From a derelict shell to a vibrant local with plenty of personality, The George is a welcoming example of how a pub can glow-up a neighbourhood.
Urban planners are always seeking the secret sauce that makes a suburb vibrant and appealing. They could do worse than study South Melbourne, with its lively produce market, walkable streets, bike lanes and trams. All important, for sure, but could the fairy dust be its refashioned pubs?
The George is a classic Victorian corner hotel, diagonally opposite South Melbourne Market. When publican Scott Connolly took over, it had been closed for two years, there was no floor and the walls were dodgy. Now it’s a spruce, welcoming example of how a pub can glow-up a neighbourhood. If you’re still thinking pubs are places where gruff old-timers turn heads in unison when a newbie dares to enter, you need to sidle in here to have your preconceptions dismantled.
The colourful front bar is immediately appealing. Red girders frame a long counter overhung with tanks of brewery-fresh Carlton Draught (quenching, but I also like the bright, tart house lager). The original reno design specified tartan carpet but it was expensive and would have taken months to ship. As so often happens, a decision driven by budget and timeline leads to a better result. Carpet tiles in a range of jaunty colours were used instead: they’re hard-wearing and cheery, nodding to old-timey pub colour palettes.
There’s lots of natural light in the bar, the rear dining room has a fireplace and rustic brick finishes, and spillover tables lead to a courtyard that’s going to be a haven as the seasons turn. Partying soon? There are function spaces upstairs.
Pubs can look similar from the outside but every postcode, even every street corner, needs its own version of the template.
The menu is a happy jumble of pub standards and bistro extras. The slow-roasted lamb shoulder, barramundi curry and seafood spaghetti are all decent: you can see the care, but it’s a good feed rather than finessed, which is fine for the setting and the price.
Crowd-pleasing small dishes include croquette-shaped prawn toasts, the ubiquitous burrata, here strewn with chilli crisps, and a gin-cured salmon starter which looks pretty and is easy to share.
Bone-in chicken parmigiana has the heroic appearance of a cotoletta or a tomahawk steak while still smashing all the flavour and texture necessities: it’s a win, especially on Wednesdays when a parma and pot is $26.
Most mains are served with crinkle-cut chips, always enjoyable for their crunch-to-spud ratio. One of the best dishes was a purple cabbage slaw, fresh, creamy and well-seasoned. Head chef Mina Tomas will bring in more flavours and ideas from his Egyptian heritage as the menu looks to spring.
A roast cauliflower dish with preserved lemon and almond cream is part of a push to improve the vegetarian offerings, which on my visit were restricted to a not-that-special mushroom lasagne.
Owner Scott Connolly has pubs in the blood, dating back to his great-grandmother, who ran a pub with his grandpa in Jamieson, a woodsy bit of the High Country, way back in the 1940s. Family legend has it that his dad was born upstairs at West Melbourne’s Three Crowns, also run by relatives, “though there might be a bit of mustard on that tale,” Connolly tells me.
As an aspiring actor, Connolly became adept at pulling beers before falling seriously into the game himself. His first foray as publican was in Gippsland’s Moe, and he’s now a part-owner of Orrong Hotel, Healesville Hotel and handles the food at the East Malvern RSL, as well as fetching up at The George.
Pubs can look similar from the outside but every postcode, even every street corner, needs its own version of the template. Connolly is first to admit that his new place will get even better as the crew embeds itself in the area and works out where the gaps are. That’s the beauty and the puzzle of pubs, perhaps best contemplated over a pot at The George’s friendly front bar.
Three other spots to try in and around South Melbourne
Pizzateca Lupa
It’s always worth watching what’s popping up at dynamic South Melbourne Market. New on the south-eastern corner is this smart, bright Roman pizzeria. Come for square slices and round “tonda” with extremely thin, crisp crusts and toppings such as the Aeolian, with anchovies, capers, olives and Sicilian oregano. The place is licensed and I have strong springtime visions of myself sitting here with a spritz watching the world go by.
South Melbourne Market, 116 Cecil Street, South Melbourne, pizzatecalupa.com.au
Dulce Bakehouse
The South American bakery that is the hit of the western suburbs has a new outlet on the southern edge of the CBD. Sharing space with Tribu coffee roasters, this corner cafe-bakery is your new southside spot for empanadas, Uruguayan sweet-savoury jesuita puff pastry sandwiches, and vanilla slices laced with dulce de leche.
109 Clarendon Street, Southbank, dulcebakehouse.com.au
Pirate Life
You’ll never stumble on this warehouse gem but it’s worth seeking out for wood-grilled food wins and banging beers to match. Great value lunches include $22 taco bowls and fried chicken sandos. Later on, order a bunch of veg and meat trays and maybe a steak to share. Highlights include sugarloaf cabbage with whipped sesame and lamb chops with tzatziki.
45 Market Street, South Melbourne, piratelife.com.au
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