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Venue: The Local Taphouse

Location: 184 Carlisle Street, St Kilda East

Date: Sunday October 8th, 2023

Website: https://thelocal.com.au/

Reviewers: Stephen, Olivia, Tom, Chris

Confucius once said “Roads were made for journeys, not destinations”. I’m not too sure about that myself, as the journey from Frankston up to St Kida East was pretty unremarkable, but the destination of The Local Taphouse was one that we well looking forward to, to enjoy reviewer Tom’s 40th!

The Local Taphouse is a really cool venue which we’ve been to a few times over the years and used to feature my personal favourite Parma. The venue features a downstairs bar where they host trivia and stand up events, but is also a cool spot to sit on a couch and take in a really vibrant and robust atmosphere. Upstairs features another bar with an outside beer garden with a retractable roof when dicey weather is around.  A kitchen and a narrow corridor leading you down to an intimate dining area. Dark wood, retro style picture frames through out and a real rustic feel to the venue with a rotating tap. One could walk in here on a Friday evening and not return until Sunday night and it would make total sense.

The place was quite busy on this Sunday evening, however on arrival we headed upstairs to check in at the bar where we were then lead down the narrow hallway to our seats. Really nice relaxed atmosphere and staff were prompt in taking orders. While we waited on reviewer Tom to arrive we ordered some warm bread and drinks as well.  As one would expect from the name, there are plenty of beers on offer. The day before they had actually had an Oktoberfest event, so the list was dominated by Hefeweizen, Dunkel and Witibier options. Too many to pick from so I opted for a tasting paddle. Would have loved a Stout or Porter option, but I understand given the event they had the night before. Before too long however reviewer Tom arrived, so we were able to order and await what I remember (pre COVID days) as being my favourite Parma.

Upon hitting the table the Parma looked good. Maybe a little on the smaller side, but it was a nice golden brown with good cheese and sauce coverage, thick steak (to almost wedge) style chips and a lush green salad which looked lacking on some items (similar to Hotel Collingwood).

The Parma was cooked well and was pipping hot. It had a real thick, rich Napoli sauce which dominated the flavours and a nicely cooked and evenly distributed cheese. The issue it had however was the rich, vibrant Napoli sauce. I mean it was good, but there was so much of it, it was hard to get anything else. I had to double check to make sure there was ham there (which there was), and while the cheese was nice and well distributed, the sauce was still the main thing I got the whole way through.

The chips we were mainly a fan of. Well cooked, fluffy on the inside while still being thick and a plentiful amount. The only problem we had with them, which was reviewer Ollie’s big gripe with the whole meal, was a lack of seasoning. It wasn’t criminally under seasoned (IMO anyway), but it certainly held them back from being a home run.

The salad was very interesting. It did hold some similarities with the salad from Hotel Collingwood in that it was essentially just lettuce and dressing, however the simplicity of what Hotel Collingwood did with their lettuce and Honey Mustard dressing, just didn’t quite work as well here. The Local Taphouse salad was lettuce and a vinaigrette, however the flavours just didn’t quite compliment the meal as well as what the last venue did, which left it to just feel like a salad that lacked much variety.

Upon everyone finishing their meals, another round of drinks were ordered (Marzen from Bridge Rd Brewery for myself) while we took in our surroundings one last time, and drew the following conclusions of our experience (Dejavu);

Olivia: I think this Parma fits comfortably in the middle ground.

Tom: Good drink options. But they could have gone with a dark ale.

Chris: Feel free to use creative writing because I’m drunk.

The Scores:

PARMA: 7.28/10

CHIPS: 7.13/10

DRINKS: 8.45/10

ATMOSPHERE/EXPERIENCE: 8.88/10

SALAD: 5.75/10

OVERALL: 7.43/10

As the above scores suggest, this is a great venue to come and grab a drink and take in the surroundings, whether you want to take in trivia, watch stand up, grab a meal or sit out in the beer garden while enjoying a paddle. And if you grab yourself the Parma you’ll get yourself a good meal that is strong value for money. I’ll certainly be back, as even though the Parma itself has fallen down my pecking order a little, the venue is still a favourite.

Till next time.