Stokehouse

we did try to go to the Stokehouse dinner tonight, but we got there and Otis not there anymore!

Bad (Australian) service. Expensive for what it is. Our food took one whole hour to come. The table next to us waited ten minutes. When we complained we were told by the idiot at the front that we should have spoken up earlier –which we did to our waiter who did nothing. Waste of food beach front property. Don’t waste your time/​money.

I booked a table from the U.S. as we were on vacation there for my husbands 50^th birthday. Food and service was superb. View, table and staff were lovely. Will return upon my next visit. If you are American, it is considered very pricey by our standards, however, worth every penny.

This is the quintessential summer place to go for lunch or dinner in Melbourne Apart from the human parade along the beachfront there’s the view, specially in the evening. On the night if our visit (by no means our first, but the first since a makeover of the downstairs area), by good grace, the temperature was in the 20’s and it was calm. Ideal Stokehouse weather. A bottle of your finest Italian Pinot Grigio, please waiter. (delicious, by the way)
Our party included 4 young children (oh, how times have changed!) and 6 more grown up and refined palates. The children were nicely taken care of with kid-​friendly fare. We decided, for simplicity, to go for the set menu. With some misgivings, as the shared entrees in particular did not leap out of the menu screaming «pick me». And the lure of steaks from the a la carte menu was there. Gladly such concerns were laid to rest and expectations were surpassed!
Entrees were delicious and paved the way for the mains of Tuna and Beef short ribs which were excellent. For dessert your correspondent opted for a rhubarb and strawberry concoction, spurning the ice cream sandwich which sounded a bit too child-​like: a mistake as it turned out. The former was bland and uninspiring; the latter a delicious and naughty treat.

Lovely place for lunch and dinner or drinks. Staff is always friendly and warm. The choice of meals is great and the food is delicious. They have done an amazing job with the recent renovation. It is best to go there in summer to watch the world go by and the incredible sunset over the bay.

Laced with roasted prawn oil and fresh seafood, the perfectly al dente spaghettini was the best of the meal. Lamb spit was a bit dry though.
Can’t beat the sunset views from the St Kilda Foreshore.

You can’t wish for a better view that the one from Stokehouse. The tables in the restaurant upstairs are very well organised so that from each and every one you get a breath-​taking view. Food is just as good. Everything is cooked with fresh ingredients and the portions are pretty decent in size. My personal opinion is that it is a bit on the pricey side and not an everyday spot, but never the less worth an occasional visit.

I have been on numerous occasions, because the food is exquisite, and the view with the sunset is lovely.
This time, we — my guests — were let down.
I’d booked two weeks in advance to celebrate a very special birthday. I rang and requested a specific table for a group of 12 colleagues. We wanted this to be a surprise and so requested this particular table due to it having been perfect for a 40^th I had attended previously in the month, people would be arriving at different times before dinner, and the lounge area was particularly appealing. We were told they would do their best. If the table isn’t already taken, why would we not be given it?
A $ 300.00 deposit was paid to secure the booking.
I even rang the day before and the morning, and had the table confirmed.
On the day, I arrived to find that all the tables in the restaurant were shoved to the far end, and the table I’d requested was not the table we were shown to. When we pointed this out to the maitre’d, I don’t think she could have cared less.
There was no apology, a vague justification was given about moving tables away from the kitchen, which is bizarre. Not good enough.
As a result, we were on a table build for 8 people max, crushed in, and surrounded by other people, when there was masses of room at the other end of the room.
It was incredibly disappointing, not only to not be placed where I’d requested, but the poor attitude of the staff marred what was supposed to be a special evening.
The food was faultless.

