Pub Of The Week: Tony Leonard reviews Bells Hotel, South Melbourne
157 Moray St, Sth Melbourne
Phone: 9690 4511
When? 24 November 2023
www.bellshotel.com.au
VENUE
The ending is just the beginning repeating.
So sang Chris Cheney from Melbourne rock legends The Living End and appropriate today as the last pub review in Neil Mitchell’s show was indeed the first that I had the good fortune to present, post Steve Price in 1996.
Bells Hotel is an acme, iconic pub of Melbourne in South Melbourne. It seems everyone has a story to tell from here, be it Christmas Party to being one of the first pubs to be embraced as a ‘must go to gather and watch the football’.
Much is due to eponymous publican Billy then and now Sam Tresise who has modernised the old pub, but steadfastly retained its DNA.
Ground level is the pulse. The bar is a double-sided wrap around affair, with one side more attuned to dining, and the other housing all the sports. There is a constant stream of customers from 8am, seven days a week, with a full breakfast offer soon to commence.
Meal and drink deals dominate the early days in the week, e,g., Parma and drink, Burger and Drink $25, Monday- Tuesdays respectively.
TAB yes// Pokies yes.
Upstairs has undergone a massive transformation. It is gobsmackingly wonderful; a range of function areas, all with different nuances housing a fashion launch to a wedding to a significant sporting event.
Soon enough, a fully functioning micro brewery will be part of the package.
A microcosm of pub-life falls under the ‘Great views from a rooftop bar of Melbourne’ category. The view from Bells looking back at town is outstanding.
Bells remains as popular as ever. What made it so loved was it was an owner/operator run by Billy Bell which meant you formed a relationship with the publican. This is now rarer as the corporatisation of pubs is at full steam, now run by well-intentioned managers but in essence doing their job and heading home.
Thankfully Bells has that hands on owner and hopefully remains that way. Bells Hotel is an integral part of Melbourne’s social tapestry.
FOOD/DRINK
As has always been the case at Bells, the menu remains a beloved hits and memories of all pub staples, reasonably priced and generously served with some popular new chums thrown in.
Entrees number 12, with calamari ($14), chicken wings ($14), sharing the stage with bao buns of pork belly, slaw, kewpie ($16), and cauliflower tacos ($14).
Mains have all the pub favourites also, with the classics such as chicken parma, full whack ($26), cheeseburger ($23), fish and chips ($26) with more upscale plates such as grilled barramundi, asparagus, cherry tomato, romesco ($32), and Bakers Creek pork belly, mash, buttered beans, mustard sauce ($30).
Lion Nathan/Hahn dominate the taps here (no CD on tap, stubby yes) with Super Dry (good), Furphy, James Squire, alongside Byron Bay Lager and Stone and Wood.
Wine list, like the food, treads a familiar path from Treasury Wines, such as Pepperjack, T’Gallant and Koonunga Hill. All good there.
Average prices;
Entrees – $15
Mains – $25 (steaks from $36)
Dessert – $12
Tried was:
- Main: Bangers and mash. $22. Pub staple done well. Three beef snags, thin, long have a good flavour, creamy mash, the onion gravy and peas are always a must. Still surprises me that with rising costs of meat, more pubs don’t have this, rissoles etc, as part of the line up. Good pub grub
- Main: Chilli beef salad. $24. Big mound of striploin with a crunchy Asian slaw, tang from the nam jim, crunch from the shallots and cashews. Again, another solid pub lunch.
- Dessert: Chocolate Mousse, chocolate sauce, whipped cream. You want rich? You want a sweet hit post lunch? Step up to the plate folks, cos here it is!
SUMMARY
And so this is the last pub review on Neil Mitchell’s program after 33 years and it is fitting that it was Bells Hotel, being the first done by me in January 1996 (the segment started in 1991), but more importantly, Bells is an icon of Melbourne.
Accordingly the compare and contrast is appropriate after such a long time.
This pub has been transformed into a multi-storey, multi purpose venue, with function rooms of varying sizes, rooftop beer garden overlooking the Melbourne skyline and a significantly sized independent brewery but months from re-opening.
Proudly, Bells will provide a fully carbon neutral bar – Loggia – the first bar of size under the Commonwealth Climate Active program.
Contrast with the Bells of 1996, when craft beer was made in a bathtub out the back lane, and the upper floor was used to check whether a wet paper facsimile had been received via the Voca Communications machine!
Then an unsteady rickety wooden stairway carried intrepid explorers for a glimpse of a then under-developed Melbourne.
But both eras share a common bond: An on site hands on publican, and Sam has taken the baton from Billy and is a welcome and hospitable host. Everything you expect a pub to be in 2023 is here.
The spirit of a wonderful pub, Bells Hotel, lives on.
Score: N/A