Prince Alfred Hotel
619 Church Street
Richmond
Web: http://www.princealfredhotel.com.au/
So a friend has been living in Weipa for quite some time and came back to Melbourne for a catch-up. If you don’t know where Weipa is, it’s further from Brisbane (to the north) than Brisbane is from Melbourne. It is Far(king) North Queensland. Prince Alfred’s in Richmond has a giant good looking beer garden and gastropub-esque food. Put two and two together and you get a nice Saturday afternoon catchup.
I’d had a hens night the night before so was feeling a bit average this day, sticking to lemon lime and bitters (everyone’s non-alcoholic pub beverage of choice). However, there’s a pretty good tap selection. The menu’s got some pretty interesting things on it – before I got there, friends had ordered the heirloom tomato salad with mozzarella and basil, and mini burgers. I tried a tomato. It was special, in a good way.
I had a pizza for lunch, the fennel and sage sausage, roasted field mushrooms and taleggio pizza. It was okay – the sausage wasn’t very interesting to me and a bit nubbly, which always freaks me a bit out with sausages – what part of the animal am I eating?! – and the base was not the best. In fact, I think that’s what the main issue was – the base was cardboardy and not very interesting. Thin, but not crispy and chewy like the best of them can be.
Others around the table ordered a variety of dishes and seemed very pleased. The steak particularly looked good (and massive); had a bit of dish envy with this one.
Friend D got penne with pork and veal meatballs, as well as a side order of croquettes. I don’t think they were the salt cod croquettes that were on the menu; all I remember is that they were very corny. No, not in a “croquettes are the new fondue” way, no – they had a lot of corn.
Prince Alfred is doing some interesting stuff with their food, and the beer garden is a smasher. I always think of Richmond as being miles from my house, but I actually walked here from my place in South Melbourne, and it did not take very long at all. A pleasant journey was had along the river. I need to check out more of what’s going on in Struggletown.
Oh, you’re right. Green beans are the best side ever. Pity about the pizza though 😦