Review The Holdy - Glenelg

Had very good meals for work lunch (pictured). We were lucky to get a table as the seniors packed the place out to get their lunch deal, so recommend booking. Very good wine list for a pub, good selection of beers. Pleasant atmosphere, good amenities.

This Hotel at The Bay, has a very pleasant Nautical Theme, with spacious Indoor and Outdoor Dining areas and a Gaming area with new games. Plenty of great food and beverage to select from the Menus all at a fair price.

Great lunch with family. Meals very nice and Large portions.

What a fabulous venue! The restaurant section had a warm & inviting atmosphere. Exceptional service. Both myself and the two other people I dined with thought our meals were delicious, represented quality & good value. Absolutely no complaints whatsoever and I am happily recommending The Holdy as a place to go to for dinner.

Hate to leave a bad review, but this bar has potential so I feel it needs to be said that this place really needs a thorough deep clean. It was SO dirty, i moved spots twice in the beer garden - which has a cool vibe really, if it weren’t for the months of sticky liquor and beer residue on all the couches and seats. The cushions I didn’t even want to touch and the tables were so gross I instantly regretted my decision to have lunch here. You would think cleanliness would be at an all time high, especially given the times we are living in and the state of the world. 🤦🏽‍♀️ I mean, just wipe things down. It ain’t that hard. PS food was okay. Used to be much better.

Overall it wasn't bad but not great. Staff service was excellent so earned a star for that and the atmosphere is also quite pleasant. The seating we had was not overly comfortable and contemplated changing chairs but "sat tight" Meals, although with a reasonable range missed the mark slightly for one reason or another. At least if you order a rare steak, you get it BUT steak on top of chips on an undersized plate just results in food spilling on the table. My pork dish, although sounding good, was dry and resulted in a repeated taste for several hours following. Tip: stick to the pub basics

Didn’t have a great experience. My husband and I both ordered the deconstructed beef Wellington. The beef was very tough and it only came with a small disc of puff pastry, some asparagus and a mushroom which I don’t consider good value for $34. I couldn’t eat my steak it was so tough and I was still hungry so I ordered an apple slice for dessert. This took ages to arrive and was absolutely tiny with that horrible aerated cream out of a can. Again not good value for money. Overall very disappointed. When I complained about the steak being tough, the waitress just said “oh sorry”. No offer of a replacement or a partial refund. Not good enough. Won’t be going back in a hurry.

Great meals big size, clean and good price

We came here for my birthday dinner last night. A fantastic looking bistro and have had good food here before but service and food tonight was underwhelming. Drinks took a long time to come out (only one waitress taking orders and serving drinks for 10 full tables) and one of our guests was vegan and staff didn't seem to understand what it meant! FYI, it's vegetarian and without animal derived products (dairy, eggs, etc)! Chilli Swimmer Crab was even offered as a vegan option on menu!! A couple of bad oysters out of a dozen, a very salty Thai mussels dish, (small) lamb cutlets main was lukewarm and vegan requested entree (veg flatbread minus feta cheese) initially came with cheese before being returned and replaced (maybe message wasn't passed to kitchen?). Would have given one star but gave two as Thai mussels was returned and taken off the bill - thankyou!

Xmas lunch yesterday was so disappointing. This is the third year in a row that we have done Xmas with friends. The price was $10 more than last year. The food was ordinary and not much to choose from like last years Buffett. Last year was incredible, with a huge selection of seafood ( one being a pyramid tower of prawns.) salads, cold meats,hot food from around the world, the the roasts were very fresh and being carved on the spot, and the baked snapper being brought out many times over. And the dessert table was incredible. This Xmas was half the size. The seafood table was pretty ordinary, only 4 salads to choose from and a very small selection of vegetables to choose from as well. The roast meats were dry and tasteless. The dessert table was so disappointing, nothing on the table from last years selection. I even told the chef that it was pretty ordinary and he just shrug his shoulders and couldn’t care less! So I walked out yesterday feeling very disappointed and felt last years buffet was amazing. Yesterday was below standard for the the cost of $95. ( $10 more than last year) I spoke to a few patrons and they all said the same that it was smaller and not value for the money. And last years Xmas lunch Buffet was Outstanding. Myself and 6 other guests were very disappointed. But in positive note was the young waiter that kept coming to our table to check on us was so lovely and friendly. We won’t be going back next xmas for lunch. A shame really, because the last two years we have very much enjoyed our lunch. And myself being in the service industry I told many people about yr Xmas buffet last year and recommend many clients and friends to Xmas lunch at yr establishment for this year. This year was below par. Sorry Holdy. But the people I spoke to at lunch yesterday also said the same , not as good as last year. Including patrons I didn’t know. Hopefully next year for yr customers it will be much better and morels a selection for the price you charge. Disappointed and we won’t return for Xmas lunch next year. Too overpriced and food was average. I do hope the management look into to this for next years xmas lunch. But I must say holdy staff very friendly. And I missed Santa not coming around the tables for the kids. Like it happened two years ago. I noticed not many children at lunch as well.

