Uninspiring pub grub at O'Connells

One thing I miss about living in London is the pubs.  London pubs have a great sense of history and often you can get a really good meal at them.  Most Melbourne pubs have the emphasis firmly on the booze rather than the food but one pub which has consistently set itself apart as a "gastro pub" is O'Connell's in South Melbourne.

O'Connells looks pretty fancy these days

O'Connell's has just been renovated and the menu revamped so my sister's birthday was the perfect excuse to revisit it for a family lunch.  Wood panelled walls painted dark grey give a sense of theatre to the pub and crisp linens and shining glassware signal that you are not in any ordinary watering hole.  The prices of the drinks are also a bit of a giveaway, order anything other than a Carlton Draught ($4.50) and you will find yourself paying a whopping $8.50 for something like an Asahi.  That's an expensive beer!  

There's a parma hiding there somewhere behind the undercooked chips at O'Connell's

There are now two menus - one for the restaurant proper and a more simple bar menu.  We ate outside because it was a sunny day and so were limited to the bar menu.  The bar menu mainly sticks to classic pub grub like burgers, pies and steaks, all reasonably priced.  Unfortunately these classics were not perfectly executed.  The main problem was the accompanying fat chips which came with each meal.  They hadn't been cooked enough and were a pale yellow instead of bronzed, crisp and fluffy inside. 

Inside O'Connell's

The chicken schnitzel ($24) was dry and slightly rubbery and the steak ($28), while perfectly cooked to medium rare with a smoky char from the wood fired grill, was pretty tiny weighing in at 200 grams.

The pie at O'Connell's - sadly let down by the accompanying chips

The best dish on the bar menu was the pie of the day ($20) which was beef, slow cooked until it fell apart at the fork.  Topped with a hat of burnished puff pastry it delivered where the other dishes did not.  While O'Connell's now certainly looks like a serious gastro pub the food at the bar menu doesn't live up to its reputation.  

Essentials

Details: O'Connell's, Cnr Coventry and Montague Streets, South Melbourne (Ph 03 9699 9600) 

Damage:  Reasonable. 

5/10

Itali.Co

Nutella pizza where have you been all my life? Of course I've seen dessert pizzas on menus around town but I had never been tempted to try one until I was invited along to a dinner for bloggers and journalists at newly opened Itali.Co in St Kilda.  All those nutella pizzas I haven't eaten over the years? Big mistake by me.  Huge mistake.

Nutella pizza at Itali Co 

Anada

Living in Melbourne a good air-conditioning system is not top of my wish list for restaurants but the past few weeks have made it an issue all of a sudden.  On a normal night I would have loved eating at Gertrude tapas bar Anada.  But on a stinking hot Saturday night in the midst of a heat wave it was not a pleasant experience despite the excellent food.  The restaurant only has two fans and a tiny air conditioner down the back.   With one fan broken even Stephanie Alexander who was eating at an adjoining table was begging for cool air (yes I was star struck).

Jamon at Anada

Happy Palace

Chinese food was very exotic when I was growing up in the 1980's.  It was all about the prawn crackers, lemon chicken and beef with black bean sauce.  So I felt a touch nostalgic wandering up the stairs to Happy Palace on Bourke street for the restaurant's launch.  Serial restauranter Jerome Borazio has taken over this old school Chinese restaurant with its chintzy red and gold wall hangings.  He's added a bar, a balcony and some live scorpions (yes really) but otherwise left the decor pretty much in a 1980's time warp.

The drug mules death row at Happy Palace

Scarf Community Dinners

It's hard not to leave a Scarf dinner without a warm fuzzy feeling inside.  Scarf is a social enterprise that borrows restaurants to give front of house hospitality training and mentoring to young people who face barriers to fair training and work opportunities.  When I heard that the excellent Union Dining in Richmond was hosting Scarf I decided to round up a group of friends (thanks Soph, Fraze, Em and Nath) and go along.

Baby Cafe and Pizzeria

Oh Baby! You've become a bit of a regular thing for me.  I do live close by and I've come to appreciate eating on your terrace in the sunshine as the Church street traffic hums past or sitting perched up at your bar and watching the chefs at work.  I even enjoy using your toilets just to laugh at the learning Italian tape that plays on permanent repeat and which my sister thought was your staff nattering away in Italian.

Prosciutto pizza at Baby 

Trocadero

I'm going to start at the end when I'm writing about Trocadero.  I know it's a little backwards of me but the desserts are really so brilliant at this new brasserie style restaurant that they deserve top billing.  Whatever you do make sure you don't over order and run out of room or run out of time for dessert as it is so good it should be compulsory at Trocadero.

Chocolate pudding with milk toffee ice-cream at Trocadero

The Builders Arms

If you remember The Builders Arms back in the day you will be pretty surprised by its transformation.  Its the most recent addition to Gertrude street by the prolific McConnell brothers, this time it is Andrew behind the new look pub.  No longer a true boozer the place is all polished up although the bistro itself is pared back and very minimalist withe the only real decoration being some neon installations on the walls.  The new look comes at a cost and you get stung on the drink prices but the food is top notch quality and offers an interesting twist on the usual pub food.  

