A steak for $1? Too good to be true, I hear you say.

Well, on Thursdays at Hotel Nest they’ve termed it ‘Mad Cow Thursdays’ when premium John Dee sirloin steaks start from $1 for a 125g steak! The catch is that you’re likely to be spending more than $1 as the larger steaks cost more and sides and sauces cost extra.

While the normal a la carte menu is still available on Thursdays the steak deal was just too good to pass up. We opted for 250g steaks cooked to your liking ($5) plus two sides each ($3) and sauce ($1).

My medium-rare steak was cooked to the right degree with criss-cross charred grill marks and it came with fries and green beans. The side portions were on a measly side so I’d recommend ordering three items to properly fill up your plate.

Evidently word about Mad Cow Thursdays hasn’t got out too far yet. On our lunch time visit the airy Greenhouse part of Hotel Nest, filled with basket ferns hung against a white-washed backdrop, was reasonably empty. It’s not the best steak you’ll ever had but for under $15 in ritzy Albert Park it’s a cheap and filling pub lunch.

My travel to this pub was made possible thanks to the Holden Barina.

Mad Cow Thursdays, Hotel Nest, 111 Victoria Ave, Albert Park +61 3 9669 9744

Tue – Thu: 12:00 pm-12:00 am
Fri: 12:00 pm – 1:00 am
Sat: 10:00 am – 1:00 am
Sun: 10:00 am – 12:00 am

The bistro menu has a heavy Italian focus and spans small, medium and large plates to cater for any appetite (they also have a sharing bar menu). A particularly good deal is their lunch special available Tuesday to Saturdays – 2 courses (with items mostly from the a la carte menu), a glass of wine and coffee for $35.

We visited for lunch on a weekday and were greeted warmly by the waiter. There were only a few diners so service was very attentive, with water glasses filled, orders promptly taken and crumbs and plates cleared.

A friend had recommended their amazing gnocchi so W ordered a medium dish of gnocchi with a simple sauce of aged balsamic, butter and parmesan ($20). D also ordered a medium dish of seafood taglierini ($25) while I went the full hog with the two course lunch special, selecting a sweet corn risotto with quail and crispy pancetta and a raspberry and vanilla cassata for dessert.

The gnocchi lived up to expectations – soft pillows that melted in your mouth with the texture of marshmallow rather than potato and flour. Can anyone tell me what the trick is for such featherlight dumplings?

The pasta was equally simple but well-executed – a seafood melange tossed in a classic olive oil, garlic and chilli mix served over delicate, al dente pasta.

My risotto was perfect – a smooth porridge-like consistency while still retaining the bite of individual rice grains. The dessert was very berry sweet and very cold, a perfect way to appreciate the warm Spring weather on the day.

I’ve also had dinner at the Town Hall Hotel before, when the dining room was much busier, but I think I actually prefer the quieter ambience of the lunchtime. Either way, it’s a refined yet relaxed gastropub that’s worth a visit.

Town Hall Hotel, 166 Johnston St, Fitzroy +61 3 9416 5055

I stepped into Marquis of Lorne and the word that came immediately to mind was ‘lair’.

The tri-level street corner boozer just has an insouciant air of 70s rock and roll about it. It might have been the Rolling Stones covers that the pub band was playing on a Sunday afternoon, maybe the luxurious Sergeant Pepper moustache sported by our skinny-hipped waiter or the bizarre grotto rock cut-out in the dining room. Certainly the vinyl dining chairs and squishy brown couches housed in the sun-filled loft area (leading to a narrow roof terrace) are a throwback to that era.

The menu fortunately is not from the 70s.  Pub classics such as chicken parma and fish and chips do feature, alongside more modern fare like soft-shelled crab and arancini. The menu covers bar snacks, generous-sized mains right through to comfort-food desserts.

We decided to try both the parma ($19) and the beer-battered blue grenadier, salad and chips ($19) as they seemed like a good benchmark for judging the quality of the kitchen’s pub grub. RM went a little more adventurous with pork loin wrapped in prosciutto, pumpkin cake and roasted pear ($25).

The chicken parma was rated highly as the chicken breast had not been overcooked, it had been wrapped in prosciutto and there was a good balance in the rest of toppings – not too cheesy, not too tomato-ey. Tick.

