EAT > Courthouse Hotel North Melbourne (16/20)

After a rough 3 years the Courthouse Hotel in North Melbourne is back open under new ownership from the team behind Naughtons in Parkville. Seeking to bring the local gastropub back to its heyday with a new menu, wine list and range of beers. The room has a warm refreshed style that is just the kind of place you want to be on a cold winter night by the fire or a hot summer day escaping the heat in a cool bar.

Classic timber panelled walls, cosy leather banquet tables, Thonet bentwood chairs, terazzo stone table tops, smart tiles and lots of artworks.

Back in 2005 and 2006 the Courthouse Hotel was awarded 2 hats from The Age Good Food Guide but in recent times the menu and service has been more fitting to a comfortable local. The new owners including chef Rusty Sturrock have installed a parilla grill and working on delivering a menu that treads a fine line between comfort food and gastropub.

Starters (not entrees) included chicken croquettes with roast garlic, pickled carrot and aioli, delicious ($18) Edamame Hummus with mint, radish, dukkah, and a serve of focaccia, a pleasant dip with the bread ($15) and Tempura Flathead served with harissa aioli and lemon, which was delicious but I would have made it a main course instead ($18).

Mains on offer when we ate there was Beef & Rosemary Pie served with mash. greens and a jus ($30), it was so popular that it was sold out when we came to order at 7.30pm. The market fish was cohiba, served with chips, watercress, lemon and oregano (MP), there was a porterhouse steak (from the grill) served with chips, baby gem lettuce and a peppercorn sauce ($45). There was also mushroom pappardelle with oyster mushrooms, garlic and pecorino ($32) and finally a Leek and Truffle Tart with green beens, cherry tomato and almonds ($29). 

There are a couple of sharing options Coq au Vin with mustard mash and pancetta balsamic onions ($70) and a Mushroom Polenta with parmesan, roast fig and pecorino ($60).

Even thought it is not a huge menu, vegetarian and vegans are catered for and deserts which included a cheese offer, mandarin tart and banana tarte tartin were all enjoyed.

Cocktails were inventive and provided a few interesting twists on the classics.

The wine list had a few good options the Walhalla Riesling from Loosen Barry (a joint venture between Dr Loosen Mosel and Jim Barry Claire Valley) was delicious as was the Woodlands Cabernet (2015) which was drinking perfectly.

The food and service were still going through a few teething issues (they have only been open a couple of weeks) but the room was vey comfortable, it feels like the local you would move suburbs to live near and that to me is very comforting.

NOTE

We have been back a few times to the Courthouse over the last six months and it feels that they have now really started to settle down the service, lift the quality of the food and they have also opened the new dining room upstairs expanding the options. Overall this saw a change in rating for food from 15 to 16/20, it really does feel that the Courthouse keeps getting better.

Originally published in June 2023 and updated in December 2023.