Fish pie at The Builders Arms

Hutong Dumpling Bar

It's all about the dumpling at Hutong Dumpling Bar.  Walk in the door and through a glass window you can spy the chefs forming rows and rows of perfectly pleated dumplings.  It's impossible not to order some of these little beauties and any fanaticism about dumplings all becomes clear when you try Hu Tong's xia long bao (XLB for short).  The gossamer thin wrappers ooze hot soup when you bite into them ($11.80).

Captain Melville

Bushrangers are back! Captain Melville is the newest place in the city housed in Melbourne's oldest pub.  The old bluestone building was most recently called Mac's hotel but has been reinvented as Captain Melville, named after one of Victoria's most notorious bushrangers.

Slow cooked lamb in brik pastry at Captain Melville

10 best places for group dinners in Melbourne

Christmas party season has begun.   Around this time of year the most common thing I get asked is where is a good venue for a Christmas party or even just Christmas catch up.  So I've done the leg work and investigated the best private rooms and restaurants with banquet menus who are nice to groups.  Don't think of this just as a Christmas party list many are excellent for hens parties, birthday parties, any kind of party really.

It's simple, champagne = party

Soho - South Melbourne Hotel

I love getting tips about new restaurants so was happy when my friend JJ said a Gourmet Chick reader had a recommendation for a recently opened restaurant in South Melbourne.  Soho is new enough that it doesn't show up on Google Maps properly yet but just look for the old Palace by Luke Mangan.  The place has had a makeover with the restaurant flowing easily between inside and outside thanks to lots of courtyards which even include a tiki bar.  It's the perfect place to head on a summers night.

Son in law eggs at Soho

Brooks of Melbourne

Ignoring the increasingly casual dining scene in Melbourne and the city's penchant for no bookings Nicholas Poelaert has opened a proper, old school restaurant complete with white linen tablecloths.  Brooks is located in the heart of the city in the glamorous basement restaurant which once housed Greg Malouf's MoMo and Jamie Oliver's Fifteen.  

Chicken parfait at Brooks

Ladro

Most Thursday nights I spend collapsed on the couch with a glass of wine watching reruns of Modern Family.  But last night I had a very active Thursday and spent my evening at Ladro checking out their new menu by new chef Niko Pizzimenti before heading off to see Mumford and Sons' Melbourne gig.

The entrance to Ladro in Greville Street

Horn Please

The chaotic roads in India are strictly organised according to a hierarchy of size (cyclo, tuk tuk, car, bus, truck then cow) and of horn.  A reminder of the hierarchy is painted on the back of every truck and bus - a cheery "Horn Please!" - which makes it the perfect name for an Indian restaurant.

It's a fun fit out at Horn Please

Virginia Plain

It's funny how your experience paying the bill can make such a difference at a restaurant. I've been to Virginia Plains, the latest restaurant to open in Melbourne's Flinders Lane dining hot spot, twice now.  I came away with a bit of a different take on the place both times mainly because on my first visit to celebrate the launch of the new website and TV show Love To Share, the kind people at Love To Share shouted the bill (check out the show on Saturdays if you haven't already), while on my second visit with a group of my girlfriends I paid for myself.

Scallops and black pudding at Virginia Plain

The Smith

I was not totally surprised to see the girls before me in the queue for the toilets at The Smith to head into the cubicle in a pair.  The Smith is that sort of restaurant.  It's buzzing with a big open kitchen and the place becomes more of a bar than a restaurant as the night gets later.  This makes it not ideal for a quiet romantic dinner and more the venue for a group dinner with friends when you want to continue with drinks in the bar area.

Oysters

Shed 5

Shed 5 doesn’t sound like a very Greek name but then Shed 5 is a modern take on a Greek restaurant.  Chef Vas Donoudis has a background in Italian cuisine, with a stint at Church Street Enoteca, and initially envisaged Shed 5 in Melbourne’s new South Wharf area as a Mediterranean influenced restaurant.  In the end though Vas’ Greek background won out along with an ambition to provide something different to the traditional tavernas that dominate Melbourne’s Greek restaurant scene.

Fava to start at Shed 5

Mamasita

I've got a hot tip for you.  It's how to get a table at impossibly hard to get into restaurant of the moment, Mamasita.  You may have wandered past Melbourne's most popular Mexican restaurant and seen the queues snaking down the stairs and out the door on most nights of the week but don't be deterred.  The trick is to (a) eat there at lunch or (b) secure eight to ten of your nearest and dearest friends and book the banquet table.

The famous Mamasita corn - is this Melbourne's best Mexican? 

Suckling pig night at Gorski and Jones

Gorski and Jones is my favourite local breakfast spot but up until this week I hadn't actually eaten dinner there.  Clearly this was a big oversight on my behalf so I replied as quick as I could to an invitation on the Gourmet Chick Facebook page to visit for Gorski and Jones' regular Tuesday night suckling pig special.

Gorski and Jones wood roasted suckling pig