The Post

Where and what

In the 1960s, local gangsters would give their guns to the bar staff at the Post Office Club Hotel to keep safely until they had finished their drinking, according to local author Becky Aizen in her book about St Kilda's watering holes. What sensible gangsters.

In more recent years, the big old-school pub on the corner of St Kilda Road and Inkerman Street has been more sedate, something of an ''old man'' pub, with an almost rural feeling.

Now, the 140-year-old building has been overhauled as The Post, its bottleshop now a cafe and the public bar featuring a newly fitted-out dining room, a mix of modern, clean lines with the occasional nod to its Victorian-era roots.

Where to sit

You can still perch at the bar or old-school high-stooled drinking tables, these days adorned with succulents in old jam tins rather than ashtrays, or the tables that line the dining room, a banquette stretching down one side. There is also a sunny beer garden with wooden benches out the back.

Drink

As well as the usual suspects, beers on tap include craft beers Stone and Wood, 4 Pines, Quiet Deeds and the Belgian-style Mornington Witbier. The wine list is small but varied, with reds from Spain, South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria (nothing over $10 a glass), and whites ranging from the crisp German 50 Degrees riesling to an Italian pinot grigio and a Tasmanian chardonnay.

Eat

There is no real theme to the menu, although some obvious Asian influences sit alongside pub classics that would keep The Post's former clientele happy. The huge parma and chips for $24 and the 300-gram porterhouse for $29 aren't going to alienate anyone.

The same probably couldn't be said of the interesting quinoa octopus salad - served chilled with cucumber, celery, potato and coriander and mint dressing, $12 - from the sharing menu. The share plates also include lamb ribs with sticky barbecue sauce ($14) and the addictive fried chicken with sesame and soy ($14).

There is a decent range of vegetarian options too - saganaki with paprika, rosemary and lemon ($8), green tea soba noodles with kim chi and sesame dressing ($12), and salt and pepper tofu with Asian slaw ($10). There are three mains, alongside the parma and the porterhouse. The braised pork belly with five spice, sweet soy and potato puree ($22), while perhaps a touch wet, is pull-apart tender, and the baked tandoori barramundi with green curry sauce and coconut rice ($22) is sticky, crisp, spicy and sweet in all the right places. These are both big servings, but if you can find room, there's also a choice of cacao gateau with rum and raisin ice-cream ($12) or banana spring roll ($12) for dessert, or a cheese plate for $18. On Sundays, there's a ''sliders and ciders'' special, with sliders for just $4 and jugs of cider for $15.

Who's there

A good mix of locals - even a few who were regulars before the jam-tin succulents.

Why bother

Old-school pub vibe meets modern fit-out, beers and meals.