Pub:          Young and Jacksons
Where:     Cnr.  Swanston and Flinders Melbourne
Phone:        9650 3884
Date:         8 October 2010
Score:         14.5/20
internet:    www.youngandjacksons.com.au

My first 3AW pub review with Neil was February, 1996.   It was Bell’s hotel, South Melbourne. Since then, I have visited most once done a number of re-reviews  (changing ownership/direction) in and around Melbourne.

For the life of me though, I cannot recall talking about Y&J’s.  So obvious on Melbourne’s most prominent corner and somehow overlooked.  Today, it’s time to rectify that situation.

So let’s start with a simple statement – Y&J’s is great.  It is comfortable and comforting, old world, iconic, but above all, it is one of Melbourne’s most identifiable landmarks.

And in ever increasing and rapidly changing times, it steadfastly remains rooted to the past.  Good, I say.

How many times have you walked past it? How many times have you gone in?  How many friends have you met outside or in there?

Well, I walk in and the hustle and bustle of the busiest corner in town is immediately shut out.

The café at ground level greets you on arrival.  What did I notice from there?

 A man in a motorised scooter singing Johnny Cash, ladies in candy colour hats acting as ambassadors for Melbourne next to St. Paul’s and another great institution – City Hatters – benignly trading away under the clocks.

En route to the Main bar, the Long bar, in look and feel closely aligns itself to the members at MCG and offers couches and coldies with the sport running quietly in the background.  Chloe’s restaurant upstairs for a finer dining option, the rooftop garden for a different perspective of Melbourne, and very neatly, it is all things to all.

The main bar banged out terrific draught and on a Thursday lunchtime, had a very steady trade.  Y&J’s pitches  “Beer Food’ wherein basic counter meal staples are matched with different beers and given  quaint names, e.g., Stew Killed Kenny – Irish stew at $13, beer suggestion Kilkenny, or chilli blues, a small bowl of garlic and chilli prawns ($10) matched with Bluetongue lager.  (Beer is extra cost).

It’s an inoffensive line in twee.

I bypassed Chloes upstairs and took a seat in the café.   Safe, steady as she goes, priced to get a good reaction from the passing parade.  The downside there is that the tables are small and tightly squeezed in; the upside is that the front of house  (Andrew, I think) worked the floor as well as anyone I have seen in the past 5 years.

Tried was;

•    Selection of tapas for 2 - $22.  A well stacked, well presented tasty selection of wild mushroom arancini balls, lamb kofta, prawns sautéed in chilli and garlic, duck shanks.  I know people shudder at share plates, but this gave me the best indicator that the kitchen had a few tricks,

•    Steak sandwich  (porterhouse 150g) with all the trimmings - $20.   You don’t want the full meal, this was the alternative – worked a treat,

•    Eye fillet (250g), with mash and beans - $28.  (The same steak at Chloe’s was $34).  A superb eye, and when a request was made to change the mash for the kiplers, this provided no hassle,

•    Mitchell Watervale Riesling - $40 -  a good drop, but certainly priced to the mark.

A cleansing ale was enjoyed and thoroughly good time had.  Make sure though, you clearly articulate a pot if you want 285ml, as the waitress brought back a pint, an amount I thoroughly detest.

It is difficult not to become nostalgic at Y&J’s and to cloud an assessment of its worth.  In this case, a mid 14 is appropriate.

But you cannot help but reminisce about Y&J’s,  when 6 o’clock closing was the norm, no underground rail so Flinders St had to be the choice, and the clocks being changed by a long pole.

The pub churns away very nicely and will do so for years to come.  If you have not stepped inside and had a beer or lemonade, make sure it is one of your top 10 bucket lists to do of Melbourne.

And of course visit City Hatters over the road, still doing a nice line in Trilby’s.

Suits you, sir.

Tony's Pub Of The Week 2010

New Reviews: Tony Leonard is back again this year providing readers with reviews from all the pubs he visits on the Neil Mitchell program every Friday after 11:30am. Your home for all of the reviews - 3AW.com.au/pub2010. More here.