Boundary Tap & Kitchen

 

Rating: 4/10 Complaints : Fish Not Fresh, Slightly Overpriced Drinks, No Waffles, No Big Brekky, Healthy Options, Salads and Sunshine, Wasn't Bad Though, Great Looking Pizza, Beer Garden

One sunny Saturday morning in the not so distant past, Mr Karenson bounded out of bed like an enthusiastic golden retriever in search and anticipation of a birthday brunch for our good mate Bill. I'm not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination so was a bit slower to drag my sorry carcass out of bed and head, sans makeup and without brushing my hair, to the Boundary establishment to meet Bill, Bob and Linda for a brunch in the sunshine.

I think I've only eaten here once before and probably had pizza or something, which isn't a full representation of the food on offer here so would have been unfair to review based solely on pizza. Every pub seems to do pizza, probably as it pairs well with beers, takes the edge off the inevitable drunk munchies and surely saves a lot of bar stools from being smashed and brawls from escalating.  Perhaps the insurance companies offer lower rates to bars that serve a few stodgy offerings for this reason, you could even say the pizza is a form of insurance in itself.

At the Boundary you can sit either inside, or outside in the beautiful sunshine so we opted to sit outside in the garden under the umbrellas. It is a pretty nice outdoor seating area with a bouncy slide thing for kids, we saw the cutest puppy at the table next to ours and Bill's little dog seemed to be having a field day with all the sights, sounds and the opportunity to get his leash wrapped around anything and everything.

What surprised me about the menu was that it contained quite a wide range of options ranging from burgers, tacos and pizza all the way through to salads and desserts, but didn't have brunch staples like the ubiquitous Big Brekky or any kind of pancake or waffle which was slightly disappointing. I was however very pleased to see that you can order a salad here that doesn't come with any fried BS all over it, so ended up ordering a chicken and feta salad while Mr Karenson ordered the fish and chips. The rest of the table ordered tacos, burgers and pizza. I feel like this sort of range of food keeps the majority happy, didn't feel forced to eat stodge and I was quite tempted to also order the cheesecake from the dessert menu, but refrained when I saw the iced chocolate come out in all its blended glory.

The salad and other brunch offerings arrived in a timely fashion. The salad was really good, had just the right amount and balance of all the ingredients and was exactly what I needed, nice and fresh and green but also with that glorious salty touch of feta and seasoned chicken throughout. Bob's pizza (meat lovers of some variety) was a very good size and looked pretty amazing, Bill's dog was fiending to try some of this but sadly missed out on most of it.

The big disappointment was the fish and chips. Because Mr Karenson comes from a proud lineage of fishermen and chippy owners, he knows good fish and sadly, he did not receive good fish at the Boundary. It seemed to be nicely crumbed and browned and served on a bed of salad as well as chips, but was not fresh which simply lets the entire dish down in the worst way. It also came with the tiniest, saddest little slice of lemon which wasn't enough to offset less-than-fresh fish, and we almost went to ask where the rest of the lemon had got to. The fish fillet also seemed quite thin which is always saddening as the best part of any piece of fried fish, is the thick juicy end - this fish was completely lacking the thick end so I'm wondering if this is being somehow withheld from diners and maybe served at dinner as a "whole fillet".

The cocktails here seem to have a good variance and arrive speedily at the table, but the espresso martinis are $20 each which does stack up quite fast. I will say in their defence that at least they are served in a nice deep glass and not one of those sad martini glasses that is more like a little saucer, so you do at least get a satisfying hit of caffeine and booze. I'd say it is slightly overpriced for pub food but we did enjoy it on the whole and I'd eat here again, maybe try the dessert menu this time as it looked good.

The one other small gripe I have, is this place calling itself a "gastropub" but this is only because I find the word to be a bit too close to "gastropod" and I'd rather not find any stray gastropods in my food if I'm not expecting them. It also conjures up images of the kind of gas you might suffer from if you overindulge on the beers so I just find it a little on the nose.