3D apple

Following on from my post on Google Street View's ability to step back in time, the much maligned Apple Maps also has a pretty neat trick up its sleeve.

It turns out that you don't need to board a 39-metre long blimp to ogle at the Spirit of Tasmania from up high. The software that uses 3D gaming techniques to wrap acute angled satellite images onto vector shapes works surprisingly well on our local sea front.

I encourage anyone with access to an Apple device to do a fly-by. Luna Park and and the Palais Theatre are particularly worth a look.

Beyond belief

I was bemused when the café at the base of the HM@S apartments, whose penthouse is currently asking a price beyond belief, was renamed from Bellezain to simply Boat. But that was considerably more creative than the frankly dismal name chosen for the latest incarnation of what was, until recently, the charming Harold Holt espresso lounge.

Staking a, not very, bold claim to be "Beyond Basic", the self declared speciality (or specialty if you prefer) for this beach-facing café is their coffee; which is a considerable disservice to the, clearly accomplished and ambitious, chef. With a wide selection of beans, some heavyweight brewing equipment and an enthusiastic barista, the coffee's certainly not basic, but how does it compare to the best of Bay Street?

Sunset mimosas

The balmy evenings have made Corté a favoured spot for a Friday evening sangria; and rightly so, it's a genuine oasis in the midst of the bustle of Bay Street, with quality live music to boot. But, for the canny, there is an even better option...

Sat on it's own at number one Beach Street, Harold Holt has already carved itself a niche as a waterfront café with city credentials. And now, for two happy hours, on a Friday night they're offering $4 beers, wines and mimosas, with laid back melodies from the likes of No Strings Attached, all overlooking the ocean as the sun heads inexorably towards the horizon. It surely ticks just about every box there is.

Beers (bottles): Cascade, Carlton, Pure Blonde, Crown, Coopers, Grand Ridge, Becks, Heineken, Peroni, Corona
Wine range: $7 - $10
Parma: No, shared plates are more the thing
Gastro: Getting there
Tradie vs Yuppy: Could take anyone happy with table service

Lawrence of London

It's not just Harold Holt adding personality to Beach Street these days. Over at Station Pier, the Blackbird café has just reopened as Mr Hobson, and in between the latest incarnation of the London Hotel is now formally known as Mr. Lawrence (at) the london.

It's not entirely clear why The London closed its doors last time around. It's food was superbly executed, if lacking in originality, and it was a huge improvement on its forebear. Perhaps for this reason Mr Lawrence has made relatively few aesthetic changes; even retaining the art deco light cubes, albeit with glass now following the amber colour theme. Although the newly stripped external tiles add to a feeling of a not-quite-complete renovation.

Nevertheless it continues to be a stylish yet cosy place for a meal, in an almost unmatched location across from the beach. Where things have changed, they are exclusively for the better. The menu now fills an Arabian sized gap in the Port Melbourne dining scene. It now also offers fantastic (Lebanese) breakfast at the weekends. And its taps provide without question the best range of craft beer in town (sorry Prince Alfred your reign is officially over).

Cheviot Beach

It's surprisingly tough making a crust out on the sea front. The London has only just started pouring pints again, whilst the Paris Grill has given up the ghost. However the Harold Holt Espresso Lounge, the latest incarnation of the restaurant space at the base of HM@S Lonsdale, may just have the goods to weather the sometimes harsh bay winds.

Clearly pitching himself in the same urban hip zone as the likes of the Salford Lads Club, Harold's bare plywood tables and black & white photography are a more natural fit for the polished concrete space than previous occupants. It may be the mood of the nation (although still not this electorate), but it still seems a little unexpected for such a café to be named after a Liberal politician, even a particularly charismatic and ultimately mysterious one.

The quality of the coffee (definitely top 5 in my opinion) and intriguing food here should provide a sufficient draw for the Bay Street brunch bunch to venture out on to the front, and come summer the view will as always be hard to beat. The bigger unknown however is how they'll fare with evening diners, currently being courted with share plates Thursday to Sunday.

TAOB

For a while the replacement for Belle Zain, the bay-facing restaurant sited at what was the end of the old lagoon, looked set to be named The Lonsdale; in recognition of the twin towers above it, themselves named after the HMAS Lonsdale naval base built there in 1942. Instead, the new owners have settled simply on the name Boat (apparently they aren't concerned about people finding them on Google).

Boat adds some diversity to the Port Melbourne dining scene with it's Greek tilted menu. It's pitched at a similar pocket to its predecessor, which puts it in a similar price zone to the Station Pier restaurants. This is justified by the quality of food and, on a nice evening, great sunset views although the black box interior lacks atmosphere.  The service meanwhile is a step up from Belle Zain, although still not in the same league as the The Graham just two blocks in-land along the former Esplanade.

Main prices: $22 -45
Beer range: No taps, but typical bottles including a house beer
Wine range: $6-11
Quantity vs quality: Quality wins out in the end

Tickets please

The Beacon Cove Pizza Bar, directly outside the end of the 109 line, is a perplexing place. Occupying (part of) one of the town's most significant buildings, it invites intrigue, yet adopts a remarkably perfunctory name.

The brash orange signs are rather at odds with the opulent interior ... and with the menu too, for this (thank god) is not just a pizza bar. Pub standard dishes are joined by Asian and Middle Eastern specials and the quality and service is decent. Add a sunny evening to the mix and the platform overlooking the palms becomes one of the nicest spots in town to sit.

But just when you've decided that the former railway station is actually a fairly fancy restaurant, with pretty views and stupendously easy access from the city ... you go hunting for the rest rooms. Sadly it has none of its own and instead you are directed outside to the utilitarian public conveniences tucked, albeit discretely, round the back. Like I said, perplexing.

London for sale

Despite a menu focussed on pricey pizzas, the London Hotel seemed to have built up a healthy trade in the six months or so since its reincarnation, and barely a week ago it was rated 3AW's pub of the week. Which makes the news that the pub (as opposed to the business) is up for auction in two week's time, all the more puzzling.

Let's hope that whoever buys it isn't intent on sticking apartments there, and instead decides to have another crack at making a successful business out of the iconic art deco building with the ridiculously good views. Surely it can't be that hard?

Blue revolution

Despite it being barely six months since they were installed, the blue bikes of Beach Street are already one of the five most popular Bikeshare stations. This may be helped by the nearby IGA Express joining the scheme to sell helmets for $5 (and buy them back for $3).

It does make you wonder whether another suburban station, at the opposite end of Beaconsfield Parade, might make for a popular alternate form of public transport for getting to and from St Kilda.

London 2012

The London is in many ways the most prominent of Port Melbourne's various art deco fronted pubs, standing as if to welcome all-comers as they step off Station Pier. It was closed for a lot longer than the Rose (and, according to the press release, it was by no means certain that it would reopen) but it has finally been resurrected, and seems to have gone for a similarly simple green and white palette, which is a definite improvement on the previous garish interior.

It's a constant wonder to me that the few places to eat and drink that face out on to the beach, aren't much more successful. None more so than this joint, as it is comfortably the closest pub for anyone living in Beacon Cove (or indeed Garden City), let alone all the apartments that dwarf it. It's hard to tell whether the "unfinished" feel of the concrete floor and exposed ceiling voids is deliberate or not, nevertheless the more sympathetic renovation, extended drink selection and warm lighting seem like a recipe for much greater success.

However I am bemused by the choice of a Mediterranean menu. I've already ranted about the bizarre obsession with pizza on Bay Street, but now Beach Street seems even more one-dimensional with the Beacon Cove Pizza bar, Bella Cosi, and The Pier all offering extensive selections, and even Hollyhock offering some. The pizzas here are very good, but they are also around the $25 mark which, given the significantly more reasonably priced competition either side, may cause some to baulk.

Beers on tap: Boags, Kosciuszko Pale Ale, James Squire Pale Ale, Coldstream Naked Ale, Heineken and Becks
Wine range: $7.50 - $11
Parma: No
Gastro: As gastro as pizza gets
Tradie vs Yuppy: Table service likely to deter the former

A sense of place

There's a bit of a surprise lurking at the bottom of the council's local area map, in the form of a link to a free MP3 audio walking tour of Port Melbourne. It's a well produced narrative, in the style used at many historical tourist attractions, which runs for 48 minutes. It makes for a mildly interesting way to while away an hour and you learn, if nothing else, how bad the place used to smell and how Liardet is pronounced. However there is one segment on the brownout strangler which seems out of place, since none of those crimes occured here.

The web-site mentioned during the tour is now defunct, and there no longer appears to be a tour map available for download, so above is the route followed. It's a (just under) two mile circuit starting and finishing at Station Pier, and it's not really necessary to pause at the exact points suggested, you can just continue wandering leisurely along the route. Thankfully, despite being a few years old, the sights on the tour are all still standing with the exception of the Faram Brothers hardware store.