There was a certain amount of buzz when Leonardo DiCaprio was in Sydney enjoying the company of the local lovely ladies and of course filming The Great Gatsby which is supposed to be a triumph (sic) of Hollywood film-​making. Much like Leo’s visit was highly anticipated in Sydney and like some are looking forward to this movie, I was anticipating the opening of the newly renovated Stokehouse Café on Jacka Boulevard, downstairs from the original Stokehouse, for many long months whilst I watched the construction evolve.
Putting both the «upstairs» and «downstairs» of the Stokehouse in perspective is like pondering the overarching themes in The Great Gatsby. The «Upstairs» formal restaurant at the Stokehouse, like in East Egg in the Gatsby world is the fashionable, high-​status, conservative, old money crowd where characters like Tom and Daisy from the book would be prone to dine. The «downstairs» café, like in the West Egg of the Gatsby world, is less fashionable and less moneyed — «nouveau riche» by definition.
The Stokehouse Café is a great place to «people-​watch» both outside on the St Kilda esplanade if you are one of the fortunate ones to get one of the few tables that are seemingly occupied by the same people for hours at a time drinking their same glass of water, but also inside as it is a virtual rogues gallery of locals, holiday-​makers and desperate housewives to say the least.
When I presented myself to the kiosk with one other and requested a table, we decided to sit at the bar as it gave us some views of Port Phillip Bay which are not commanding when sitting on the floor considering inevitably one person would have their back to the view. It also gave me an opportunity to observe the kitchen which in retrospect was more fascinating compared to the bay and the people roaming around on the esplanade from afar. The kitchen really has their act together and manage a huge amount of orders in short period of time. The food rarely backed up and I observed an attention to detail that is not usually afforded to the customer in a café, however since this one carries the Stokehouse name, I expected nothing less really.
Two cuttlefish skewers with lemon, chilli and parsley ($ 12) were ordered to share as a starter. Given that the kitchen at any given time had around 25 active tickets, I was surprised to see this starter come out in a reasonable time. In fact I was impressed. The cuttlefish was good however I would have liked to have seen more chilli, but that is just a personal preference. Given the high volume of food that this place produces and the heavy seasonal and transient crowd, I am not surprised that the spice factor is kept very low.
For the mains, for the lack of a better word, but I would refer to them as a continuation, a chilli dog — made of spicy pork sausage, manchego, and jalapeño mayonnaise ($ 8) was ordered along with the «special» Rangers valley rump steak «from the pit» with chermoula ($ 28) along with a side of a reasonably priced ($ 8) Sicilian potato salad. I simply tasted the jalapeño mayonnaise and found it both creamy with once again not much heat, but I was told that it complimented the sausage well. I was surprised to see a chermoula complimenting a rump steak from their «pit» as the flavour of the Moroccan paste overwhelmed the flavours that the fire pit would have given the steak. As a bonus, you do receive a fair amount of steak, in my case, three pieces however my preference would for the café to increase the quality of the steak and decrease the portion size.
A chocolate, peanut butter and jelly ice cream sandwich ($ 10) along with a baked cherry cheesecake ($ 9) finished us off. Good summer desserts. The staff were very attentive and were always happy to provide drink refills without being asked. Given the high volume of people, there is well proportioned amount of staff, all of them very busy and professional.
The Stokehouse Café is not meant to be a fine dining location. It is supposed to be a casual place to dine, relax, meet friends and have simple yet decent food. Besides the steak, I did not find the portion sizes huge but what you do not get in quantity, you are compensated with quality. This is beach-​front dining on the St Kilda esplanade and not Qualia on Hamilton Island so you are going to see tourists with prams, people wandering in with their shirt off and in different states of undress and all sorts of nonsense that you would never see upstairs, but does that matter? If you keep your perspective, a good time will be had and your will enjoy yourself like I did.

My favourite all time Melbourne restaurant! There is nothing better than lunch or dinner on the deck on a beautiful summers day.
Location is great, service is excellent & the food is always of a very high quality. The Bombe Alaska for desert is a must have.

The Stokehouse is one of the best lunch venues in Melbourne with fabulous sea views. The restaurant has reasonably priced menu and friendly staff.

Stokehouse on the St Kilda foreshore has been a long time favourite of MoMo & Coco and our family. With a frontage exuding a converted beach house character, the airy, informal downstairs dining area is furnished in simple monochrome lines. Tables are arranged to allow patrons to take in the best of the sea views, and there are also lounges to cater for those who prefer a lazy cocktail twilight hour. Long floor-​to-​ceiling glass windows overlook a terraced outdoor seating area and the St Kilda beach. It’s picture-​perfect during day, afternoon and night.
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We might be lynched for saying this by some Melbournites, but MoMo & Coco are of the good opinion that WA has far better beaches than Victoria. If WA has the fabulous Indiana on Cottesloe beach, then we have the equally fabulous Stokehouse on St Kilda beach. Casual, but thoughtfully-​prepared food of good portions, reasonable prices, appealing simplicity. Lovely service whether you dine as a couple, group, elderly, young, family. Especially perfect for your summer pilgrimage to the beach and/​or while viewing beautiful sunsets at any other time of the year. It’s no wonder that Stokehouse has long been Melbourne dining institution. and a MoMo & Coco favourite.

