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West Melbourne doesn’t often come on the radar for being a destination for great places to eat. In fact it is a rather quiet place out of business hours, the only buzz coming from the comings and going at MAP or the Embassy Taxi Cafe. Which in fact was the reason for our visit to Hotel Spencer - we had walked past it on our way to the Embassy not long back, and after checking it out in the Cheap Eats/Good Food Guide, thought a return journey to try out the fare was in order.

We decided to eat it in the bar (as opposed to the slightly more expensive, yet still very reasonably priced dining room). Besides, we wanted to be close to the bar for some freshly pulled beer, and Bert Newton’s 20 to 1 was also providing some mild amusement on the tele.

The pub is rather old school, funked up in a dashing shade of burnt orange. But it is comfortable - a nice long bar to prop your elbows on, a good range of brews (and microbrews) on tap, big chunky wooden furniture, requisite bunch of lads living it up at the counter, and a bar menu that would satisfy both the tradie and gourmand in us all.

I couldn’t go past the braised beef, mushroom and guinness pie with mashed potato and sauteed greens. This is classic pub fare, and it sure didn’t disappoint. The beef was slow cooked and wonderfully tender, and I could actually taste the earthiness of the guinness and the mushrooms in the gravy. The pastry lid was crisp and flaky, and the mash a good balance of potato and milk/butter (i.e. it wasn’t too rich). And check out the sauteed greens - firm peas, tender crisp broccoli and green beans. A nice hit of chlorophyll for the otherwise comfort foodish meal.

EG went the other classic, bangers and mash - or to be more precise, grilled snags with mash, peas and gravy. Three thick tasty sausages were straddled across a generous dollop of mashed potato, the whole lot liberally doused in a brown oniony gravy. It certainly satisfied his craving for salsiccia (and then some!).

The servings are absolutely HUGE - value for money can’t be beat. And we were actually quite impressed with the variety of the other menu options on offer, such as a pork, veal and pistachio nut terrine, a corned girello on mash or an Asian braised pork belly. Both of us can’t wait to get back to try some of these offerings.

A hearty (and non-inebriated) thumbs up.

Written by mellie on April 14th, 2007 | Tags: pubs, restaurants | Category: Uncategorized |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL