White rose

In the interests of full disclosure I have to admit a bias here; I am a bit of a fan of the Little Creatures Brewing company. The arrival in Port of a Fitzroy-esque Little Creatures Dining Hall would probably do more to increase my quality of life than if St Ali's, Mamasita and The Espy all decided to move here. Sadly the reborn, and newly white-washed, Rose Diner isn't quite that good, but it does have an exceptional six of their beers and cider on tap (they have a reserve of Carlton tinnies in the fridge for those awkward moments with the uninitiated), and the roller door access to the forthcoming Little Rose jaffle cafe at the back hints at a possible nod in the direction of South Melbourne's hidden coffee mecca.

I think, on balance, that I preferred the previous interior of The Rose; however that proved not to be a winning formula. The new operators obviously liked the horseshoe bar as they've built another one, which seems to jut out even further, perhaps to help separate the diner from the bar. The almost exclusively bare brick walls are offset by patches of pastel green pressed metal, and there's the obligatory strange objects fixed to one wall. So this seems to be a promising addition to the local pub scene. Walking in you can't help thinking "well this isn't very Port Melbourne", which makes you wonder whether the owners have got it horribly wrong, or whether they've taken a cunning look ahead at where the suburb is headed and placed themselves ready to make the most of it. I for one hope it's the latter.

And then of course there's the small matter of the subtle name change. For, as if to really emphasise the new direction of the joint, The Rose has become a "diner". Not a formal restaurant in the padded chairs sense, and yet not a burger and chips bistro either, with a surpising number of menu ingredients beginning with the letter 'Q'. It's a very different proposition to the Bay & Bridge opposite.

Beers on tap: Little Creatures Pale Ale, Little Creature Bright Ale, Little Creatures Pilsner, White Rabbit Dark Ale, White Rabbit White Ale, and Budvar
Wine range: $6.50-$14 a glass
Parma: No, no, no!
Gastro: Very much so
Tradie vs Yuppy: Yup, yup, yup!