Beautiful things

As the tabletops inside attest, the brand new Italian café Bella Cosi on Beach Street is housed in the former Freemasons Tavern, the facade of which was rebuilt in its original 1859 style as part of the apartment block that now pokes out the of the top. This reproduction advertisement on the Stokes Street side, echoes the alcoholic history on the side of the former Joshua Brothers distillery on Pickles Street.

As far as I know, this commercial property (next door to the relatively new Nami Japanese restaurant) has been empty since the 2008 rebuild. It's a wonder to me (especially with The London currently lying dormant) that there aren't more businesses taking advantage of the views down on the front here. They are currently open late Wed-Fri, although currently unlicensed. As well as the pastries, espresso and biscotti that you would expect, the Di Lisio family is also planning on offering coffee machines, cookery classes and gift hampers. Good luck to them :-)

Broken up?

It's balmy evenings like tonight's when it's a treat to sit outside The London and watch the ferry set sail.
Which makes it all the more inexplicable why its doors are currently shut. Perhaps half-hearted signs like this one may be part of the reason?

Blue bike invasion

It's nearly eighteen months since the controversial Melbourne Bike Share scheme launched, and now some bike stations have even arrived on our foreshore, just in time for Ride to Work Day. It makes perfect sense really with the great bike path into the city easily achievable within the 30 minute per trip charging model. Although it's a shame (especially for energetic cruise ship arrivals) that the map displayed beside the bikes inexplicably hasn't yet been updated to include the station itself, or the next one along the beach at Kerferd Road.

For Port Melbourne residents without a bike (or perhaps somewhere to store one) of their own, it's extremely cost effective to use at $50 a year. Of course for the $2.50 a day casual users, there is still the headache of complying with helmet legislation. The nearest 7-Eleven (which allegedly sells subsidised helmets for $5) is all the way up at the top of Pickles Street, which could explain why a station has also appeared one block down at the junction of Dorcas Street.

The ier

At 171 years old, The Pier is Port Melbourne's oldest pub. It's been through a number of restylings, however it's current 1930's exterior has hardly change since this photograph was taken.

Occupying an enviable spot on both Bay and Beach streets, this pub is a warren of differeng rooms and bars, all on the upmarket side. It's certainly had more money spent on it than The London ... despite the missing 'P'.

However for me the balance of materialism to atmosphere isn't quite right. A problem that is exacerbated by thumping club tunes, even in the restaurant.

Beers on tap: Carlton Draught, Cascade Light, Pure Blonde, Stella Artois
Wine range:$8 - $12
Parma: No (although it did at one time)
Gastro: In price
Tradie vs Yuppy: Tradies won't feel very comfortable here

Parping the horn

A nice picture of the ferry in the papers yesterday, courtesy of some debate about the federal subsidy of the Tasman transport titan. However it was a different scene today thanks to a Spillane eddy.

At least the ferry was justified in letting rip with its fog horn.

Autumn sun

Port Melbourne was again used as a prop in a prime example of a non-news news story today thanks to the ... fractionally above average temperatures for the time of year.

Still, whatever the reason, it's certainly nice to still be able to enjoy an al fresco beer as the sun goes down, with the, recently improved, London making an ideal spot.

R no more

Walking along Beach Street recently I thought I'd drop into the R-Bar. However it seems that the R is no more.

While the outside is virtually unchanged, the inside is now a tranquil Japanese restaurant by the name of Nami. I didn't try the food, opting instead for some Sapporo Japanese beer, which is relatively rare in Melbourne now that Asahi is being served in so many pubs and bars.

It seems strange to me that there are few places to drink on the sea front. Once upon a time there were seven pubs lined up between the London Hotel and The Pier.

Paddle to the metal

It's a far cry from being a Queenslander but, in case you hadn't noticed, Port Melbourne was really, really, wet this evening.

It was only a couple of weeks back that Beach Street was last flooded.

Hollyhock

Christmas has brought some change to the dining scene down at Beacon Cove. Of the three restaurants overlooking the nautical beacon itself, Campari was always the more affordable, if least exciting option. Now however it has been replaced by Hollyhock.

The good news is that they seem to be aiming for the same market share, so it's not too extortionate to eat here (although you're still paying a bit of a premium for the setting - which is fair enough on a sunny day I guess). The food quality and service aren't likely to cause 3 Station Pier or the Waterfront any sleepless nights, but they do seem to be a step-up from their forerunners, and their Turkish pizzas are an art-form in themselves.

I do however have a bone to pick with caterers like this who call their chips fat, just because they're chubbier than french fries. "Fat chips" should be reserved exclusively for when each potato is hand-cut into no more than twelve pieces. OK rant over.