
Royal Stats
- Town/Suburb: Koondrook, VIC
- Population: 832
- Date Visited: Saturday, October 19, 2024
- Visited By: Cory, John, Jordy and Anthony
- Beer Sponsorship on Sign: Carlton
- Beer Consumed at Pub: Carlton Draught
- Price of Schooner of Said Beer: $8.50
- Unique Award: Beer Garden that Most Reminds You of Your Mate’s Awesome Backyard
- Tour Progress: 51.1% (71/139)