Public House is bookmarked on Church Street by two other iconic pubs - The unappealingly-grungy Swan Hotel and appealingly-grungy Great Britain Hotel.
With these neighbours, Public House is positively up-market. However, they manage to pull this off without being pretentious. It's subtle, but this can be difficult to achieve. You could say the crowd is similar. Up and coming Richmond types that still appreciate a decent pub vibe.
Public House gets a lot of things right. The almost-brutal concrete decor works really well. The space can be a little dark, but somehow it manages not to be too broody.
While it doesn't appear big, Public House expands over a warren of levels, including a rooftop deck overlooking the trains. This includes a couple of rooms that are available for functions.
They don't have a crazy-massive selection of beers, but they get away from the standard Carlton Brewery staples. You'll get Mountain Goat, Little Creatures on tap here, which is quite welcome. The wine list isn't too bad either. You'll find decent local wines, but also some Pinots from NZ and Tempranillo from Argentina.
The standout feature, however, it the pub meals. During the week they have a few different specials, which are outstanding value - the steak and burger are regulars. I recently went to their $14 steak night, and it could have easily competed with steaks 2-3x times the cost.
A steak and a beer or glass of wine... and you'll have change in your pocket. Not much reason not to give it a try. read more