Maldon Hotel

The Maldon Hotel anchors the main street of the old gold town with proper pub food and a wood fire for the colder months. Chicken parma, bangers and mash and a serious porterhouse steak lead the menu, and the beer garden out front is where locals and passing travellers settle in. Dogs are reported by visitors to be welcome in the outdoor beer garden seating.

The dog setup

Dog friendly listings carry the hotel as dogs allowed outside, which in practice means the beer garden tables. There is no written policy on a venue website to point to, so treat it as reported practice: check with staff when you arrive, keep your dog on lead and settled under the table when the garden is busy, and ask if you need water brought out. Country pub gardens work best at quieter times, so an early dinner seat beats a late Saturday arrival.

Worth knowing

This is country pub food served straight, well into the evening. The kitchen turns out parmas, steaks and pub classics from a menu that leans local butcher, the wood fire takes the edge off winter, and the bar stays open late. Hours start at midday from Wednesday through Sunday and at 4pm on Mondays and Tuesdays, so it suits a long lunch or a proper dinner stop rather than breakfast. The hotel sits at 58 Main Street in the middle of the historic strip, with free street parking out front, and once you park the whole main street is walkable with a dog on lead.

Line the hotel up with a walk around town and you have the bones of a weekend day trip. If you are planning a longer loop, Cherry Tree Cafe in Healesville and Third Chapter in Eltham are dog friendly cafes elsewhere in Victoria, and the pubs in VIC page lists more outdoor friendly options around the state.