Owner Danny Nicol said patrons had been surviving on soft drinks and red wine lamb shanks as the reopened pub worked to get a liquor licence.
‘‘Our soft drink sales were huge and we were selling up to 150 a night.’’
The hotel, formerly known as the Lumsden Hotel, also offered ‘‘Lumsden champagne’’, which was simply distilled water, he said.
‘‘So we always had a bit of a laugh at that.’’
Mr Nicol has run the hotel himself and leased it out since buying it in 2003.
The last tenants — Tim and Janel Hanna, who had run the hotel for nine years — closed its doors in July 2024.
Mr Nicol said it had been a long journey to reopen the hotel.
In September, after refurbishing the rooms, the hotel started offering accommodation. Then it started serving a limited menu at the start of December which Mr Nicol expanded in the new year.
The most popular item was red wine lamb shanks.
‘‘We’re doing probably about 70 of those a month.’’
He also applied for a liquor licence.
‘‘It was truly the pub with no beer.’’
The licence was granted in time for Anzac weekend and the hotel had an official opening last weekend.
It was ‘‘poignant’’the opening was on duck-shooting weekend, which marked 23 years since he had taken over the the hotel.