Loved this place. I joined a couple of friends while staying at their place in Melbourne. We were promptly greeted and shown to our table. I felt like the staff knew me there but that is partly as the staff was familiar with my good friends.
I had the scallops as an appetizer and then the tuna for dinner. Lincoln made some margaritas to kill for! I actually drank 3 (which is atypical for me).
If you are visiting Melbourne and want a somehwat upscale experience in the evening, head upstairs and get a reservation here! You will NOT be disappointed as I saw others who ordered different items and all were satisfied! Absolutely delicious and even nice if you live in Melbourne and want to enjoy that «special someone» or enjoy in an amazing dinner! I loved it! :)

There’s not much that could beat the decadence of sitting on the upstairs balcony of Stokehouse, drinking Champagne as the sun goes down. It’s certainly special occasion type territory but boy is it worth the pretty pennies you will spend on the experience.
Despite feeling like you’re all alone on the balcony with the staff fussing over tables inside, you can be sure that your glass won’t stay empty for long and that a good looking waiter will be out to top you up before you know it. So good is the service I’m convinced they have a security camera out there with some kind of alarm that sounds when your bubbles get dangerously low in your glass…
If I wanted to wow the pants off someone, I’d seriously consider doing it here with the sound of the ocean as my backdrop.

Upstairs is great. great setting /​food good wine selection excellent. great staff.

Dinner at the Stokehouse is more about the view than anything else. While by day St Kilda Beach may seem a little on the scungy side, from twilight onwards it somehow transforms into a thing of beauty. Needless to say, situated right on the beach, Stokehouse is privy to a pretty special view. Even the wasted backpackers drinking heavily on the foreshore can’t ruin it, it’s truly lovely.

Stokehouse is one of those Melbourne establishments that anyone who’s anyone has been to at least once. True, it’s a lovely restaurant. Being quite literally on the beach, it’s pretty hard to beat the location. In my experience though, it’s never been a place that makes me have warm fuzzy thoughts over the memories.
I can’t think of much wrong with it, but equally there wasn’t anything except the view that I really loved about it.
All that said, it’s certainly worth a visit — provided you have the cash to spare. For my money though, I’d spend it elsewhere.

Dinner at St KIlda’s Stokehouse is pretty much a once-​a-​year occasion for me due to the price, but trust me, it’s worth it– and I’m not one for spending a lot on dining out.
The Stokehouse is two storeys, with a «beach bar and grill» below and a formal restaurant above, which features the most delightful beachy décor and a balcony overlooking the water. It is one of the few excellent places I have been in Melbourne that isn’t incredibly urban in it’s décor, ambience and location.
The food here is remarkable and probably the best I have had in Melbourne. The wait staff are great and really go out of their way to accommodate every request, no matter how demanding members of your party may be.
I can highly recommend the wagyu, walnut and apple salad as entrée, and for main one of my favourites is the whole-​rock flathead.
I don’t think there is a better place to enjoy a summer sunset than with a glass of Prosecco in hand, standing on the balcony at the Stokehouse.

Downstairs tanzt der Bär, Upstairs im quintessential Australian restaurant geht’s gediegener zu und her. Das Essen und die Aussicht sind absolut atemberaubend. Das Stokehouse hat den Sprung auf meine ewigen Top 10 sofort geschafft.

With an award-​winning restaurant upstairs that caters to those interested in spending a lot of money for an exquisite meal, the Stokehouse is a great venue to take someone who really values quality cuisine. Downstairs, however, is a gem with a pizza menu that is both varied and reasonably priced, however, as the weekends attract an extremely pretentious crowd it is often worth visiting during the week and avoiding otherwise. That said the views from either section of the Stokehouse are some of the best in Melbourne, second only to those of the far grungier ‘Espy’.