The batter on my fish was suitably crisp and light with no visible pool of oil, the huge mound of fat chips were all fluffy on the inside and I was impressed by the good quality tartare sauce. Another tick.

The pork loin was a strange beast. As you can see, it comprised three knobs of pork and some very sweet pears – and when they said ‘cake’ they really did mean an actual slice of cake, complete with crunchy walnuts. The kind of thing I’d expect to be served with a side of ice cream. Anyway, the pork was juicy enough but with the prosciutto the flavour balance was tipped a little too much on the salty side. While I could understand the need to cut through the saltiness with a contrasting flavour, the other super-sweet accompaniments frankly made the whole plate a little bit too weird for my taste.

Early on a Sunday night we were the only diners but we didn’t feel like our conversation was reverberating around an empty cavernous space. The service was friendly and the whole ambience of the pub is relaxed. It’s the kind of place that you can imagine spending a good couple of hours on a weekend with some mates.

For more good food at local pubs in the area, try the Napier Hotel and the Fox Hotel.

Marquis of Lorne, 411 George St, Fitzroy +61 3 9415 9904

The Fox Hotel is an old-school boozer which outwardly looks more ‘pub’ than ‘gastro-pub’. The venue is an eclectic conglomeration of sticky-carpet-esque spaces, including the high-stooled front bar, the dimly lit dining area, squishy couches, a small outdoor space and a separate pool room. There’s even a rooftop deck which I didn’t have a chance to explore.

However, what attracted me to the Fox Hotel was its reputation for food. Specifically, I’d read on Where’s the Beef that they had an extensive vegetarian menu, quite unusual for a pub. So it was a great destination for (vegetarian) Miss Kish and I to catch up.

As we sat down in the front bar to inspect the menu, Kish remarked “Wow, normally I have no trouble choosing something because there’s only ever two token vegetarian options. This is great!” And if you flip over the page, there’s a whole page for non-vegetarians as well. Very impressive.

We started out with five homemade mushroom and tofu gyozas with dipping sauce ($10). On its arrival I had my doubts – the gyozas looked a little emaciated. Well, looks can be deceiving, as these dumplings were juicy and wrapped in skins of good consistency. In fact I think if they’ve been plumped up with more filling the whole thing could have been too soggy, what with mushrooms generally sweating water when cooked.

For our mains we shared two generous plates – whole field mushroom lasagne with three cheeses and spinach served with chips and salad ($17) and marinated tofu steak with wasabi mayo and a black sesame crust with asian greens, sticky rice and a ginger soy sauce ($17).

I think of the two dishes the lasagne was more successful. It was a cheesy, oozy slab of mushroom, spinach and pasta sheets, an excellent retort to people who insist that they just can’t get full on vegetables. The accompanying salad was crisp and fresh and the chips were great for mopping up the cheese.

There was no hint of wasabi mayo in our tofu steak and the black sesame crust was more of a garnish than a crust. I also didn’t particularly like the sticky rice – it felt more like glugginess of overcooked rice than the elasticity of glutinous rice. Not a bad dish overall, but really outshone by the lasagne.

Though only a weeknight, the pub was full of diners and drinkers and a seemingly popular hangout with locals. Even if you’re not a local, I think that the Fox Hotel is well worth a special trip.

For a pub meal at the other end of the spectrum, check out my review of the meat-tastic Napier Hotel.

• Fox Hotel, 351 Wellington St, Collingwood +61 3 9416 4957

Most people know of Little Creatures through their beer, so it’s great to see this WA-based boutique brewery branch out into a natural partnership of Little Creatures beer served with good pub grub in Melbourne.

The Little Creatures Dining Hall is no run-of-the-mill boozer though. It’s a lofty warehouse converted into a friendly diner, with low booths and easygoing wooden tables and chairs. On the Sunday of our visit it was filled with families and I can see why – the atmosphere is relaxed and hums with enough noise so there’s no need for kids to be hushed, there’s space for running antics, plenty of interesting paraphernalia to poke through and the aisles are wide enough to fit prams.

That’s not to say that it’s just an upscale version of McDonalds though. Firstly, of course, there’s a strong focus on beer and you can do a tasting of all their beers by buying 125ml ‘ponies’ of each.

