Jilvies Bistro

Jilvie's Bistro can be found in the Plaza Karama Tavern.

This bistro was a pleasant surprise. Staff are working under strenuous conditions, with renovations to the shopping centre resulting in a leaking roof, however they keep the place running as if nothing was amiss. Buckets  are moved occasionally to catch any drips, customers are happy to pay no heed.

Scotch

Jilvie's served us with three excellent, down to earth, pub meals. Tbone steak, egg, and gravy, served with vegetables or salad and chips, $26; Scotch steak with vegetables or salad with chips, $20; Grilled Pesto Chicken,  with salad or vegetables and chips, $19.

T-Bone

All three of us enjoyed our meals. The steaks were a decent size, tender and full of flavour. The Scotch steak was ordered as well done, and the T-bone as medium,  both were cooked to perfection. The chicken was moist and quite a large serving. All meals came with a generous serving of vegetables or salad. The meals were large and certainly hit the spot.

Chicken Pesto

Only one criticism came from the main meals. The Grilled Pesto Chicken had quite a lot of sauce on the plate, hence the salad was swimming in it. Perhaps this salad should have been served on a side dish.

We decided to try the coffee and cake, at $6 a head we figured we couldn't go wrong.  I wasn't impressed with the coffee, I felt it could have been a lot stronger and hotter, however I was impressed that the beans were freshly ground.  We tried all three cakes on offer - Black Forest Cake, Chocolate Mud Cake and Caramel Mud Cake. All three were very tasty. They were only small serves, but after such a large meal that was all we needed.

The staff were pleasant and they actually knew how to wait on tables correctly. This was certainly impressive. This is not a restaurant however these staff had far superior serving skills than others we've been served by in restaurants.

Not bad for a local pub.