Rose Diner & Bar

The last time vol-au-vents and waldorf salad featured on menus, Port Melbourne was an industrial suburb and the Painters and Dockers Union held sway. Times change. The former Rose and Crown Hotel is now a family-friendly diner servicing a largely residential neighbourhood, with a curved bar delivering craft beers and a rear dining area offering a slice of cheekily updated nostalgia. Vol-au-vents are filled with confit duck and apple and pinot jelly, corned beef sandwiches arrive, diner-style, in plastic baskets with house-made crisps, and black angus porterhouse gets the steak diane treatment, with brandy-mustard sauce. But there's more than a touch of gastropub about other dishes coming from the open kitchen. Wood-grilled chicken comes with charry roasted brussels sprouts and brown butter, and a hefty tomato-braised lamb shank is bedded with chickpeas and spinach. Knickerbocker glory, layering custard, berries and ice-cream, is a fittingly retro finish.