About us

The Golden Plate Awards are designed to provide an objective and reliable guide to restaurants, hotels and cafes in the Ballarat region of Victoria, Australia. The aim is continuous improvement and awareness of excellence in hospitality in regional Victoria.

Each venue taking part is judged at least twice without notice over six months to validate consistency of standards. The judging is conducted by a group of independent experts in hospitality from outside the regions headed up by "Industry Legend" Rita Erlich using a rigorous scoring system for up to 40 factors. All scores are verified by a firm of certified practising accountants before the the winners, finalists and recommended venues are announced in October.

The judges' interim and final comments are published in this guide along with illustrations of the venues, maps and contact details to help you find them, price ranges of food and drink, and other useful information.

In addition to the awards for restaurants - fine, relaxed and casual dining, and awards for licensed and unlicensed cafes, there are awards to highlight special achievements including best chef, best customer service, best value for money, best coffee, best cellar of local wines, and best menu of local foods.

Nominations
With the official launch of the Prime 7 /3BA Golden Plate Awards People’s Choice competition still days away, award organizers are reporting an influx of nominations rolling in, both through the Golden Plate Facebook page and the website.

Golden Plate General Manager Pamela Jewson said “we are extremely surprised and pleased nominations are coming in so soon. This is even before any official advertising has been broadcast.

There is a surge of excitement building in the industry with round 1 results circulated last week. There are also a record number of restaurants with high scores this year so the competition is going to be tight.”

The awards are scrutinized and reviewed over a two round competition by six professional national judges, including some fresh faces and palates in the mix which will keep venues on their toes and add new diversity to the panel. The awards focus on 36 criteria with the five major categories on food quality and presentation, customer service, value for money, coffee, wine quality and ambience.

If you have a palate for food and would like to tell us about your favorite place to eat and go into the draw for a weekend in Lorne dining at the 2010 award winner Maple Tree log onto goldenplateawards.com.au and leave a short review.

Contact us
Tel: (03) 5222 7779
E-mail: events@goldenplateawards.com.au