We all had a great meal with our over seas guests the service was wonderful Katie couldn't do enough for us ever though I knocked my drink over they cleaned it it up straight away and gave me a complementary drink which I never got in the last place I knocked a drink over sorry for being so clumsy. All the best to all the staff see you again soon jennings family & friends �well done all

Arrived at the holdy, we wete greeted almost immediately. Menus were brought to the table quickly. Drink order was taken. The waitress come back with our drinks and took our food order; she took the menu but let me keep the drinks menu as I was excited to read the cocktail list and pick one or 2 after I finished my wine. BUT guess what? We received our mains and as soon as the waitress put them on our table she was gone. Not a chance to even order one. Food was ok although the lamb could have benefited from a sauce. Pity we walked out thirsty.

Went here for lunch today. Ordered the coconut red curry prawns. Prawns were rubbery and over cooked sauce was not tasty and the meal was supposed to have bok choy which there was none of. Our table wanted to order dessert after half an hour no staff were around the dining room to order from so I went up to the bar area and waited almost 10 minutes for service no one to be seen I had to go and find someone in the gaming room. When we went to pay was unable to use entertainment voucher as the said it was a large table all of 8 people. So we asked for the bill to be split and only use the voucher for 2 people. That wasn't allowed either. Very disappointing service and food. If you don't want to take entertainment vouchers then don't be in the book.

Went tonight for the Curry special, naturally assumed it would be fairly quick but no waited half an hour and finally got about 125.grams of lamb and the same amount of half cold rice. 11.00 for a glass of house red. Luckily Hungry Jacks was open and for the first time needed to go there after a pub "meal". Sorry folks not for me again...

Wasn't the worst place but I've certainly been to better but for the price I expected more food wise. Lovely staff and an amazing renovation by no means was the food bad but I think it could be better.

The venue looks amazing and the staff where really friendly.. Unfortunately the food was very average. Sashimi should not be on a menu unless it's a Japanese restaurant because it's was horrible.. And the grilled fish � had no flavor and the salad was begging for life..

Menu was good , I had the burger � was great my companion had the southern type fried chicken and that was so dry , service good

Nice place to catch up with friends. Johanna had the best chicken breast meal ever (Balinese grilled chicken) and that is a big compliment to the kitchen. Kitchen closes earlyish so don't delay if drinking with friends.

Had the best meal there tonight! Staff amazing, friendly and helpful! Can’t wait to go back�

Ventured out after the heat wave and came for lunch, throughly enjoyed the coconut red curry prawns and parmie. Cocktails refreshing and great atmosphere. Brownie and churros were to die for too! I'd give 10 stars if I could for the customer service and hospitality. There's nothing I'd change!

Thank you for being so accommodating for a booking of 22 and contributing to make it a wonderful night for all. The preparation of the table area, the service and the meals were all fabulous and made it a very enjoyable & relaxed night. Will continue to be returning customers!

Great looking pub and outdoor area, but that will never make up for the crappy food �� The holdy has always had so much potential...severely dissapointed once again!!

Delicious food, great service and venue. Will definitely recommend it to others visiting Adelaide.