Secondly, the menu, while not being particularly challenging, does go beyond burgers and fish and chips. I tried the pizza with chorizo, feta and unusual pops of sweetcorn ($19), RM had the melting lamb shanks and we share a large bowl of chips ($8) which I was pleased to see still had their skins on.

Thirdly, and this is my favourite, they hire out classic Swedish Kronan bikes for free to anyone who wants them. You don’t have to eat or drink at Little Creatures – just leave an imprint of your credit card and return the bike by sundown/around 6pm (if you don’t return it, you’ll be charged $1000 a bike – you’ve been warned). The bikes come with locks, helmets and back racks. What a great neighbourhood scheme!

• Little Creatures Dining Hall, 222 Brunswick St, Fitzroy +61 3 9417 5500

You know you’ve officially turned middle-aged at 30 when you go out for a proper sit-down meal before a gig at the Evelyn Hotel instead of grabbing something greasy from Souvlaki King and downing support act beers.

Second confession. Even when I wasn’t middle-aged I never had a drink at the Provincial Hotel. But I have eaten at the adjoining Cafe Provincial several times over the years and never been disappointed.

So, for our pre-gig sit down meal RM had the day’s special braised beef and bacon pie ($28.50) and I had the Otway pork belly with pear puree, roast sweet potato and rocket ($27). I can never resist pork belly and this was a very good example of the cut – a nice hunk of soft meat beneath a smear of fat and a lightly crispy cover, almost like a creme brulee crackling.

Personally I’m not a fan of pie where it’s just a ramekin covered with a pastry crust (why deny the opportunity to put more butter into your body?) but RM pointed out that this is quite common practice so I could hardly take marks off for that detail. The inside of the ‘pie’ contained generous chunks of meat which seemed to have been cooked with something very earthy, perhaps mushrooms? Anyway,  the rich aromas lifted it beyond your bog-standard pub pie and RM was very happy with his choice.

We really didn’t need dessert but were tempted by the chocolate tart with vanilla ice cream and sweet caramel popcorn ($15). This stylishly presented dessert is definitely more suitable for two or even three people – the slice of tart is really just pure chocolate and a couple of spoonfuls is enough. I liked the contrast of the crunchy popcorn with the creamy chocolate ganache but I will take marks off for the commercial vanilla ice cream without a speck of vanilla bean in sight, plus I think the tart may have been microwaved or heated in some way, as the edges were soft but the inside was quite solid, and the pastry bottom was definitely melting away in butter and crumbs. Strange.

Overall, my niggles with Cafe Provincial were minor and willingly overlooked given the good solid food we were served in front of the open fireplace.

• Cafe Provincial, The Provincial Hotel, 299 Brunswick St, Fitzroy +61 3 9810 0042

When is a gastro pub not a gastro pub? When it is The Graham Hotel in Port Melbourne, which has gone so far down the gastro path that you can’t really call it a pub anymore.

Drinking is still an important part of The Graham experience but it is drinking from The Graham‘s extensive wine list over a long lunch or drinking a cocktail at the wine bar around the back. The main pub area has been entirely converted into a restaurant which is filled with smart white clothed tables where diners can look out the picture windows to watch the street life go by.

There is also a lovely private room which accomodates 28 people and is where I ate on my most recent visit . Helpfully for groups The Graham offers a $59 two course menu which is great value for food of this calibre.

The food is modern Australian sporting lots of Asian and Meditteranean influences. To begin, a trio of chilli barbecque prawns ($21.50) which were served on an Asian salad of green paw paw and thai basil. The prawns had a lovely fiery kick to them although mine had been slightly overcooked giving them a slighly acrid charred flavour.

Goats cheese tortelli ($16.50) was a small serving of wide pasta layered over stuffed zucchini flowers and ricotta. This was a really light and fresh pasta dish.

Rice crusted snapper ($34.50) was served with a beautifully crisped skin on top of tempura eggplant and prawn fritter. Fresh seafood doesn’t really get better than this and the fritter was the perfect accompaniment.

Throughout our (rather long) lunch the service was fantastic. Two of our friends at the lunch had babies with them and the waitress held their babies for them while they ate. This was a lovely touch that was clearly going above and beyond what is expected and it allowed the babies’ mothers to actually enjoy their meals.

