We spent a fun night at The Fox Hotel recently. It is one of those pubs you have probably driven past a million times but never ventured inside. It's location on the corner of busy Alexandra parade and Wellington streets, means that a lot of its clientele appear to be locals rather than passersby on a pub crawl.
The atmosphere inside the pub is cosy but exciting at the same time. The pub is owned by 3 woman and the all-girl bar staff are attentive and warm. The pub has a wide variety of beers from all over the world. I drank Budejovick (a Czech imported Budweiser) whilst I was there, and it had a nice deep 'hoppy' flavour.
The atmosphere inside the pub is cosy but exciting at the same time. The pub is owned by 3 woman and the all-girl bar staff are attentive and warm. The pub has a wide variety of beers from all over the world. I drank Budejovick (a Czech imported Budweiser) whilst I was there, and it had a nice deep 'hoppy' flavour.
To eat, I ordered porterhouse steak with mushroom sauce, mash and salad. The steak was about $24.50 which I thought was very reasonable. My dish had a nice flavour, the steak was cooked well (medium rare) and the salad was fresh with a tasty dressing. Overall, I was enjoyed the dish considering the price, however it did lack a bit of oomph. I think a different sauce on the steak may have helped, as the mushroom sauce was a bit bland.
Others on the table ordered beer battered baramundi, dusted with lemon myrtle and served with chips, salad & wild lime tartare ($17); salt and mountain pepper squid w chips, salad and wild lime tartare ($17) and the vegetarian of the group ordered a vegetarian burrito. The burrito was reportedly very nice, however it was served with plain white rice, whereas a spicy mexican style rice may have been a better accompaniment. Overall, everybody seemed to enjoy their dinner, especially the salt and mountain pepper squid.
We had a few more beers and then a few of us ordered dessert. There are only two desserts on the menu, and we ordered 3 of the same dessert - fried apple gyozas rolled in cinnamon sugar served with caramel sauce and ice cream ($8). (In case you are not familiar with gyozas, they are Japanese dumplings. They are most usually savoury but can be made with sweet fillings also.)
The desserts were wolfed down, the lucky owners moaning with pleasure as they devoured the plates. Due to their reaction, I was begging to try some and finally my sister relented and gave me her last bite of gyoza. I was surprised by the deliciousness of the dish. The sweet but tart flavour of the apple was balanced perfectly against the slightly oily pastry of the gyozas and the sweetness of the caramel sauce and ice cream not to mention the slightly gritty texture of the cinnamon sugar. I am definitely going back to the Fox if only to order this dessert for myself.
In fact, I am definitely going back to the Fox Hotel due to the ambiance and the fantastic selection of beers. Also I should mention that the music was refreshingly different, with lots of old skool fifties and sixties and just some plain good nineties music, like PJ Harvey. At times I felt like it was my iPod playing. There is also a pool table, plenty of seating and a dance floor in the back room. The clientele seem very cool, but in more of a grungy Melbourne way, than a superficial Chapel Street way. All in all, an awesome pub!
The Fox Hotel
351 Wellington St
351 Wellington St
Collingwood VIC 3066
Ph. (03) 9416 4957
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