Play Pokies at Castello's Pakenham International Buffet Hotel in Pakenham

I have been here a few times and found it a really great buffet-style venue. You may look at the atmosphere rating here and ask why really great but only 4 stars? It's a bit noisy being a family (= with kids) venue and I am a curmudgeon.

The food is what you may expect of a buffet, wide selection under heat lamps. That said, the quality was good from the selection we made, with fresh salads and dessert fruits.

Service was exceptional and always is here.

Last night's visit was during the Christmas week and the decoration lived up to the festive period.

It is a pre-paid meal with drinks as extras and pricing is around average for the venue style.

Boxing Day 2025:
Drove through the hills late morning and felt hungry however found nothing open in Gembrook or Emerald to dine in.
So we headed toward Pakenham and found this place and decided to try it out.
Thankfully the sports bar was open and surprisingly wasn't overly busy.
Food was priced very reasonable for the quantity and quality.
I had the Catch of the Day that had a delicious piece of fish with tasty variety of veggies and potatoes that were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Perfectly done meal 😋
Service was nice too.

A wide range of food options and good value for money. Lots of hot food (pasta, fries, chicken nuggets, wedges, lasagne, spaghetti bolognese, pizza, chicken, beef, fish, vegetables, etc.) and lots of desserts (sticky date, apple crumble, chocolate pudding, brownies, cakes, and lots more). Probably the only negative is that it's not self-serve icecream - you need to go to the counter and get the staff to serve scoops.

For all you can eat it wasn't too bad. Price, was pretty good for what you get. The restaurant looks really nice and comfortable seating. There's a large selection of food from roast beef, pork to Asian food and steam dim sims. They have a large desserts to select from. The roast beef was very well done but was disappointed in the lemon and honey "chicken" they were chicken nuggets done differently. Really polite and friendly staff which is nice all very helpful. Would I come back.... Probably maybe, I wouldn't rush back but I am one who was spoilt with The cuckoo restaurant in the Dandenong Hills, nothing will beat that experience. They have a kids play area as well that's a big plus.

Absolutely delicious!

We went for their Global BBQ Night and it didn't disappoint! They had a huge range of BBQ items, which were all delicious, and the service was lovely!

They were quick to clean plates and refresh food. 100% recommend!