The Graham is run by twins Tony and Peter Giannakis and is a real stalwart of the Melbourne restaurant/gastropub scene. My latest meal there showed why people keep on going back to it.

Here at MEL: HOT OR NOT we also love south-of-the-river gastropubs The Palace by Luke Mangan and O’Connell’s Centenary Hotel.

You can check out the rest of Gourmet Chick‘s guests posts on Sunburnt Country and Naked Japan.

• The Graham Hotel, 97 Graham Street, Port Melbourne 3207 Ph +61 3 9676 2566

After two wine tastings and a gallery viewing, we were all about ready for lunch.

To my delight, the lunch venue was the lovely Healesville Hotel. Not only is this the grand dame of pub dining rooms in the area, but Healesville was one of the towns affected by the tragic Black Saturday bushfires in 2009. With our  lunch I felt like I was doing a little bit to support and rebuild the local community.

Our meal was medium-cooked steaks with creamy mashed potatoes, a slice of lemon tart with cream and of course another glass of wine. The food was pretty good but not really to my taste if I’d been given a choice. I’m not generally a steak person and RM in particular likes his steak rare so found the meat a bit chewy.

The lemon tart was beautifully silken but marred slightly by a too-thick crust. However, it’s a bit harsh to judge a venue on mass-produced fare it needs to cook for 30 people at the same time, so don’t let my so-so assessment put you off eating there.

After a post-lunch stroll on the main street of Healesville, which revealed pretty food and homewares stores, we hopped back on the bus for a snooze on the drive back to Heide Museum of Modern Art.

Although not strictly in the Yarra Valley, it made sense to visit the gallery as it’s enroute back to Melbourne. The museum is also currently showing ‘Cubism & Australian Art’ until 8 April, the first exhibition of its kind in Australia.

We visited the main gallery in Heide III before moving to Heide II. In Heide III, these works stood out for me:

• Indigenous artist Gordon Bennett’s self portrait. Against a background of digitised Aboriginal dot paintings, Bennett has taken the African masks that Picasso effectively misappropriated in his first painting Les demoiselles d’Avignon and used them to cover his own face. This symbol makes a political statement about Western culture misappropriating and hiding Aboriginal culture over the centuries and provides an opportunity for him reclaim that culture in his own work.
• Banner by Rosalie Gascoigne. The artist had taken road signs and floral blue linoleum to evoke the atmosphere of the Australian landscape, with the red slashes of paint on the signs giving an almost violent, ‘Wild West’ aspect to the work.
• ‘Untitled’ by Jacky Redgate. A cubist still life with flat plans converted back into three dimensions to give a solid form to the empty space between three household items – a glass, a wine bottle and a bowl and saucer – to create a unified whole.
• ‘The Football Match’ by Roy de Maistre. While the work itself, of footballers playing a game, didn’t really strike me, I was impressed that Patrick White dedicated his first book Happy Valley to de Maistre  and his Figure in a Garden (The Aunt) was used as the cover of White’s The Aunt’s Story.

On my way out I strolled around the fabulous gift shop (looove gallery shops) and bought a jar of honey harvested on site by Heide’s bee keeper Vincent Testa ($7.50) – all proceeds go back to the gallery. And then it was time to take our happy and tired selves home.

I thought that the NGV Artbus was a really enjoyable day out for only $75 ($80 for non members). We were ferried all around the Yarra Valley and spent a beautiful sunny day being culturally educated, wine educated and well fed. I really hope that the NGV continues to run the tours on the weekends to other locations so that us nine-to-fivers have the opportunity to travel with them again.

• Healesville Hotel, 256 Maroondah Highway, Healesville +61 3 5962 4002
• Heide Museum of Modern Art, 7 Templestowe Rd, Bulleen +61 3 9852 2346

So the crowd inside the pub’s atrium dining room was a bit unexpected – it seems to attract an older, quarter-acre block, class of diner. Maybe the youngsters go to the Grace Darling to drink, not to eat, which would be a shame as I think the food is good and the prices are reasonable.

The kitchen is doing some interesting things with a traditional pub menu.  One of their staples is their fancy-pants version of the chicken parmigiana ($18), a terracotta ramekin containing a slow cooked chicken breast layered with prosciutto and parmesan crumbs. Not being much of a parma fan, I much preferred this gourmet version, although it was more of a winter meal and felt quite heavy in my stomach afterwards.

