The Nelson, St Kilda

2/56 Acland Street
St Kilda
Victoria 3182

Our fellow diners has been to The Nelson before and were keen to get there early as bookings aren't taken. We arrived around 6:30 on a Saturday and were fortunate that he Autumn weather was kind enough that dining outside was a pleasant prospect. There is plenty going on outside on the corner of Fawkner and Acland streets, resulting in plenty of people watching opportunities. Inside there was a longer shared table and a couple of smaller lower tables.

The Nelson is a Rum bar, which also serves a range of Tapas style smaller dishes, along with some salads and larger options, there were a couple of specials on too.

We shared a range of dishes, which arrived at a goop pace, we just about managed to finish plates as more arrived and to fit everything on the table! First to arrive were the patatas bravas which came with a spicy aioli which didn't quite take us back to Spain.

The eggplant chips might look a little over in the photo, but were great, crunchy on the outside and soft inside and even won over Stu.

 The only problem with the stuffed mushrooms was the lack of a fourth, although we managed to resolve the dilemma with ot resorting to violence...

Stu enjoyed his Nelson slider with Porterhouse steak, pickles, iceburg lettuce, smoked cheddar and 'special' sauce, in a small but well presented bun.

The grilled fish tacos from the special board also contained 'slaw and guacamole and leaves and were one of the highlights.

The Jamaican Jerk Chicken salad freshened things up with plenty of leaves coleslaw and tomatoes accompanying the nicely spiced poultry and the orange and cayenne dressing.

The other special of goat curry with rice and beans rounded off the meal, proving to be our joint favourite dish with its wonderful Caribbean flavours and beautifully tender meat.  

The service was friendly through from ordering at the bar to helping us fit the many plates on our small table with good humour. The bill came to $127 including a few drinks. We'd happily go back, probably hoping for the same specials to be on again!

Beachcomber Café, St Kilda

10/18 Jacka Boulevard
St Kilda
Vic 3182


Bruce fancied a trip to St Kilda towards the end of his visit, so we trundled across by train and tram on a cool and overcast winter Saturday. To be fair when the sun broke through it was a pleasant day to be by the beach, hence the choice to eat at the Beachcomber Café at the St Kilda sea-baths a stones through from the bay.

We chose to grab a table in the covered outdoor section, which with it's wind protection was a pleasant spot to watch the world go by.

There a few spaces inside including a few nattily decorated booths.

Initially we were offered the main menu, however we noticed other tables were still eating brunch just after midday, and after enquiring we were given the breakfast menu which both suited us better and was more reasonably priced.

Bruce went for the bacon and poached eggs which disappeared rapidly.

The better half 's breakfast bruschetta (without the egg) didn't live up to expectations. The Turkish was lukewarm the avocado watery.

I had the home-made baked beans which were flavoursome, familiar and wholesome.

My long black was fine, apparently the flat white was weak. The $9 fresh OJ was served in a jar with a bendy straw, which promptly got blocked with pulp.

The location makes the most of the great views, unfortunately the food and service didn't quite live up to them. The bill came to just over $60.

#zomatomeetup at Claypots St Kilda

213/215 Barkly Street
St Kilda
VIC 3182

We've enjoyed previous visits to Claypots, so when zomato invited me to a meet-up there I jumped at the chance!



The kick-off was fairly early at 6pmon a Monday, and I almost didn't recognise the quiet restaurant, as it was still empty. After finding Pranav from zomato and being introduced to fellow bloggers including (excuse the lazy use of instagram links) @evelovelle, @lydiapebbles, @embel, @mel_bin_blog, @monsadventure and @simtiaz_grazingpanda as well as  @confessionsofalittlepiggy, @mmeparker and @clamhands from zomato. We had a drink in the bar first, I stuck to the super low alcohol German lager as I was on the bike.

We sat down towards the back of the restaurant, under the octopus, and near the chalk board menu

To start things off we were presented with Turkish bread with a selection of Meze...

...including somw garfish, squid and tasty salads.

Next up out came the signature garlic king prawns, which lived up to their name in size alone...

...and also delivered in the flavour stakes.

The chilli crabs were served on platters also loaded with mussels.

It was fun to extract the tasty morsels from both components which complimented each other well.

The 'secret recipe' Cajun style Flathead was the closest of the whole fish dishes to me, and the dark coating added to the star of the show.

The fearsome looking crispy skin silver dory was given a kick by the sambal.

I loved the full flavours of the coral trout twinned with the asian influences of the sessame, soy and ginger.

By the time I thought about trying the actual claypot I was just too full.

The evening was great fun and the range of food pushed it into surpassing previous dining eperiences, it is a venue that works even better with large groups sharing big meals! I didn't have to pay for the meal - thanks to zomato and Claypots.

