I've been here many times with various visiting friends. Each time the service and food has been consistently good. I've only been once during a busy dinner period and it appeared there was enough staff to handle the load.

Pub type meals but with a little greater quality. $15 lunch special during the week is good value and the pizzas from the main menu are generous with toppings. If you have kids the indoor playground is a godsend - many times we find our son reluctant to leave the playground to come eat dinner. Large glass walls allow you to watch the kids from your table.

Overall a consistent experience with quality food and good service.

Approximate cost: $18

Stopped in here with a relative for lunch after seeing their menu on the wall while walking past one day. We were greeted outside when it became obvious we were contemplating lunch. Decided on eating inside and was pleasantly surprised to be met by a modern, refurbished interior in what was an older style hotel. the menu for lunch offered good variety and the special for the day (gourmet steak sandwich with Crown stubbie) was great value. My relative had the salt and pepper calamari which was very well done (not too tough) - the only downside was that it came on a bed of rocket, and just rocket. Hardly a salad on its own.

Service was great with the staff very attentive, though it was quiet, but building for with the lunch rush. I'd definitely go again and highly recommend to others. If I could I'd give it 4.5 stars overall.

Approximate cost: $15

The menu looks good with a reasonable range, though a tad pricey. I ordered the eggs benedict which the menu said came on sour dough, though when it arrived it was simply a hamburger bun sliced in two and lighted toasted. Definitely not sour dough! My relative ordered the eggs on toast with a side of crispy bacon - the bacon that came out was as limp as a week-old lettuce leaf and was surrounded in fat and rind.

On the plus side the service was good and the coffee 7\10. From the awards on the wall it appears The Turret could be a good place to go but obviously this depends on the day. Quality doesn't appear to be consistent to menu description. Parking was difficult nearby as it fringes the medical precinct of Mair St. Unless you have a small car and can fit in the undersized parks which share large tree trunks, you may have to park down the street a little.

Approximate cost: $12

Visited for breakfast and ordered off the menu with some minor changes. This obviously annoyed the staff member serving me as she went into 'rude mode' with mono-syllable, short answers to each of my questions. She then saw the need to tell the others working there that a customer had wanted to order 1 egg benedict rather than the standard 2 and a half-strength coffee (the single egg benedict was the same price as the 2 according to the waitress). The man delivering the coffee couldn't have been any more rude, dropping the coffee onto the table without even an 'enjoy' or indication which was the half strength. Obviously he was on the side of the waitress and was shocked I asked for half-strength.

The food arrives and the egg on toast (decided against the egg benedict) is exactly that - 2 eggs each on a slice of toast. The same as you make it at home. No garnish, no nothing. No more visits from me! Very disappointing and not somewhere you'd take visitors to showcase how 'friendly' Ballarat normally is.

Approximate cost: $12