The Sydney Morning Herald logo
Advertisement

The Metropolitan Hotel

The Metropolitan Hotel, restaurant, North Melbourne.
The Metropolitan Hotel, restaurant, North Melbourne.Supplied

13/20

Pub dining$$

The Metropolitan established a reputation for good cheer and cut-above pub grub a few years ago, and has largely maintained it despite a change of chef. Moving from the timbered bar to a high-ceilinged Victorian dining room studded with eclectic antiques - including a medley of upholstered timber chairs and a gleaming chiffonier - is like accepting a dinner invite from your posh granny. A versatile kitchen turns out pub favourites (parma, burger) and more adventurous dishes under the rubrics 'cattle', 'meat market' and 'forage'. It includes quality grain- and grass-fed steaks, such as a wagyu rump that, with blue-cheese butter, threatens the arteries in a most delicious manner. A spoon-tender beef cheek with 'velvet' mash and a sauce of shallots and Pedro Ximenez is particularly good. You might also find blue-cheese gnocchi, seafood linguine with chilli and garlic, and duck salad with sumac and burnt-orange vinaigrette. Granny may be in the decor but she has one cosmopolitan kitchen.

Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox.

Sign up

From our partners

Advertisement
Advertisement