Elbow Room

Visiting Melbourne for a short time and staying in St Kilda has lead me to this little gem. I enjoyed my first meal here so much I came twice more to sample what else they had. The calamari and kangaroo are excellent. So too is the steak and everything else on offer. It has been a long since I have had good service in Australia but the staff at elbow room are great. I’ll be back next time I’m in town.

Had the special risotto and wasn’t disappointed. The atmosphere was great even though it was a very quiet Tuesday night The house sparkling was reasonably priced. The waiter was attentive without being intrusive and the food came at about the right time — not too slow or quickly.

We came here on a Saturday night and the atmosphere was good and it was busy too. Food was average and all our steaks were mixed up! Rare, medium rare, well done… all given to the wrong people. Also, they don’t allow any alterations to menu items! So if you want something taken out or added to a dish… forget about it! :-/

The Elbow room is another of the café/​restaurant/​bars that St Kilda is well known for, located on busy Fitzroy st only a stones’ throw away from the beach. They have one of my favourite al fresco dining areas, under the palm trees and across from the park and the yaght club. The views only add to the dining experience.
I’ve never really seen Elbow room packed — perhaps people dont make it all the way up this end of the strip. Nevertheless, thats better for me because it means I can always get a table fairly quickly!
I loved the St Kilda Beach tea, a tropical cocktail that made me think of white sand beaches and pool boys, rather than trams and back packers. Perfecr for an afternoon escape.
The food here is good, with a large focus on fresh seafood. They also have a vegetarian menu thats worth mentioning –I know that alot of restaurants will offer 1 or 2 vego dishes plus salads, but here they have a decent selection including risotto’s, fajita’s and eggpalnt stacks. I quite enjoyed my seafood paella, which was flavoursome, yet not too fishy.
I think the word needs to spread about this place abit more.

I love Elbow Room! I have been here to eat at least four or five times and have never been disappointed. The atmosphere is really good for a quiet dinner date with a special someone or even to catch up with friends.
The fajita’s are incredible, they are served in a do-​it-​yourself style portion. The meat is lightly marinated and served with tossed vegetables in one dish, then warm tortilla’s in another and little side dishes of avocado, salsa and sour cream. I really cant rate these highly enough being a mexican dish by cuisine these fajita’s are different, they have a unique style and are full of flavour. I have also tried the Warm Calamari Salad which once again differs to how I have usually had calamari cooked, the seafood is grilled and mixed with seasonal veggies in a tomato based, slightly spicy sauce YUM. If your after a tasty drink as well try the St Kilda Beach Tea, it’s a blend of white spirits and pineapple juice, really refreshing and packs a punch of flavour too!

We came on a Sunday night and whilst the rest of the Fitzroy strip was busy with people, Elbow Room was strangely quiet with only one busy table. We pondered why this could be and then decided to be daring and give it a go anyway.
A couple of people ordered the Fajitas which came out on steaming plates (which is always impressive) and looked (and aparently tasted) top notch. I opted for the Surf and Turf and was not disappointed, with a perfectly cooked steak. Another of our group ordered the Houloumi Salad, and apart from it arriving 10 minutes later to our table, it also recieved rave reviews.
This is a modern Australian Resturant with a nice, relaxed feel. I’m still perplexed as to why there was no one in there but maybe thats just a tribute to the number of places you have to choose from when dining in St Kilda.
I wouldn’t write home about the Elbow Room but it definately wouldn’t disappoint.