Melbourne is teeming with excellent pubs, but the vast majority are outside the CBD. Mike Patrick, owner of the new Springrock Public Bar on Bourke Street, wants to help change that.

“It was about building a really great pub in the middle of the city. There aren’t a lot of options,” he says.

Patrick also owns barbecue restaurant Fancy Hank’s and rooftop bar Good Heavens. When the neighbouring Grand Trailer Park Taverna site – on the corner of Bourke and Exhibition streets – became available during the pandemic, he jumped on it for Springrock.

“It was about building a really great pub in the middle of the city. There aren’t a lot of options.”

Mike Patrick, owner of Springrock

Helming the kitchen is Jarrod Di Blasi, who has serious pedigree. He was most recently head chef at hatted Japanese restaurant Izakaya Den, which closed in April. Prior to that he was at Ezard, and in 2017 he was named The Age Good Food Guide Young Chef of the Year.

That means Springrock’s counter meals come with an extra level of care. “I don’t want to say ‘elevated’, but we really care about the products we’re using,” says Patrick. The schnitzel is made with Hazeldenes chicken, there’s Riverina Black Angus porterhouse, and the cheeseburger patty is ground in-house daily using brisket trim from Fancy Hank’s.

The three sibling venues share a renovated central kitchen – now home to a charcoal grill – leading to a natural cross-pollination of ideas.

Oysters Kilpatrick are finished with Fancy Hank’s barbecue sauce. Another retro-inspired dish from Di Blasi is slow-braised lamb shoulder pressed and fried into nuggets, served with jalapeno-mint jelly.

The nostalgia in the menu is mirrored in the fitout, which channels old country pubs and the work of Patrick’s late grandfather, who was a mid-century architect. Dark timber panelling and patterned carpet are focal points, while large windows frame city views galore.

The centrepiece is a horseshoe-shaped jarrah bar where you can pull up for a pint of house lager – made in collaboration with Abbotsford brewery Bodriggy – or a mostly Victorian negroni made with Gindu gin, Saison vermouth and a smoked rosemary garnish.

In classic pub style, there are daily specials including Sunday roasts and a happy hour with $8 wines and $10 pints, and TVs to keep punters entertained with live sport.

Springrock opens Thursday, July 4 at 4pm.

Open Sun-Wed noon-midnight, Thu-Sat noon-2am.

87 Bourke Street, Melbourne, springrock.com.au