Wow, what a breakfast. Party of 4 all enjoyed a sumptuous feast. 3 of us had the Big Breakfast while our 4th decided on the Breakfast Burger. Delicious. Accompanying juice and coffee also hit the spot. Service was great, prices were excellent and the serves were ENORMOUS. Make sure you arrive hungry �

Enjoying a refreshing beverage in the sunshine is one of summer’s simple pleasures. Turning in from busy Brighton Road, I (Dani) didn't expect the large outdoor area, which waited behind the grey stone walls of The Holdy (Holdfast Hotel if you’re being formal). The open space of their Sailor Jerry -inspired beer garden is bathed in natural light and is the perfect place to settle in for a relaxed afternoon session. There are plenty of booths and long tables spread across the area, and if you’ve been soaking up the sun at nearby Glenelg beach all day, you can take a break from the UV and head inside to chill in the modern bistro area.

Pretty pleasantly surprised by Holdy! A lovely set up with very friendly and attentive service. The food - quite decent. I came in a larger group and we shared some breads and oysters Kilpatrick. I had a burger for my main and it was huge! The patty was a bit too big for my liking but, it was pretty tasty. Overall, very good first visit!

Been a big supporter of the holdy for many years, ordered take away, half way home opened the boxes to have a pick to find wrong order, and the chicken salad was tiny, more like a side salad. Love what they are doing with share food, but needs to be enough to share.

I made the mistake of ordering rare Rump steak in a pub, seemed like a good idea at the time but as usual when I make this mistake, it was dreadful!! Steak came, raw and cold and very tough, steak knife couldn't cut it!<br/>Waitress was very good, took it back and tried again, marginally better but terrible!<br/>Certainly spoils a good night out!!

A question. How many burgers do you think is too many on a pubs menu? 5? 8? Certainly double figures, for a pub, seems a bit silly. Even a burger bar pushing beyond the mid teens is maybe crossing into the ‘are you serious’ category. You can imagine our jaw dropping when we got the invite to come and check out the Holdy and their new bar menu, exclusively burgers, and it tops out at over 30. Yep. More than thirty. Three-zero. If you include the 2 desert burgers, there are exactly 33.

Once a good pub, The Holdy's popularity has declined over the last couple years. We haven't considered going here for a long time, but now the pub's front bar and beer garden has received a face lift and there's a new menu. Reopening over the Adelaide Cup long weekend, we decided to give The pub another try. <br/><br/>The beer garden's new design - with booths, bar seats and dining spaces - is now much better. Inside, the space is still too large, but better than what it was. We were surprised the bathrooms, which are in a dire state, were left untouched.<br/><br/>The food menu is, simply, massive. There's dishes from every corner of the globe: Mexican, Vietnamese, Thai, burgers, pizza, Indian, Greek as well as the pub classics - we thought this was way too much, and made ordering bloody hard! <br/><br/>Between two, we ate four dishes. The southern fried chicken was dinner's best dish; ocean trout betel leaves and duck bao were alright, but the pulled pork quesadilla was a big miss.<br/><br/>The drinks menu, we'd hoped would be as large as the food one. It's, however, too corporate - no craft beers or local breweries on tap. My partner's cocktail was weak. The wine selection is okay, but the cheap glasses makes everything taste terrible. No drink specials on opening night a slap in the face to returning patrons. Certainly, areas to improve here. <br/><br/>Service was reasonable and all bar staff were good. In all, we thought the pub was, in some areas, good, and in others, below average. The space and fit-out is now much better, but the food menu needs to shrink and focus on the better dishes. The drinks menu needs to be completely reconsidered. We live locally, and may check it out again once the place finds it feet.

Visited for drinks and nibbles with  my partner... Have never felt so disappointed<br/>$25 for a tasting plate that was stone cold, sloppy and the poorest quality of food. We mentioned our meal was cold, it got taken back and "zapped" in the microwave, inc. the salad that was on there.  can see why this place has completely gone downhill over the past couple of years, I urge you not to waste your money. <br/>The girl behind the bar was apologetic and sweet, however it sadly didn't help the sour taste that was left in our mouths as we left, due to the biggest waste of time and money.

A question. How many burgers do you think is too many on a pubs menu? 5? 8? Certainly double figures, for a pub, seems a bit silly. Even a burger bar pushing beyond the mid teens is maybe crossing into the ‘are you serious’ category. You can imagine our jaw dropping when we got the invite to come and check out the Holdy and their new bar menu, exclusively burgers, and it tops out at over 30. Yep. More than thirty. Three-zero. If you include the 2 desert burgers, there are exactly 33.

