Kingston Hotel, Richmond

55 Highett Street
Richmond
VIC 3121

After a disappointing result at the footy we headed to the Kingston Hotel in Richmond with the the better half's family. The smart old building sits on a quiet street not far from West Richmond station. The front bar area is fairly traditional too and you can also eat here.

We headed down to the restaurant, which has a more formal feel and views into the garden area. We ate fairly early and alone for the first part of our meal. The menu is the same as that in the bar area.

We took advantage of the 3 entrees for $30 offer, and Stuffed mushrooms were tender, moist and flavour filled.

The chicken wings were much brighter than the photo suggests!

DUMPLINGS
pan fr ied pork & g inger, sp icy d ipp ing sauce
 14

I had the fish and chips. The beer battered flat head tails had a great crisp batter encasing perfectly cooked fish. Both the chips and  mixed leaf salad also worked well.

The 350 grams of Black Angus scotch fillet came with kipfler potatoes, green beans and a red wine jus and seemed to go down well.

The bangers and mash featured local pork and fennel sausages, creamy mash, onion gravy and green peas kept Bruce happy.

Stu enjoyed his chicken parma, which also came with chips and a mixed leaf salad.

I don't re-call the fish of the day, but the better half wasn't a massive fan.

The mains were in the $25-$35 range, which seemed like fair value in quite a swish environment. The service was friendly and the dishes came out at a good pace for our group. It is somewhere we'd go back to if we were wanting to eat in Richmond again.

The Piano, Richmond

18 Bridge Road
Richmond
Victoria 3121

The Piano was lively and busy when we visited on a warm spring evening. The open doors and windows on to the street built a connection to the street. We'd booked one of the few remaining tables and were soon perusing the menu which was packed with Thai favourites.

The modern fit out eschewed south east Asian influences, with plenty of wood and concrete and a bar at the back.

We skipped starters due to a shortage of time and I went for the veggie version of the slow cooked Massaman curry, which featured puffed tofu in place of lamb, along with potato, comfit onion and roasted peanut. It was a rich and creamy rendition of one of my favourites and it even won over the normally sceptical better half...

The Pad Thai with roasted peanuts in a tamarind sauce featured some tasty prawns which don't seem too obvious in the picture. The flavours hit the mark with lots of smoky wok in there!

The side of roti started disappearing before I could even get a snap.

The bill came in at $65 including rice and a shared jug of Singha, which seemed like good value, as we were both fully sated. The staff were friendly and we didn't have to wait too long for our dishes to arrive especially given how busy the Piano was. I'd certainly be happy to head back.

Richmond Club Hotel

100 Swan Street
Richmond 
Victoria 3121

Behind the classic façade of the Richmond Club Hotel the interior mixes zones of varying degrees of modernity seamlessly. We were seated at the rear of the ground floor in a booth near an octagonal table, below an eight sided lampshade. We visited on a Saturday evening and it was pretty busy in the dining areas and rammed in the bars.

The menu was surprisingly traditional. The roast lamb with 3 veg ticked the boxes and went down well.

Stu enjoyed his regulation (for him) parma.

The nacho's weren't too soggy which was a bonus, and were well balanced, rather than over cheesy. 

My fish and chips  featured 2 smallish pieces of crisply battered fish balanced on top of the deep fried potato, a green salad and tartar sauce. All the components kept me happy.

The bill for 4 including a drink or two each came in just under $150. The meals took a while to come, but given how many people were in the pub that wasn't unexpected. The meals weren't oversized, but kept us happy while we watched the footy later on.

Royston Hotel

12 River Street

Richmond
VIC 3121

On a quiet backstreet corner at the Burnley end of Richmond, the Royston Hotel is fairly discreet in its presence.

Through the door we headed right, where we'd reserved a table wood paneled dining room which had an almost French Bistro vibe. We began to peruse the menu which has a mix of pub classics and some different options.

Rick had been hanging out for a burger, so went for the double patty Wagyu beef number which was also stuffed with cheddar, bacon, salad, pickles and mustard and served with fries. He looked like he enjoyed making his way through most of it.

I had the beer battered trevally fillets with salad, fries, tartare sauce. Unfortunately the fish was a little oily and I ended up thinking that the marlin from the specials may have been a better option.

 and was very tender.