Our other main was the daily special of pork chop with pecans, maple syrup, apple, pear and witloaf salad ($24.50). A gigantic pork chop was served on top of a mound of salad made of what seemed to be a dozen pieces of fruit. The salad was an inspired combination which delivered a contrasting crunch and sweetness to the juicy and tender meat. We really enjoyed this dish and it was definitely more suitable for a summer’s evening meal.

We originally had good intentions for dessert but the huge proportions of the meal left us much too full to contemplate the self-saucing chocolate pudding or hummingbird cake ($9 each). Never mind, we’ll be back to the Grace Darling.

You can also check out the review by The Age here.  Like gastropubs? Try The Court House and The Palace by Luke Mangan.

• Grace Darling Hotel, 114 Smith St, Collingwood +61 3 9416 0055‎

Since returning to Australia after two years overseas, I’ve developed a hypothesis that Australian food trends lag behind the northern hemisphere (especially the US and UK) by 1-2 years. That means that I’m expecting to see a flurry of gastropub openings in Melbourne in the near future (probably macaron specialists and ramen stalls a year after that), which is fine by me as I’m not much of a drinker or big-screen sports fan, so I’m only attracted to pubs which serve good food.

To mark my point, ex-Melburnian and celebrity chef Luke Mangan has returned to open his new gastropub venture, The Palace, in the middle of nowhere in South Melbourne. Given that the location consists of almost no foot traffic and there’s a big-ass picture of Mr Mangan hoisted up on the side of the building, I expect that initially The Palace will be relying heavily on Luke Mangan‘s fame to bring in the punters. Then I imagine the kitchen’s reputation will overtake the name-dropping, because in my view, the food is very very good.

We stopped briefly to check out the bar area (sleek, shiny, a little bit opulent) before being seated for our meal in the dining room. I never went to The Palace before its renovation, but I was a bit disappointed by the fitout of the dining room. I know a gastropub is not supposed to be a challenging environment but the interior design was so staid and safe (muted colours, bare white walls, corporate-reception floral arrangement) that its dullness actually became noticeable. RM and I agreed that reminded us of the uninspiring and forgettable surrounds of a Qantas Club. The one great thing was that the activity in the kitchen was completely open for viewing, making for some fun entertainment.

To the food. Firstly, let’s get one thing straight – don’t go to a gastropub expecting the food and drink to be at pub prices. The menu at The Palace has starters around $15-$18, mains at $30-35 (with three ‘to share’ dishes of barramundi, roast chicken or chateaubriand) and desserts at $14. For me, that’s ok as the menu moves beyond the bangers-and-mash and fish-and-chips standards to more innovative dishes, while still catering for the pub meal traditionalists in its grill menu of meat, meat, and more meat served with veg.

To start, big juicy oven baked prawns served with a slightly spicy mango salsa and roquette salad ($18). RM loved this dish, a perfect summer marriage of lightness and kick with bright, fresh flavours.

My starter was a crab omelette in a miso mustard broth $18). I couldn’t taste much of the miso or mustard in the broth, but no matter, as the omelette was a stand out, a mix between the mint and coriander flavours of a banh xeo and a melting Cantonese oyster omelette filled with large pieces of crab meat. The topping of fried shallots and sesame seed sprinkle gave the eggy fluffiness a nice contrasting crunch.

The barramundi with chorizo, fennel salad and spiced eggplant ($32) was a punchy dish of Spanish/Middle Eastern flavours. It was very good for RM, but not as much of a highlight as the prawns.

My main was a generous portion of pan-fried gnocchi with white asparagus and cauliflower polonaise (a sort of crunchy topping) with truffle oil. I normally avoid gnocchi because you never know whether you’re going to end up with a wad of potato glued to the roof of your mouth, but The Palace ‘s version was one of the best examples of  gnocchi I’ve ever had. Not floury, not sticky and slightly glutinous pellets of potato paired with light spring flavours. 

As I mentioned before, a large focus in the choices of main dishes is meat from the grill. The diners at the next table informed us that it was one of the best steak meals they’d ever had. High praise indeed when you feel compelled to praise your dinner to strangers!

