Located in the heart of Chapel Street, this is always one of our favourite places to stop by after work and enjoy a drink. We decided to pop in on a Saturday evening for a quick bite to eat and enjoy some of their amazing live music.
ATMOSPHERE & SERVICE
It was a surprising warm Melbourne night, so we opted to sit outside where we could people watch and also here the amazing live music being played inside. The indoor space is vibrant with large front windows, a mix of both high top and banquette seating, and a gorgeous fireplace.
Off to one side was a young musician playing incredible songs, which brought a fun energy to the space. It was quite full when we arrived, with several people ordering food and drinks at the bar. The bar team were friendly and attentive with taking our orders and checking up on us frequently.
FOOD
Here you will find all your favourite pub fare and a great selection of tapas, which are perfect for this style venue. They offer 3 tapas for $25, or 4 for $30, so thought I would get a few different dishes for the 3 of us to share as we weren’t overly hungry.
First off, MC had to order his Parma, of course! His ‘Chicken Parma’ was served with a huge crumbed chicken breast, ham, napoli sauce, two different types of cheese, a small salad and crispy beer battered chips. He was sold!
For our tapas, I went with the 4 for $30 deal. First was the ‘Salt & Pepper Squid’ served with Garlic aioli. This is always a crowd pleaser so knew everyone would enjoy this one.
Next were the ‘Chicken Satay’ served with peanut sauce. MC loves chicken satay’s so thought this was another winner. They were slightly spicy (which I loved) and the chicken was tender on the inside. So I was two for two so far with my tapas selection.
The third tapa to arrive was the ‘Goat’s Cheese Tart’ served with caramelised onion. The boys weren’t a fan of this one, but I had a feeling that might be the case. I thought they were tasty with a flaky shell and a savoury onion and cheese filling.
Our last tapa to arrive was unfortunately not the best. I saw ‘truffle’, and thought this would be a winner. The ‘Mushroom & Truffle Risotto’ served with Parmesan cheese was almost inedible. There was absolutely no flavour what so ever to the dish. It was like eating wet rice. No flavour of truffle, a few scattered mushrooms and a few shavings of parmesan.
Yes, the atmosphere was upbeat and chilled out, and the food matched the vibe. I was however expecting something slightly better than a few of the dishes that we ordered. Maybe this is still another Chapel Street pub that you go to drink and not focus on the food so much.