St Andrews Hotel, Fitzroy

MELBOURNE | Remember that pub, The Pumphouse Hotel, on Nicholson Street? Well these days its called St Andrews Hotel, which is actually what it was originally called when it opened in 1854. The current building, a historic Greek Revival style two storey clinker brick and render hotel, dates back to 1926. I hadn’t been inside since the Pumphouse days, and was recently invited in to check out the revived space.

These days the pub is run by Jasmin Vujic and her partner Rob. They took over the reigns from Jasmin’s parents Tony and Anna two years ago. Tony and Anna bought the pub in 1996, six years after Tony fell in love with the place, working there as a glassie, then bartender.

The pub was renovated in 2017, to freshen things up a bit, and restore some of the previously hidden and lost heritage elements of the space. It’s a welcoming venue, centred around the large U-shaped main bar wood and marble bar, with tiled floors and an overall classic but fresh look. To the side, is a cosy dining room with wooden floors, timber furniture, and plush banquettes. There’s a second, private dining space, and a large conservatory upstairs for events.

Observing Jasmin and the staff moving about the venue and serving customers, and having a chat to Jasmin, you get a sense of passion that you can only find in independent venues. Jasmin’s grown up in this pub, loves the venue and her patrons, and is driven by a desire to succeed, and make Tony and Anna proud.

On the menu, you’ll find pub classics like steaks, chicken parma, and fish and chips, along with seasonally focused gastropub fare. Head chef Alex Gaitanos leans on quality local produce, creating dishes sprinkled with influences from his British and Greek heritage. Crumbed and fried Stella Alpina cheese is served with a fig and tomato relish and is a great way to start things. Also great from the starters is the kingfish ceviche with avocado mousse, coconut, puffed quinoa, and finger lime.

For mains, I really enjoyed the melt-in-your-mouth tender beef short ribs, served with charred baby onion atop a bed of garlic and herb skordalia (Greek mashed potato). I also liked the parsley and lemon seafood linguini. It’s served with a generous portion of pipis, mussels, calamari, and prawns. For dessert, the sticky date pudding hard to go past during these colder winter days.

On the drinks menu, there’s selection of house and classic cocktails, along with a decent selection of spirits, a global wine list (with many options available by the glass), and approachable beers. I recommend the ‘The Regular’. It’s a cocktail of Talisker Single Malt, Hennessy Cognac, sugar syrup, absinthe mist, Peychaud’s bitters, and Angostura bitters. It’s named for the late Malcom Baird, a regular of the pub for over 30 years.

I’m a sucker for a welcoming, family-run pub, and St Andrews Hotel gets all of the important things right. Whether it’s just a drink or two, a classic pub meal, or something a bit fancier, Jasmin, Rob, and the team have got you covered.

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St Andrews Hotel

124 Nicholson Street
Fitzroy
Victoria 3065
Australia

Telephone: (03) 9417 2817
E-mail: [email protected]
Website

Open
Sun, Tue – Thu: 12:00pm to 9:30pm
Fri – Sat: 12:00pm to 10:00pm