The Woodlands Hotel is at 84-88 Sydney Road, Coburg, Melbourne. Unprepossessing from the outside, it's a revelation inside: generously proportioned and quirkily decorated with interesting details and a style all of its own, part Alice in Wonderland, part Gormenghast, with lots of wood, low-key industrial styling, cloister-like arches and a scattering of Asian touches thrown in: sombre wooden monks in a cavity, concentric wooden circles revealing nothing, devils' wings shrouding a chair, biplanes on the ceiling, giant toy soldiers standing guard upstairs. Staff were friendly and relaxed, and the service was snappy. We ate in the airy, plant-filled beer garden; the food was expensive for pub food but beautifully presented, fresh and very tasty; the only possible complaint is that there wasn't enough of it. A wicked lunchtime apple martini, Monster Mash Hopped Out red ale, grilled barramundi with dashi broth, beer battered flathead with chips: perfect Sunday dining.
