The Palace Hotel - South Melbourne

The Palace Hotel from City Road

Living in Yarra's Edge, being within walking distance,this is the closest I have to a "local pub". The Palace is located on City Road, pretty much on the border between South and Port Melbourne.

It has had a recent history as a restaurant within a pub building. The current owners have returned it to its traditional pub roots. It is now an "all comers" pub serving local residents and workers, you are equally likely to see families, fluro jackets or business shirts.

The pub has a pleasant beer garden, bar, pool table, casual dining room with an open fireplace and a small enclosed courtyard. Very much the traditional local pub.

The kitchen pumps out pretty good pub food and on special nights they do so at a good price. Thursday night is "pie night" where you can get  the pie of the day served with mashed potato, mashed peas and gravy for just $15. Almost all nights have a special meal - Monday is Parma night, Tuesday is Burger night, Wednesday is Steak night and Sunday is Roast day (all just $15).

Thursday Night is Pie Night $15!

The owners are pretty keen on craft beer so there is always something new in what is a quite wide selection of tap beers (they even have a hand pump). The latest beers on tap can be found here. Over the recent "Good Beer Week", The Palace hosted South Australia as a "Pint of Origin" pub, pumping South Australia's finest beers through the taps.

The Palace has as their logo a picture of a lovable Bulldog, I think it is the owners pet and they have obtained the right to have him wander the pub. There is something endearing and homely about a dog wandering around what is a fine old fashioned pub.

Recent winner of "Time Out Melbourne" pub of the year, The Palace is truly a fine old fashioned local pub. I highly recommend a visit.

Courtyard dining.

The Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy

The Rainbow Hotel is a fabulous watering hole on St David St in Fitzroy between Brunswick St and Smith St.

The Rainbow has a small front bar, an old style pub dining room with an open fireplace (great in winter) and a pleasant beer garden area just off St David St.

They have about 10 taps and regularly rotate different beers through them. Carlton Draught and Moon Dog's fabulous "Love Tap Lager" seem to be the regular tap hogs but there are always interesting tipples running through the others. The Rainbow also has a very good range of bottled beers.

Some of the craft brewers you are likely to find on tap here are 4Pines, 2Birds, Kooinda, Bridge Road, Mornington Peninsula and Hargraves Hill (and many others).


I strongly recommend you visit either on a Wednesday evening for "The Great Steak" night or on a Thursday to get a matched free pint with Chef's special for the day. The Great Steak deal (currently $14) is seriously great bargain steak meal that you can wash down with an equally great beer. The  Thursday "Food & Beer Match" special usually has 2 menu choices each matched to 1 of 2 selected beers currently on offer. You get the pint with your meal at the price of the meal only, an absolute bargain.

Yours truly by the fireplace in the Rainbow's Dining Room.

The current beers on tap can be found using the "Now Tapped App".
The latest events, new beers and meal deals can be found by following the Rainbow on Facebook.

Melbourne's Fabulous Beer Venues

After a bit of a hiatus it's time to fire up the keyboard again. I have moved cities and now reside in Melbourne, a great city for craft beer.

There are numerous old pubs in Melbourne that are independently owned and able to rotate their taps to serve an ever changing range of beers. The fashionable bars and restaurants in Melbourne are also keen purveyors of craft beer. Melbourne is also home to some of Australia's original craft beer bars.

Over the next few posts I will be showcasing some of my Melbourne favourites, such as;

•  The Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy.
•  The Palace Hotel, Port Melbourne.
•  Foresters Beer Hall, Collingwood.
•  The Local Taphouse, St Kilda.
•  The Alehouse Project, Brunswick.
•  Moon Dog Craft Brewery, Abbotsford
•  Cookie, Melbourne CBD.
•  Naked For Satan, Fitzroy.
•  Le Bon Ton, Collingwood.
•  Temple Brewing, Brunswick.
•  Holgate Brewery,Woodend.
•  Boatrocker Brewery, Braeside.
• The Great Northern Hotel, Carlton North.

Cheers