Chaps,
Just thought I'd give a blatant plug for a couple of great pubs near my place of residence. Do yourself a favour and check them out if you're in the area or live close by.
First is the Royal Mail on the corner of Spencer and Stanley streets in West Melbourne. It's got Coopers Pale Ale and Mountain Goat on tap and does some great food at reasonable prices.
Monday's steak night and Wednesday is road kill night where meat on offer has included camel (tough), kangaroo (always superb), wallaby, possum (interesting, like a cross between rabbit and lamb), crocodile (chicken meets fish), venison (delicious), etc.
Plus it's still got the front bar with pool table and has retained the regulars who drank there before the restaurant added dishes other than simple pub fare.
Second is the Limerick Castle, on the corner of Errol and Arden streets in North Melbourne. This is a good, honest pub serving good food, including a variety of excellent parmas.
While they've only got the usual suspects on tap, they have Coopers and some other interesting brews in stubbies, including two of the magnificent Moo Brews from Tasmania.
And to top it all off they've got a TAB and are one of the few pubs to still have Fox sport, so it's a good place to watch the footy if, like me, you barrack for a non-Victorian team (Victorians call them "interstate" teams) whose games are rarely on free-to-air TV.
Oh, and a pub in the area to avoid is the Three Crowns on the corner of Victoria and Errol street in West Melbourne. It has Jim Beam barrels for tables, old saws on the walls and there's often a Harley-Davidson parked in the front bar. Need I say more?
Cheers,
Oliver