Rhyll Trout and Bush Tucker, Rhyll by Bureaucrat

When I first told Big Fil that I was going fishing with Beaker and Bubba Chuck, he was surprised. Surprised he should be because:

(a) I'm not a morning person and the thought of having to wake up, drive to the coast in order to catch the fish before they wake up is anathema to me, and

(b) frankly, Beaker, Bubba Chuck and I are all high-maintenance ladies, and proudly so.



But as with my camping experience in primary school (which the Lawyer insists that it wasn't camping as my fellow students and I slept in heated cabins with shower facilities), I will consider our fishing trip to be a true fishing trip. Sure, we didn't need a boat and we didn't need to wake up at some ungodly hour, but fish we did.



And that is how we found ourselves at Rhyll Trout and Bush Tucker near Phillip Island. 



RTBT is set up as family-friendly fishing spot. Inside, there's a cafe and a kitchen where you can get the chefs there to cook up your trout that you caught.




Before getting all Rex Hunt-like, we settled for a refreshing cuppa and a carrot cake to share. Moist and dense - just the way I like my carrot cake. However, the icing was a tad sweet and artery clogging for Beaker and I.

Having sorted our entry fees and equipment hire, we headed to the lake. There are two lakes - the challenging one (which we're told takes about 20 minutes to catch a fish) or the easy one (aimed a kiddies, and takes minutes to catch a fish). Naturally, we opted for the easy one, although it didn't turn out as easy for one of us.

After getting some instructions from the friendly (and patient!) staff, Bubba Chuck cast her first line. And bingo, bango - a trout was caught within 30 seconds.

Next up was Beaker. After about 15-20 minutes of watching her unsuccessfully trying to get the bait onto the hook, and countless trout just been too darn nimble and eating the bait without getting hooked, I took over. I mean, this is shootin' fish in a barrel...but for Beaker... well, let's just say, we'd starve if we had to rely on her to catch our lunch.

Within five minutes, I caught my first fish. A few minutes more, I got another one. With three fishes in total, we decided to call it a day.

We took the fish in, and asked the staff to cook two of them for our lunch. For the third fish, we got them to clean, gut and pack it in ice for us to take home.  Our fishies were about 300-400 grams.

There's a couple of ways they can cook your trout.  We opted for the healthier options of oven baked trout (fyi, when Beaker, Bubba Chuck and Mr P went there recently, they had the tempura option and said it was very tasty and done very well).

We went for the simple trout w lemon and trout with a mild soy and chilli marinade.  As expected with a freshly caught fish, the trout was sweet and succulent.  The salad was crisp and the chips were perfect. 

All the food was fresh, simple and good. 

Overall
An enjoyable day trip out and a tasty meal at the end of it.

The entry fee and equipment hire was reasonable. But the cost of the trout and the cost of asking them clean/gut/cook was a bit pricey. Definitely more pricier than buying the same fish at the supermarket!

However, we went there for a fun, stress-free fishing experience, and when viewed from that perspective it was relatively good value (Bubba Chuck enjoyed the fishing so much that they went there last week and caught two trouts, weighing about 700 grams each. They took one of the trouts home, which we ate. I'm glad to report that the trout withstood the 1.5hr trip home and was fresh and was not 'fishy' at all).

I did feel a pang of ethical/moral guilt when we found out how RTBT can guarantee that you can catch a fish so quickly - they just underfeed them ever so slightly so that they'll be hungry and are more likely to go for your bait.

But aside from that, the set up at RTBT is professional. They seem to take care and pride in looking after the trout. 

For those that want the fish without the fishing, then RTBT does that too. While we were there, I lost count how many people (who I assume are locals) who came to get the trout as take away - either as cleaned and gutted and not cooked, or fully cooked up. The place also popular with the baby boomer and elderly folk crowd who just came to RTBT to have trout for lunch.

Verdict
Food - 7
Ambience (inside the cafe) - 7
Service (inside the cafe) - 7 (I'd give a score of 10 for all the help we got for our fishing adventure)
Price (for the fish, not the entry fees) - 6.5

Address
Rhyll Trout and Bush Tucker
30 Rhyll-Newhaven Road
Rhyll, Phillip Island 3923
Telephone: (03) 5956 9255