Pub: Olive Tree Hotel
Where: 111 Evans St., Sunbury
Phone: 9740 8033
Score: 13.5/20
Review date: 6 February 2009

Have you ever gone past a shop, house, or building and asked yourself: "This looks interesting; I wonder what it is like inside?"

For some time, the Bulla Hotel (just the other side of Tullamarine), has tickled more than a sense of the curious as the number of times I have driven past are many, but I haven’t stopped to take a peek.

On 6/2, I broke the spell. The building, in my view the most visually repugnant I have encountered in 14 years of talking about pubs, proclaimed “Hotel, Motel, Bistro”, yet the metaphorical stench of morbidity filled me uneasily on arrival.

As the tumbleweeds rolled past in the parched parking area, I sensed something awry. In spite of a good working TAB and nice draught beer, there is little else happening there at the minute. No chef, no bistro  (although I could order from the bar menu but not have the salad or veg – just who was cooking it?), and accordingly no review!!

Sunbury was the next stop, just 15 minutes up the Calder. Three pubs to choose from, but which one? While Thorpie’s spirit of ‘72 still resonates, it is as outer suburban as any in Melbourne.

Passing the Ball Court Hotel on the outskirts, the choice was down to 2. I tried the Royal, but it struck me as being for a younger set, with the nightclub – yes they have one – “Spoilt” or a name similar attached. Also, I thought the interior could do with some TLC.

The Olive Tree remained and I reckon it was fine.  Unlike many other corporate pubs, there was someone visibly in charge, assuming the role of owner/operator. That was a good start. The pub is modern, good air-con, has a small TAB and served very neat draught beer. 

Poker machines are set aside in a discreet area.

The bistro, too, makes canny use of space and provided table service, food and drink, this afternoon. I rate the food as straight up and down pub grub, fairly priced and served in reasonable quantity. Where this pub outperforms most others in Victoria is that its pricing for wine is exceptional.

The entrée was a ripper kangaroo salad, marinated in herbs, sliced thin, supported by chorizo (it appeared on the menu in more than one guise), Spanish onion, capsicum, potato with a blackberry jus. At $15, it made for a nice share.

Pastas were around the $16-18 mark, which is about the level for pubs nowadays, with the chorizo, mushroom, capsicum, spinach, napoli sauce penne ($17.5) appealing.

Employing the KISS principle, steak was the preferred today. At $24.5, a well prepared porterhouse with all the trimmings was a good, safe option. More adventurous at $28.5, was the 350g Kobe rump, Idaho potato, onions, tomatoes in a red wine jus.

I know there are some who fall at the feet of the waygu, but not me.  Sure it was fine, no better or worse than the humble “aussie” porterhouse.

The pricing for the wine was remarkable. 

One of the legendary “low end” premiums in Australia is Bin 128 from Penfolds. This wonderful shiraz, even at the supermarkets discounting heavily, rarely falls under $26. At the Olive Tree, $29/bottle//$6.5/glass was the asking price.  Oyster Bay, my barometer for the year, was $25.80. Local heroes weren’t forgotten with Witchmount and Galli Estate SSB ($24) forming more of the bargain basement prices.

While ticking the boxes is de rigueur in Feb 09 - not for much longer I suspect – The Olive Tree provides the good folk of Sunbury with a good offering, and in many respects, superior to pubs of its ilk.

On the way back, I picked up the car from the Bulla.  Shipping containers out back haven’t moved, and the 2 cars that were there earlier still have the pick of the parking bays.

If Kennedy/Miller are thinking of another Mad Max movie, I may have the location.