Pillars @ The Woden Tradies - Canberra

While staying at the Quality Hotel next door, we took advantage of the convenience to have a few meals at Pillars.However, we found several of the dishes to be fairly ordinary, and the table service quite slow at times. Even with our discount, we didn't think there was good value for money.

Absolutely horrid meals , over cooked salmon, grey vegetables & the worst lumpy mashed potato I have had in a long time. The roast beef (roast of the day) was inedible, so tough, no roast veges either, new potatoes & steamed pumpkin and same grey looking greens. Couldn't wait to leave. The highlight was the barman who was excellent.

There was something in the back of my mind that was really bugging me as we headed to the Woden Tradies for dinner last night, but I just couldn't work out what it was. Then, as we pulled into the driveway my son said to me "Didn't we walk out of this place a couple of years ago dad?" ... Something started to click in this big old head of mine. "you might be right mate" i said.Suddenly memories of me throwing my membership card back through the front doors as I left came flooding back. I asked my son if he could remember what it was that caused it but he just looked at me like any teenage boy would if you distracted him from his snapchat.What the hell..... It's been a couple of years, we are here already, how bad could it be? SCHNITTY TIME BABY!!!!So we lined up out front to sign up for a new membership which took some time because no-body new how to get the woman in front membership active. Eventually we got to the counter, paid our dues and headed to the restaurant...The first thing that struck me was this is not a cheap place to have a meal like clubs used to be. In all fairness though, none of the clubs are these days. I am ok with paying good money for a good feed. And that's where it all turns sour. But before I go there I will mention the staff.The staff were great. All of them were a bit playful, somewhat flirtatious (always fine with me) and generally good to be around. 4 stars for them which is an excellent score in my opinion. oh ... and I did win a $50 gift card on a raffle I didn't enter which is pretty good (which I gave to the fore mentioned woman who's membership card wouldn't behave). Now hoping I will win lotto without a ticket too.... Who knows?Now to the food .... OMG the food.......The food here is just plain ordinary. I would say it tasted bad except .... well there was no taste. The schnitty's here have no flavour even when you order the flavoured toppings.I ordered the Giant schnitty with the garlic prawn topping as did my partner. My son ordered the "Hawaiian Topping" with a boat of bacon gravy. I wanted to order garlic bread but I was told I could only order Foccacia with garlic aioli, so I did.When the foccacia arrived it turned out to be garlic bread with an aioli sauce drizzled far too generously over it. I'm not quite sure what it tasted like. The garlic butter was more like oil but had no flavor. I couldn't even taste the herbs that I could clearly see. The aioli was just weird tasting and could only just be tasted over the crusty bread.Now before I go further I will point out that I am a non smoker and am known to be able to pick individual ingredients in a meal just from tasting it so I don't have smokers tongue etc....Back to the food.The schnitty's were very thick and quite dry. They had been crumbed without being seasoned in any way. I guess it tasted like chicken but that's all. the garlic/cheesy/prawny topping was a rubbery coating of ... well... nothing really. The prawns were so small they were more like toenail clippings, the cheese did not taste like anything. in fact I think the toe cheese from my toenail clippings would be more flavoursome. And there was definitely no garlic in that weird whitish rubbery covering.None of us finished our meals as there just didn't seem to be any point in chewing for nothing. The old gum under the table would have given us the jaw exercise without the disappointment. A plus would be that the aphids in the broccoli were less obvious that at the Helenic club but at least their food was tasty.My son thought by pouring the bacon gravy over his Hawaiian schnitty he would be able to improve the taste but alas he said it was like pouring bacon flavoured nothing over nothing because it all just tasted a "bit like bacon" after he did.A truly disappointing experience for all of us. The scotch was ok but expensive. I was not aware the dry was an "extra" at cubs now.I think my last few club experiences have taught me something, and that is this ...... If you are going out for a meal with friends or loved ones, stay away from the clubs. They are certainly NOT cheap feeds anymore and the food is far from restaurant style as most of them claim. Head out the the vast array of excellent restaurants we have around town because it will be a far better food experience for probably only a couple of dollars more.Score out of 10 ....... 4/10 because the staff were great

Service and food were first class. Would not hesitate to recommend to others. Suitable for the family or groups

I stay at the Quality Hotel Woden for business purposes and have at least one meal at Pillars. Always found the food good and staff lovely. Husband has steak and mash and enjoyed it. I had the chicken Kiev..yummo. Juicy and tender and just as one would expect it to be. The vegetable were a bit of a non event comprising of carrot, broccoli and beans. Clearly frozen and then microwaved. Tasteless and cold had to be microwaved for the second time. In comparison to Essence at it's sister Tradies in Dickson the food was at 100% better. Definantly my pick when I am in Canberra.