Stokehouse

Ph: (03) 9525 5555; 30 Jacka Blv, ST KILDA 3182 www.stokehouse.com.au

Modern Mediterranean, $$$, ** for Ambience, Good Wine List
Open 7 days noon-3pm, 6-10pm, Closed Christmas Day, dinner , New Years Day; Licensed; AE DC MC V, Seats inside 110, Outside seats, Private room 30
Chef Anthony Musarra (7-11-07) Owner John & Frank Van Haandel (7-11-07)

Mietta's Review
This is one of Melbourne's better dining rooms. It looks out over its summer balcony to the St Kilda foreshore and the bay, and it still feels as good as ever. This is a busy, businesslike place, famed for the length of its lunches. The food is fine without being exceptional, the prices reflect its position and reputation and the service varies from good to a little off-hand. There are no surprises here but that means there are no disappointments either. As with all the Van Haandel establishments the wine list designed by Phillip Rich is (if not cheap) good.

Other published opinions

Age Good Food Guide 2008 Score: 17/20, Two Hats "Melbourne's definitive bayside restaurant has gone from strength to strength in pursuit of its aim of being all things to all people. It's smart, sassy and a little bit sexy, while still managing to make both the casual and the big-night diner feel equally at ease"

Gourmet Traveller 2008 Australian Restaurant Guide Score: ** "Restaurants like Stokehouse - with great locations and accumulated laurels - can too easily slip into complacency"

Herald Sun Bob Hart, 23-12-06 "EATING by the bay is pleasing, but eating here - first floor, front-row centre, in Melbourne's coolest beach house - is downright enchanting. All things considered, the venue is probably enough, but add to that some of the most locationsavvy food on earth and, well ... Dining here is a serious commitment, of course. Neither the tucker nor the wine is exactly bargain-basement stuff."

Age Epicure Restaurants, John Lethlean, 7-11-06 "Newish chef Anthony Musarra has given himself and the team at Stokehouse the equivalent of a healthy blast of nitrous oxide. Never has this restaurant been so good, such a cohesive package. Far from resting on their laurels, the owners and their managers continue to tweak, refine and massage this place with careful attention to detail. That should come as no surprise to anyone. It's manifest in everything from the chrome bread baskets with two types of Chirico crust to the resin Dinosaur Designs salt cellars to the proper stemware."

The Age Good Food Guide 2006 score 15/20, 1 Hat " Birthdays, weddings, proposals, anniversaries, Grand Prix wins: Stokehouse's very timbers seem imbued with Melbourne's good times. It has long since broken out of its 1920s teahouse corsets to become a genuine Australian culinary landmark"

Gourmet Traveller 2006 Australian Restaurant Guide * "A window table upstairs at Stokehouse occupies some of Melbourne's most prized real estate, thanks to its absolute beach frontage. But the bay view isn't the sole reason to visit. The service is polished, the fit-out is sleek, and the room is always sbuzz with movers and shakers, well-tanned tourists and cork-popping groups"

The Age Good Food Guide 2006 Best Views "St Kilda's foreshore is the perfect backdrop for a summer's afternoon spent wining, dining and people watching. Take t all in from Stokehouse's perennially popular outdoor tables."

Gourmet Traveller 2006 Australian Restaurant Guide Best views "It's not Sydney Harbour, but St Kilda's Stokehouse is still the town's best way to eat and drink on the shores of Port Philip Bay, with a particularly good wine list to match Maurice Esposito's food."

The Age Good Food Guide 2005 "THERE'S a sense of entitlement about Stokehouse: as if the bay were put here so the restaurant could enjoy the view. Everyone in the beach-shacky dining room seems to be having a good time and there are many reasons to be swept along by the buzz. Service is informed and replete with the sensitivity found only in top restaurants"

Gourmet Traveller 2005 Restaurant Guide * "it's a place for glamming up, star-spotting and civilised gossip, in a room that feels like it's at the heart ofwhat this city's all about. The food is no sideshow."

Herald Sun Bob Harr 14/8/04 "In fact, if it is Stokehouse you choose, you may conclude that Port Phillip Bay, ruggedly handsome though it is, struggles to keep up with the tucker. Because this is a fine restaurant exquisitely positioned, entrancingly presented and at the top of its game."

The Age Cheap Eats 2004,'Prices have been creeping up,but if you stick to pizza,you can eat in one of Melbourne's best waterside locations without having to take out a personal loan.'

The Foodies' Guide 2004, Allan Campion & Michelle Curtis,'It could be the famous ocean views or the great service that make the Stokehouse on of those special places,but,deep down,we all know it's the food that really pulls the perfect dining experience together.Chef Maurizo Esposito creates wonderful modern Australian interpretations of classic European dishes.'

AGFG 2004, score 16/20, score 16/20, hats, excellent wine list, excellent bar

The Age, Agenda, 7/3/04, Dani Valent,'A sense of occasion envelops you as you leave the clatter and clang of the downstairs restaurant for the chatty hum of the first floor diner...The food is modern Mediterranean, but artful, with the kind of arresting flavours that halt conversation...Desserts are excellent.'

Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide Australia 2004, 1 Black star, Excellent wine list,'The restaurant embodies that mix of informality and stiff linen that so exemplifies the Australian high-end...a glamorous New World-meets-Italia hybrid...food has style, but rarely pretension-like the restaurant itself.And the wine list is superb, if a little pricey.'

The Age, A2, 14/2/04, John Weldon,'a fine place to dine...It's quiet bright, high wooden ceilings make for a lot of noise...There are delicate, subtle treats on this menu, but they opt for dishes both sensual and rich in flavour'

The Age, Epicure, 10/2/04,'10 Hot Young Chefs- Alec Devney'

The Age, A3, 29/12/03, Jane Faulkner

Vogue Entertaining & Traveller, March April 2003

The Age, Epicure, Restaurants, John Lethlean, 20/8/02 Score 16.5/20

The Age, Epicure, restaurants, 22.1.02 John Lethlean Score 16/ 20

The Age, Sunday Life, Eat Streets,16/12/01