General News
7 December, 2020
Malanda RSL welcomes new restaurant
After several months without food, the Malanda RSL finally has some new faces in the Kitchen.
Malanda RSL welcomes new restaurant
After several months without food, the Malanda RSL finally has some new faces in the Kitchen.
The new kitchen comes after the Malanda RSL reopened in June of this year
The club had been struggling for several years and staff at the club were mainly members and volunteers. At the time the club’s President Darryl Cummings said “These days with COVID it hasn’t been financially viable for us run the club so it would be better for us to lease the premises to someone.”
That person is Michelle Oliver and her husband Jacob who have now opened their Country Roads Kitchen inside the Malanda RSL.
Michelle’s journey into the kitchen started this year when Michelle and Jacob decided to buy a food van.
“We bought a food van in January that needed a heap of work and just as we were set to start selling food COVID hit, “she said.
“We didn’t start selling food until the middle of August and then we couldn’t get into markets.
“Finally we got a place at Tarzali and we started selling our food on the side of the road and then we had to move from that site."
Michelle said that when the guys at the Malanda RSL heard they were closing up their food van they rang and to see if the couple would be interested in running the RSL's kitchen.
“Because we had nothing to lose, we thought we would give it a shot and we have now been here for four weeks,” Michelle said.
“We do pub-style meals, like fish and chips, steaks and burgers; it’s all good pub grub.
“We now have barista coffee and we source as much of our stock from local suppliers as we can.”
Michelle admits it has been a steep learning curve. “It’s been pretty quiet due to COVID, which has given us time to learn and ramp up,” she said.
“We want our food to be fresh and good value.”
The Country Roads Kitchen is open Wednesday to Sunday at the Malanda RSL.