The green bean salad also featured peas, mustard seeds, tarragon and a light oil dressing.

The service was friendly and happily tolerated our slow menu decisions and our loitering after eating.  The bill with a one or two drinks each came to $150. The Royston is an atmospheric back street Richmond local that is a great option to dine at if you fancy some good pub food.

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The Bridge Hotel, Richmond

642 Bridge Road
Richmond
Vic 3121

At the Hawthorn end of Bridge Road in Richmond, I hadn't visited the  Bridge Hotel, before, although the better half had, a few years back.

It re-opened in November 2011, and despite looking like a regular Melbourne Pub on the outside inside hosts its own lane-way which hosts urban art, including multi-layered stencils, paper paste-ups and aerosol free-form pieces developed with help from the Alleycat Creative. The open air space divides the bar area from the sit down dining area which offers table service from the same menu.

The refurbishment in the dining section was also quite dramatic, with plenty of exposed concrete and new spaces.

The tables are fairly low or bar height and the vibe was quiet and relaxed on a Saturday lunch time. The menu was mostly standard pub style, given the radical makeover the building had gone through.

The presentation of the vegetarian lasagne didn't quite live up to the architecture either, but the eggplant, spinach and mushrooms topped with bechamel sauce and plenty of cheese tasted better than it looked.It was accompanied by a basic rocket, semi dried tomato and parmesan salad.

The mushrooms stuffed with herbed goats cheese, ricotta and pistachios vanished quickly, which I took as a sign of popularity.

The 'House Made' dips, including beetroot and mint, raita and capsicum offerings, seemed fairly standard, and came with plenty of fresh grilled bread.

The service was friendly and efficient. The bill came to around $40 including a soft drink. The food wasn't at all bad, but didn't quite live up to the great refurbishment, but I would happily go back next time I was at that end of Richmond.




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Thai Style

455 Church St
Richmond, Vic

We visited Thai Style with a largish group of friends, some of whom had been along before. It is cosy inside, and we filled up an area of the restaurant. The menu covered many thai favourites.

We shared the a fwe of the mixed entree 'B' platters, with fish cakes, spring rolls, satay skewers, curry puffs. I tried the fish cakes and chicken satay skewers which were both good.

 

There were some more tod mun Pla (fish cakes) in the selection of mains ordered.

 

The Green Curry chicken was apparently good, I tend not to order it as I enjoy making it how I like it!

 

The Phad Gra Prow (Chicken) Stir fried chilli paste with mushrooms beans & sweet basil leaves looked good, and got a good wrap.

 

The Gang Massamun Gai Curry with chicken, peanuts potatoes wasn't bad, but was a little light on peanuts, and had pineapple in it, something I'd never experienced before, either in Thailand, a Thai restaurant or even a recipe! As I'm not a fan of pineapple other than on it's own, I wasn't a huge fan of this innovation.

I also tried the Pad Thai which was full of great flavours, but unfortunately the noodles were just slightly underdone. The service was friendly although slightly disorganised, and unfortunately one of the main courses didn't arrive. The bill came to $25 a head, including the odd beer, the wine drink was BYO'd.

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Burmese House

303 Bridge Rd
Richmond, 3121

I'd not eaten Burmese food before visiting Burmese house, so I didn't know quite what to expect. We visited on a Saturday and it was busy. Outside on the sign there was the large teapot, inside the on the ground floor the kitchen is on display.

I scanned the takeaway menu below, as I couldn't find it online, it seems to be pretty much the same as the main eat in menu.

We shared the 5 deep fried chickpeas with dipping sauce. These were pretty similar to falafel, the dipping sauce was similar to some Thai sauces.

The tamarind lamb was incredibly tender. We had this at medium spiciness and it was pleasantly spicy. There were only 5 pieces of lamb, which made the dish seem a bit small.

We had the hot version of the rakhine sliced fillet of fish curry, and it was spicy! The hunks of fish were firm and the eggplant accompanied it nicely. The roti was good too!

The service was a little below par, perhaps because they were busy, but some places seem to survive that... The bill with a couple of beers was just under $70. An interesting culinary experience, and the food seemed to fit in between the various surrounding cuisines I'd tried. I doubt we will sprinting across Melbourne to get there, but might pop in if we around the area.





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