The Alphabet Dinners: H is for Hotel Lincoln

In The Alphabet Dinners series, I review the cheap restaurants of Melbourne... In alphabetical order.

I was supposed to be meeting some people I didn't know for dinner tonight (long story), but the arrangement fell through.

Finding myself at a loose end, I thought I'd resume my series of reasonably priced restaurant reviews, with subjects taken from The Age Cheap Eats guide.

So this week, H is for Hotel Lincoln, the handiest 'H' listing in the guide on my route back to the city.

Judging from the Web, the Lincoln has been around since the 1850s, which must make it one of Melbourne's oldest pubs still operating in the same location.

Though it's obviously had some remodelling over the years, with an art deco vibe currently about the place. You can get a glimpse of it here:

And here's a shot of the interior - a little dark, but there's a suggestion of deco lines:

There's a fancy gastropub dining room in the back (where the windows bear an image of Abraham Lincoln), but I decided to eat at a table by the window in the atmospheric front bar.

Always alert for interesting beer possibilities, I ordered a pint of something new: Full Steam Pale Lager. The barman said it resembled Corona, and by crikey he was right.

A good refreshing beer, and I later found out it's quite new, brewed by Melbourne's own Thunder Road Brewing Company.

And so to my meal, which was none other than a beef burger served in an upmarket style.

The chips had that fancy venue flaw of being able to be quickly counted on sight (for the record there were 11, though they were chunky and rather good).

There was no skimping with the burger however - tasty, filling, with quality ingredients. There was even a slice of beetroot in there. How Aussie was that?

The Bill: $30.00
The Restaurant: Hotel Lincoln, 91 Cardigan St, Carlton; Ph: 03 9347 4666