The Hole in the Wall

Melbourne suburbs hide some quaint little meeting spots and the Cricketers? Arms in Port Melbourne?s Cruikshank Street is certainly one of them. The taxi driver didn?t know where it was. The Spouse offered to direct him but wasn?t much help either, thanks to a couple of one-way streets. However, a nice clear sign suddenly appeared in the headlights, pointing the way.

The place was fairly buzzing when we arrived to meet a friend around 6pm on Saturday night. It?s one of those places where you half expect to get a few meaningful looks if you dare take up a regular patron?s particular possie. However, one cheery drinker pointed out a free table.

We?ve been there before with friends and found it a convivial place. On Saturday a welcoming log fire was burning at one end of the bar and attention seemed to be focused on the racing channel. Just as quickly as the horses ran away with people?s money, many of the drinkers moved out to another area to eat.

The pub is known as ?The Hole in the Wall?, a name that dates back to the suburb?s true port days when imbibing sailors would escape through a hole in the back wall to avoid MPs or the local constabulary when they raided the place.

These days, in addition to the public bar, the pub sports an attractive dining room with a couple of gas fireplaces, a lounge-like back bar with more dining tables, and a beer garden. I'm told this is also a great place for lunch.

The lounge dining was fully booked but we secured seats in the dining room and browsed the menu.



There are no pretensions about it but it?s well thought-out pub food. There are starters ranging from oysters through dips, antipasto plate, calamari, mussels, prawns, melts. There were also bowls of chips and assorted breads.

I managed to bag the last half dozen oysters in the house ($12) - yes, soldiering on in spite of last Monday's gluttonous oyster frenzy... The Spouse had the calamari ($16) and our friend dived into a succulent bowl of mussels ($16) and a chunk of bread. I often wonder how many sacks of salt are sacrificed daily to hold oysters in the shell.

When it came to a main course,we women couldn?t go past the pizzas and opted for the prawn option ? a nice crisp base with garlic, a touch of chilli, red onion, tomato and cheese. And very modestly priced at $13. There were six other pizza options available. We all passed on the half dozen pasta/risotto options and The Spouse chose a steak and mushroom shepherd?s pie which came with salad and bread - $17.

Other mains included chicken Parmigiana, BLT, steak sandwich, burgers (rockling or chicken), fish and chips, porterhouse steak, eye fillet, chicken breast and kangaroo salad ? several under $20 and the most expensive (the fillet) $32. All came with real sides includuded. There were also some individual salads on offer - Greek, Caesar, that sort of thing.

Fortunately there was still space left for my nicely boozy tiramisu and their warm apple crumbles ($12).

Unpretentious but all nicely presented. Our fellow diners included kids and parents but there was something for everyone on the menu and we certainly didn?t have any leftovers.

A nightcap at the bar while we watched his Richmond Tigers actually win a game for a change and we were well fortified for a leisurely stroll home through the crisp calm night. Curiously, the journey home was quite a bit shorter than the journey there. Funny, that?