The Courthouse review 2023: Kara Monssen visits North Melbourne pub

Cold beer, great food, footy on the telly. There are many things that make a great pub, so has North Melbourne’s longtime boozer nailed the recipe?

Order order. North Melbourne watering-hole The Courthouse is back in business. Picture: Mark Stewart

This is what makes a good pub.

Simple, uncomplicated food. Hot chips. Cold beer on tap. A chatty, sunny beer garden. Fireplaces in winter. Yes, multiple. Ideally with the bookable tables in close range. Live music on Saturday nights. A telly to watch the Saints win (a girl can dream). Wine reaching beyond Oyster Bay sauvignon blanc. Somewhere to take the folks, a date, or to swing by after work. A Sunday roast with yorkshire pud. I’m sure there’s more.

The Courthouse is certainly a box-ticker.

It’s owned by three couples; Ryan and Laura Berry, Rusty Sturrock (also the head chef) and Ellie Burton and Ryan Moses and Sunday Birch.

Fried goats cheese. Picture: Mark Stewart

I’d like to think they’re living out a drunkenly schemed plan to one day run a pub, like any good 90s sitcom would have us believe.

But really, the longtime mates are fulfilling their gastro-pub dreams Down Under after a shared stint at London’s Cubitt House.

The serial pub flippers have already turned Parkville’s sad-looking Naughtons Hotel into a smart outfit, and in May gave North Melbourne’s wide-berthed streets something to rave about with their second project.

Pork and fennel sausages with polenta. Picture: Mark Stewart

The gold-bricked, art-deco facade remains, as do some of the design accents inside the 120-seater rabbit warren.

Porthole windows, sturdy red-timber front bar and that classic ‘country pub pale cream’ paint job and tan timber combo throughout. Where you’re seated will influence your Courthouse experience — so choose wisely (if you can).

Smaller groups are better suited to sun-drenched salon with a crackling fireplace, while it seems larger crowds are farmed to the dining room. There’s more room upstairs, though we’re shelved in with the birthday parties and family gatherings. This worked fine for us, despite being chatty, as it dialled up the Sunday vibes.

Kangaroo carpaccio. Picture: Mark Stewart

Chef Sturrock, who worked at Naughtons for seven years prior, steps up to the plate at slinging Euro comfort food with an Aussie twist.

This explains not one, but three roasts options ($34, this visit chicken, pork and beef), served with all the trimmings and one of those high-rise yorkshire puds; suitable crisp and hollow to fill with gravy and mash.

It also justifies the inclusion of pork and fennel sausages ($32) buoyantly floating on a fluffy polenta pool. Spiked with chilli and fennel, those snags are minced and stuffed in-house.

Golden crumbed goat cheese orbs ($13 for three), filled with chevre and toasted sesame, do wonderful sweet and salty things when swiped in a quince aioli.

The leek and truffle tart. Picture: Mark Stewart

While the leaves on the kangaroo carpaccio ($18) look sad and wilted, those baking paper fine sheets are crusted in wattleseed and juniper, and bleed with flavour. Cornflake-like fried shallots add crunch and fun.

The leek and truffle tart ($29) was a little dry, then realised it was vegan which explains the lacklustre non-dairy texture, though I appreciate the blanched green bean and ripe tomato salad proving pub kitchens can cook veg properly after all.

Ryan Moses is on drinks duties, ensuring all beer and wine drinker bases are covered with enough crafties and mainstream pours are on tap, and a mix of Victorian, Italian and French wine is available by glass and bottle.

Even the kids (or children at heart) can slurp a hot mug of milo with marshmallows if they choose.

In a city not parched of newly-reno’d pubs, The Courthouse is bringing a new order to the inner-north and plenty of cheer.