Will not be back!. My friend and I dined here in January 2015. We each ordered chicken schnitzel for dinner, which we both enjoyed. The waitresses were friendly and the atmosphere was pleasant. <br/><br/>However, when it came time to pay the bill, we were greeted with merely a 'grunt' by a male staff member who was not friendly at all. He mumbled the price of the bill, which I had told my friend I would pay for... I did not take much notice of the price, and paid for the meal (plus two drinks) via EFTPOS. Upon getting back to my friends place (where I was staying the night), I checked my bank account via online banking, to see that I had been charged close to $80 for two schnitzels and two drinks! (one pint of beer and one glass of wine). <br/><br/>Due to commitments during the next day, I was not able to query the overcharge until 5pm. The staff took my details and said there was nothing they could do, but they would look into it. As I live an hour from Adelaide, I emailed the Manager when I got home that night, stating the overcharge and my experience. The Manager replied, informing me that somehow a chicken breast had been added to our bill! I was then told I could pop in to collect my refund. I explained this was not convenient, as I do not live in the vicinity and gave my bank details for an electronic funds transfer, as it was paid from my Savings account, not credit.<br/><br/>After many emails back and forth, with the manager stating I had been refunded (when I had not), I was finally refunded over a week later. I felt the situation was not handled well at all, and the Manager did nothing other than a general, "sorry for the overcharge and inconvenience." <br/><br/>I found the whole experience to be very poor and not professional at all. I have worked in hospitality for many years, and have always strived to keep the customer happy and encourage repeat business. It appeared the Manager was not phased at all by the overcharge and could not care less about losing business from myself and my friend. It seems staff need to be better trained. Perhaps the manager could introduce the concept of repeating the billed items to the customer, so as to avoid situations like this in the future.

Lunch out. Just had lunch with mum & four kids. The meals were fantastic and more than ample in size. So much so that none of the kids managed to finish. wow....<br/>The tastes were not all there, but that's a matter of opinion. 8/10<br/>Yes we will be back.

Just had a meal and food really bad, serves small which is lucky because lamb dry , noodles yuk! And salmon ok but not great... Especially for price

A long wait for a disappointing meal. Inexperienced waitress tried very hard to please us. Unfortunately, the steak was well over cooked and the squid on wok tossed veggies was dismal. Salty, greasy squid with red onion and 4 bits of sad choy sum lingering at the bottom of the dish. Told the waitress it was disappointing, menu misleading, she offered no solution, no discount, no alternative. Management not interested, neither were chefs. Then the dessert menu unceremoniously dumped on the table before mains cleared because the chefs wanted to close the kitchen. Gosh, sorry we only waited 55 minutes for our greasy offerings. We were then treated to the loud and arrogant "chefs" standing at the bar chatting loudly whilst we choked down some seriously soggy strawberry sundaes. Good job lads outstanding professionalism. The food is careless and the bad attitude from the kitchen can be tasted in everything you serve.

Possibly the most overcooked gristly steak I've ever had. Potato creamy slop was like something Honey Bo Bos mum would make. And for $33! Paid extra for veges that had clearly been reheated in the microwave. No wonder we havnt been here for years it's probably the worst food I have ever eaten.

Drink only. I had dinner on a Friday night and found the staff were friendly and attentive (until you have had main course and then you are dead to them). Unfortunately the service was let down badly by the food. Charging $33 for an all gristle steak is not appropriate. Go for a drink and stay away from the food.

Service was very very very slow. Clearly not enough staff in the kitchen. Very disappointed and frustrated.

A lil more than pub grub. THis is a fave amongst my friends and I...we have tried several dishes ranging from the shared platter to schnitzels, braised duck, steamed vegetables, salmon, fish and chips to squid. The food is sensationally cooked, never burnt or undercooked. You get a Turkish breadroll which is yum, and if there is time to fit in dessert, I highly recommend the mississippi mud cake or the crumble dish. Parking is quite good, and if you are lucky the live music may be on (depending the night you visit), be sure to have a reservation as it can be quite busy on the weekends.

