West Melbourne VIC 3003
Happy Australia Day
(or Invasion Day – whichever you prefer)!
It’s a day off work,
there’s cricket on the radio, the Australian Open is on the TV, there’s been a
say no to racism rally a la cita, and Triple J’s Hottest 100 is on the
airwaves. Outside our studio, I
can hear people drinking beer on the footpath in Fitzroy.
What could be more Australian than that?
What could be more Australian than that?
(Alright then; “The 3 B’s:
beers, BBQ and the beach”, as Robbie McEwan might say).
Well, here’s
something. Last night I went to a
great pub, and thought I’d give it a burl on the blog, especially since I
haven’t written to you this January.
This place was quintessentially Australian, as well as being very
authentically Italian… in a second generation way, and fantastic value for
money.
It’s not necessarily
“fine dining”, with pizza, pasta and parmas on the menu, but they serve
excellent food, the venue has a friendly atmosphere, and it’s a proper pub as
well. Only a short walk up the
hill from the Vic Market, down the side street next to the church, this is a
back street gem practically in the city.
I found myself there
at the invitation of a couple of locals, who announced their engagement, and we
sat down to a fantastic dinner. I
had the Spaghetti Pescatore (on the menu’s red star recommendation) – seafood
pastas being, as my regular readers might recall, my litmus test for any
Italian restaurant.
This one was
excellent. I had the entrée size,
and it came with half a crab, prawns, calamari, and mussels in a light tomato sauce. I matched this dish with their rocket
and pear salad, a dry white wine, followed by an espresso coffee and their “complimentary
port”.
What? Had I died and gone to 1970’s heaven? Complimentary port? Smacker Fitzgibbon, where are you? They also have their own home made limoncello.
The hostess Lucy was a
real card, the food good, the prices reasonable, and the pub section pumping
out cold Carlton Draught with the cricket and the tennis on tv screens.
I mentioned at the end
of my meal that I was going to write up a blog about it, and my dining
companions said:
“Don’t give it too
much of a wrap, we want it to remain a secret!”
And secret it is. Slightly off the beaten track, you can
normally get a park out the front easily – though that night it was “The Night
Market” at Vic Market and parking was a nightmare; so any other day than then, go there!
If you’re visiting
Melbourne from overseas, and looking for an authentic pub experience, you could
do far worse than walk up the hill once you’ve been to the market, and see what
the locals like.
I rate the Royal
Standard a seven out of eight tentacle pub, a true “royal standard”.
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