Albert Park Hotel reopens for third time after coronavirus lockdown

Forget a pot and parma — this glam new inner-city pub does wontons, dim sum and this cracker dish best paired with a cold beer.

Kara Irving

3 min read

December 4, 2020 - 1:35PM

An afternoon at the Albert Park Hotel is more of a polished pub experience, with great grub and a decent drinks’ list. Picture: Simon Shiff.

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Boy, I’ve sure missed going to the pub.

Getting back on the beers was a priority in those early freedom days, as was swapping the stubbies for a fresh-from-the-tap frothy.

Now after a month of being let off the lockdown leash, I’m looking for different kind of pub experience.

One that’s more polished with good grub and decent drinks, perhaps in a pretty space to while away the hours (or designated dining time) with mates.

New-look southside pub the Albert Park Hotel does all of this, and very well, indeed.

But like most openings this year, there were setbacks.

General manager Brad Hammond (ex-Sunda, Windsor Hotel food and beverage manager) had only opened for two days in early March when a return traveller with coronavirus visited the pub.

It’s all about smart snacks at Albert Park Hotel. Picture: Simon Shiff.

The doors closed, and both staff and guests were forced into two weeks’ quarantine. Luckily, nobody caught the virus.

When APH could finally reopen, it snuck in another two days of trade before Melbourne’s first lockdown. Some brief reprieve came in June, followed by another 112 days of closure.

Now Colonial Leisure Group (behind Fitzroy’s Bimbo and luxe Portsea Hotel) has given it another crack. Third time’s a charm, right?

Thankfully since October 30, the APH’s doors have stayed open and the beers have kept flowing.

The delayed launch may have seemed like a setback for the hotel group, which had evidently spent a lot of time (close to six years) and money giving the 137-year-old pub a facelift — and you can tell.

Crispy fried quail makes best buds with a beer. Picture: Simon Shiff.

The revamped space is a thing of beauty with natural light spilling in from a glass atrium, a fig-tree standing tall near the main bar of polished timber, and turquoise plush-carpet lining the dining room. Inside on the ground and first floor is where you’ll find the pub’s more formal dining restaurant Happy Valley — serving dim sum, larger plates and banquets — but on this visit we’re here for the bar snacks, available outside only.

Head chef Steven Tan joined the hotel’s kitchen between the city’s first and second lockdowns.

Ironically, Tan earned his stripes at another Happy Valley, well, at Hong Kong’s Happy Valley Racecourse restaurant Derby under esteemed Melbourne chef Donovan Cooke (now behind Fitzroy’s Ryne). In Melbourne, Tan also worked with Cooke at The Atlantic, followed by a stint at Vue De Monde, before moving into pubs.

At APH, Tan’s snack game is strong — there’s thick and tender kingfish sashimi tiles ($28), served in a refreshing orange and sesame sauce, heaped with fresh red chilli, coriander and spring onions.

The espresso martini with a sichuan pepper twist. Picture: Simon Shiff.

The chilli prawn wontons ($20), slippery and silky yellow parcels swimming in a zingy black vinegar sauce, are also good but need more mouth-numbing szechuan to make this dish sing. The house fried rice ($21) is also tasty, with bursts of salty char siu pork and sweet prawn meat, and isn’t weighed down by oil partial to the takeaway kind.

If you’re here for the beers, sink one of the 10 brews on tap with the crispy quail ($18) that’s marinated in masterstock, dunked in the fryer and served with five-spice salt for sprinkling. Delicious.

Fried rice, that’s unlike your takeaway kind. Picture: Supplied.

Chilli wontons. Picture: Simon Shiff.

The cocktails are pretty good too, with bar manager Nicholas Mitchell (ex-Cookie, Magic Mountain Saloon) shaking as many Asian ingredients into the mix as possible.

The Espresso Tropicale ($19) plays off the coffee martini classic with Szechuan pepper, coconut and lime — it reads odd, but worth a try if you’re curious.

Hammond is also behind APH’s comprehensive and impressive wine list, showcasing the best of Colonial Leisure Group’s cellars with bottles from the world’s best regions, alongside mainly Aussie favourites by the glass.

Albert Park Hotel ticks all the boxes of a great, albeit a little fancy, neighbourhood pub.

Tan’s tasty cooking is a real treat, and while you won’t find a pot and parma here, the locals don’t seem to notice as long as the food is good, the beers are cold and the pub stays open.