We dined for lunch today and all chose from the special menu.<br/>The 2 diners who chose the thai salad were shocked at the smaller than child size serve.<br/>When questioned we were rudely dismissed as it being a 'special' <br/>So deal with it kind of...<br/>'Had to get some macca's chips' said my daughter..

First and last. We ordered steaks which were well over cooked, send them back to the kitchen. The waiter came right back with the plate with the steak cut in half and said "Nope, medium rare" when we pushed it a little further, he said "That's how we do a medium rare here" and walked away. Butter chicken was basically chicken pieces a curry marinade on top and then doused with sweet chili sauce which pretty much killed it. Naan bread was stale and hard to eat. The garlic bread was great.

Just had lunch. the prices were amazing 12.90 chicken leek pie best ever.the wife had steak which was cooked to perfection. staff warm and freindly .very clean hotel. we will be back !

Pleasantly surpised. Staff friendly and welcoming, great new menu. My partner and I had the lamb shank (which was beautiful!! meat fell off the bone) and the 'Three Little Pigs'. We were so happy with our experience at the holdfast hotel. We will be back!!

Not good, not good at all. .... Not good, not good at all.<br/>Had the Holdy Burger - limp partly cooked bacon (seriously people, my kingdom for some crispy bacon!), extremely overcooked patty of strangely seasoned beef/meatloaf and no sauce to speak of - just a smear of super sweet onion jam. To make matters worse, the measly serving of fries with the burger were stone cold, and unseasoned.<br/>My dining partner had the coorong mullet, which looked overcooked and insipid - she reported that it was "bland and forgettable".<br/>Go somewhere else, that's my recommendation.

The meals are massive, so if you're a pig, you'll love it. My food was warm. And it was the middle of the day and not busy at all. My issue is I couldn't finish my meal and wanted to take the rest home. <br/>They don't do boxes or doggy bags. At all. And they laughed at me when I asked for one. Not very customer friendly at all.

Where has common sense gone!!!. As regulars at the Holdfast Hotel we noticed they had a special on, while waiting we ordered a bottle of wine, waitress came to take our order, when we advised we were there for the special she asked if we had a booking, oops didn't notice that on the coupon, our fault, we apologised but she said sorry we couldn't have the special as we didn't have a booking. At that time only 4 people in the restaurant, a little annoyed we said don't worry, LOL she then asked if we still wanted the bottle of wine. I suppose we could have stepped outside made the booking and then come back in. Silly Us!!!!!!! Holdie shouldn't employ such inflexible staff. Lost a good customer.

Birthday Dinner Ruined. Went to holdfast hotel for daughter in laws Birthday dinner order placed at 7.15pm Meal arrives at 9.00pm minus 2 hambergers for grand sons<br/>eventualy arrives 9.30 with cold meat (pre cooked) sent back and waited another 30 minsMean while Son finds grub in Salad talks to manager who is not the least interested. after main course is finished entre is delivered to son who by this time iis in no state to eat anything<br/>Well done Holdfast Hotel a night ruined and u can guess that there are 8 people who will not return to your Hotel again for a meal

Very very poor food!!! If .... Very very poor food!!! <br/>If you are vegetarian avoid at all cost.....! We will never go here again.<br/>Bathroom facilities very dirty too.

Very Disappointing!. Can not understand why it took one and a half hours for our dinner to come to the table only to have the food either not as several members of our table ordered or what was dished up was a joke. Look at the photo of the burger... the meat patty was really a meatball in a burger!! <br/>I could not apologise enough to my guests for the bad service and worse food. My Birthday dinner was ruined and we will never eat there again.

I was excited when I saw the lamb curry as it was presented really well, however, the papadams were chewy, the meat wasn't that nice and to be honest I've done better myself. Servos was good though.

The venue is modern and spacious, and has your typical gaming area, dining space, bar areas, beer garden and bottle shop. The food offerings are nothing exciting and it reads like a textbook pub menu.

The laid back atmosphere was exactly what I was after for a Friday. The Parmi was a nice dish and I do look forward to getting the chance to review it again.

I haven't had a schnitzel in what seems like ages and I went through a stage of drinking (responsibly, of course) at the Holdy on a Friday after work (quite an achievement as, at the time,