Public House

Nice environment for a drink, highly recommend you DON’T order any food, it is quite simply horrible. The staff came to clear up my meal, that I had hardly touched, without asking if anything was wrong, when I actually mentioned (in a nice way) that I couldn’t actually bring myself to eat it, they just walked away.
I was one of three people in the bar, so it’s not like they were busy.
Absolute shame, this level of service just doesn’t make sense, not at all.

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 décor 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.

We decided to try out Public House in a party of four whilst exploring what Richmond had to offer food-​wise. The place itself gives off some very upmarket vibes and the crowd is somewhat older than typical.
The food menu itself is very adventurous and offers quite an eclectic mix of foods designed for sharing with inspirations coming from Greece, Turkey, Japan, Mexico, USA and Spain amongst other places. Some of the dishes that particular stand out were the Japanese style grilled tuna and the fried whitebait with taramasalata.
The portions are purposely small (as in designed for sharing), but they are very moreish too. You can end up spending quite a lot of money without realising it. They also have bigger offerings in their mains that are between $ 20 and $ 30.
We were served by an American waitress who was really friendly and gave us some good insights as to what she really liked on the menu. Overall I was impressed and would be back fairly often if I lived closer.

Located in Richmond near the corner of Swan and Corner Streets, Public House is a sophisticated establishment (definitely targeting the 30-​somethings) that offers friendly service, good food, and good beer/​wine list.
Polished cement floor with wood tables and what can only be described as Ikea-​like chairs, I do like the modern design of the venue. Although, I’m not a fan of the pieces of carpets framed to look like art. It’s weird. There’s space for both eating and drinking, it is a restaurant that also caters to the just drinking crowd.
We came here for a small bite to eat and drinks before a gig at the Corner Hotel. I wanted to eat at a table service restaurant with good food and wine. Unfortunately, the options nearby the Corner Hotel (no offense establishments near the Corner Hotel) didn’t look that great so off to the Public House, which I had heard about, but forgot from whom.
Serving Mediterranean inspired tapas and mains, the Public House offers small plates around $ 13 and mains around $ 26. We shared a charcuterie plate with terrine, jamon, capicola, bresaola, prosciutto, chorizo, duck liver pâté with housemade bread; chicken quesadilla; dips and quinoa salad. The food was good and it was exactly what I was looking for that evening. With wines around $ 55 and cocktails $ 18, the price can add up here.
Great service and vibe also made the Public House a great experience. I’d come back again.