Welcome to The Melbourne

My steak sandwich was delicious, perfectly made and made the cut as far as 'gourmet' pub food goes!

Food took a while to come out but service was friendly.

Recommended, we'll be back!

The food is delicious, try the Rankin Cod, the wine list is truly amazing, and the service is always prompt and courteous. The food is a little pricey as is the wine, but it is well worth paying the price for a special night out.

This neat little eatery tucked away on the border of the CBD and West Perth is definitely one worth visiting. So charged with a $100 dinner voucher i mysteriously got my hands on from a Melb Cup competition last year, I was eager to try out something new. Booked a table for four at 8pm on a Monday night and as expected - the place was pleasantly intimate and not over crowding. The majority of diners were still dressed in business attire - so i imagine a great percentage of their clientele are either staying at the Melbourne hotel (just upstairs!) or grabbing a nice deserved meal towards the end of what i like to call Monkey Maniac Mondays...

My partner and I arrived promptly at 8pm - took about 5 min for someone to notice we were waiting so my initial perception was not hugely favourable. (im a fan of prompt customer service - or at least acknowledgement when new customers walk through the door).

After settling inside and given our menu's to ponder what delectable delights were to tempt my tastebuds our waiter kindly announced that unfortunately, the crayfish was unavailable...(i think my partner nearly broke down into tears..haha - and for $50 a pop - i was intrigued at how this dish would've turned out)In the end, my dining party of 4 selected an entree and main course each. I went for the thai beef salad (E) and a Creole style jambalaya (M) (which is an extraordinary dish if you like spicy paella with generous servings of seafood - big prawns, scallops, squid and fish pieces) and needless to say i had absolutely no complaints about my choices! The salad was really delicious too - not too over powering with the fish sauce that normally accompanies this salad. The chunks of beef were tender and warm and melted in my mouth - there was a slight fire to the bite - but this was balanced out well with a little sugar added to the dish.

My partner settled for the seafood fettuccine(E) - which was light and full of flavour - just the right size and not too filling!! (one thing i really hate is going out for pasta and being given practically half to a whole packet of pasta and having to dig to find your four little prawns somewhere inside) For mains his sirloin steak topped with again, more generous servings of garlic prawns was as he put it 'simply orgasmic'. The steak was cooked to perfection and rather very sizeable - so this diner was pleased and quiet during his meal.

The other two diners were also happy with their meals (something i find very rare these days!) Garlic prawns and a chicken breast dish...i cant really comment cause they polished this up before i could stab my fork into their dishes...so unfortunately readers - you'll have to experience those dishes for yourselves... :)

Service from beginning to end was really good (except the initial waiting period to be seated) - our waiter was really friendly and definitely someone i would want working for me if i ever (heaven's forbid!) end up opening a restaurant. There were approx. 9 tables filled that night with only one bar person and our waiter - and i was even more impressed at his meticulous strive for perfection with the whole 'cleaning of the glass' while placing them away behind the bar...Bet he didn't think i'd notice but my eyes are rather quick and well, nothing gets past me hehe.

All in all, this is a lovely place to try out - their entrées range from $10-20 (av. $15) and their mains range from $22-32 (av. $28) although when in stock the crayfish as mentioned earlier is slightly pricier around the $50 mark.

The bill was approx. $180 (which included 4 drinks (2 were alcoholic), 4 entree's and 4 mains) at $90 a couple, yes this place is a little more pricey than your average cafe (ie. Banca...another one of my fav. spots) - but i reckon the service and warm smile of my waiter will bring me back for seconds!