Neither organisation had any control over this post.

Barney Allen's, St Kilda

14 Fitzroy Street
St Kilda
VIC 3182

We were off to a gig at the Palais in St Kilda and decided to have dinner at Barney Allen's, which is on the slightly quieter northern side of Fitzroy Street. It is owned by Iain 'Huey' Hewitson, his former wife, Ruth Allen and her brother, Barney Allen who were all formerly involved in the Tolarno Bar and Bistro just up the road.

The front section which opens into the bar area was busy when we arrived around 6:30 on a Friday evening.

A large central bar dominates the main room, which has a fairly laid back modern fit out, with maroon walls and ceiling.

We grabbed one of the tables which run along the wall. We were quickly provided with menus and then offered drinks by our friendly waitress. The menu isn't huge, with burgers and a few other pub classics as well as some more interesting alternatives, with a range of large and mid-sized dishes.

The Panko and Parmesan crumbed fresh salmon fillet came on a salad of green peas, feta, mint and shredded cos with an anchovy dressing. It was one of the medium sized dishes, but still a decent meal. The crunchy coating tempered the salmon flavours and the salad combination hit the spot. The better half asked for extra dressing as she is a big fan of the little salty fish, she got her wish and still managed to nearly finish it, despite the punch it packed!

I went for the chickpea, sweet potato and spinach curry which came with raita, naan bread and rice. The curry nicely flavoured without being super spicy and combination of ingredients worked well. The naan was one of the better ones I've had outside an Indian restaurant.

With a few drinks the bill came to $55, which is pretty reasonable given the location. The relaxed and friendly atmosphere and quality of the food means we'd be happy to head back when we are over that side of town again.

Sapore

3-5 Fitzroy Street
St Kilda
Vic 3182

We visited Sapore at the beach end of Fitzroy Street after booking on via dimmi special offer. It was dark on the evening we visited, but during the dayor at sunset the views across the bay would be great. Approaching and entering the restaurant the frontage seemed small, due to the large pillar in the middle of the building, which contributes to part of an interesting architecture.

Inside, the walls and ceiling are almost all curved, with the central column merging into to an oversize beam. This creates an interesting space, which is painted in strong colours. The tables are reasonably closely backed and there were a fair number of diners seated for a Tuesday night. The Autumn menu was distinctly Italian featuring plenty of seasonal locally sourced produce. While we enjoyed our drinks we were offered freshly baked bread rolls with great olive oil, and a few olives.

We shared the crumbed South Australian sardines, tartare sauce and shaved fennel bruschetta, the strong flavours combining beautifully on the toasted bread.

The arancini of the day, served on aioli, had a rich tomato led flavour, along with some cheese and ham, they stood out as some of the most original and enjoyable I've tried.

The seafood linguine was loaded with plenty of uber tender calamari, fish, mussels and prawns chilli and parsley.

I had the special of gamberi spaghetti with a crab, tomato, basil and chilli sauce. The prawns were both plentiful and perfectly cooked, and the sauce complemented them perfectly and had a definite spicy kick.

After the 50% food discount the bill came to $70, (the 3 drinks we'd had were full price), for the quality of the meal, that was amazing value. The service was great, all the staff were friendly, knowledge and attentive, with out getting in the way. Sapore is well worth a visit, especially if you can nab a special deal!

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Pizza e Birra

60 Fitzroy Street,
St Kilda,
Victoria 3182

We were taking a visitor to St Kilda and needed a spot for a latish dinner and settled on Pizza e Birra conveniently sited at the end of the light rail portion of the number 96 route. As it was a Friday before Christmas we wondered if it would be busy, but there were plenty of tables available. The fit out was fresh and the large windows let us look out across Fitzroy St.

We took a while to work out what we wanted, and shared the Piatto di Antipasto as an entree featuring a selection of cured meats, cheese, olives and some mushrooms, served with bread.

The selection was fine and served as a nice appetizer, but didn't blow us away.

Danny had the house pizza e birra, with tomato, fior di latte cheese, cacciatorre hand cut salami, red peppers and chilli. He didn't wait for me to dig in, and seemed to enjoy the spicy combination.

I went for the Tonno, featuring tomato, tuna, caramelised onion, fresh tomato, capers, garlic, spinach and oregano, a fairly healthy pizza which was still packed with flavour and enjoyable.

The pizze bianche funghi misti topped with mozzarella, mixed mushrooms, peas, gorgonzola and parmesan was a little too cheesy for my tastes, but a little different to standard offerings!

The service was great, friendly, informative and efficient. The pizza's started around the $20 mark, and I'd certainly head back again.

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