For us, the grand finale was the chocolate fondant with cookies and cream icecream ($14). There’s no picture because as soon as RM dipped his spoon into the centre, a lava of molten chocolate came gushing out. He yelled “Hurry! Hurry! Take the photo!” but in my haste to capture the moment everything came out blurry. So you’ll just have to believe RM when he declared it the best dessert he’s ever had in Melbourne. This from a man who doesn’t generally descend into superlatives when describing food.

Finally, my admiration goes to the smooth kitchen and floor service on only the second day of public opening. No hiccups, no mix-ups, no panicking. Both the food and the service were poised, confident and consummately professional. The Palace should do very well.

For other gastropub recommendations, try The Court House, O’Connell’s Centenary Hotel and The Carringbush.

• The Palace by Luke Mangan, 505 City Rd, South Melbourne +61 3 9699 6410

After a brief wander through the South Melbourne Night Markets, C and I found ourselves in a South Melbourne black hole. Both of us were familiar with daytime cafes in the area, but where to go for dinner?

Fortunately, we remembered the gastropub O’Connell’s. This beautifully restored pub is in a quiet residential area of South Melbourne and at 6:30pm on a Thursday night most people were lounging at the leafy pavement tables enjoying a drink and the sunshine. C and I were the first people to settle into the surprisingly starched dining room adjoining the bar, but it didn’t feel silent or stuffy.

O’Connell’s menu ranges from sturdy pub grub to more fine dining options. C and I went somewhere in the middle – chicken and pumpkin sausages with lentils and mashed potato ($26.50), and a large salad of calamari, fennel, watercress and blood orange segments ($28).

My tender calamari had a big kick of spice offset by the crisp salad ingredients. C’s  sausages were almost crumbly in texture, with the pumpkin keeping the whole mix together and lending an unexpected sweetness to the hearty dish. Both of the dishes were generously proportioned and although we were tempted by the dessert menu old classic favourites (chocolate fondant, sticky date pudding, crumble) we couldn’t fit another thing into our satisfied stomachs.

• O’Connell’s Centenary Hotel, 407 Coventry Street, South Melbourne +61 3 9699 9600

I have to say I’m inclined to agree with her and even the sight of chicken parma makes me nauseous. So I can’t really comment about the quality of the chicken parma at the Carringbush Hotel ($17), as the non-food obsessed RM generally rates food according to ‘bad’, ‘ok’, ‘good’, ‘pretty good’ and ‘very good’.  The Carringbush received a ‘pretty good’ so I guess that makes it 4 out of 5 stars.

Similarly, my beer battered fish ($17) with chips and a big heap of salad was about a 3 out of 5 – not amazing, not terrible. I guess that’s what the bar food at the Carringbush is all about -  good standard pub fare done well enough to enjoy over a beer in the tucked-away courtyard or in the cool dim front bar. If I lived in the area I think it would make a really nice, relaxing local, but it’s not so amazing that I’d be hurrying back especially.

You may be interested to know that the Carringbush Hotel has a higher-end gastro-pub menu in its award winning dining room, and in 2008 it was crowned as 3AW as the Pub of the Year due to its ‘lovely old world horse-shoe shaped bar with the best draught beer in Melbourne.’

If you’re looking for another old-school boozer with great food, check out The Court House Hotel, North Melbourne.

• Carringbush Hotel, 288 Langridge St, Abbotsford +61 3 9417 2918

Every year for the past 30 or so years, a group of men have met up at The Court House on the eve of the grand final. They don’t have much to do with each other the rest of the year, but their annual catch up has been sacred through toddlers, mortgages, receding hairlines and retirement.

The Court House is that kind of place – a cosy, convivial local boozer where the friendly barmen chat to you as they pour your pint, the sort of pub where everyone knows your name. In addition, they serve wholesome, no-frills pub grub in the flocked-carpet bar and a Mod-Oz menu in the more austere and elegant dining room.

On the barman’s recommendations, we opted for bangers and mash ($19) and a steak pie ($19). They were simple, hearty meals – the pork sausages were cooked to perfection, juicy and bursting with flavour, while the flaky pie pastry was obviously house-made with loads of butter. There were a lot of other tempting items on the menu and RM and I loved the atmosphere of the buzzing pub, so we’ll definitely be back.

• The Court House Hotel, ‎ 86-90 Errol St, North Melbourne VIC 3051 +61 3 9329 5394