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The Renaissance of The Great Australian Pub Counter Meal, with Chef Paul Wilson. Melbourne, Victoria. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

The Renaissance of The Great Australian Pub Counter Meal

The great Australian pub counter meal has undergone a significant transformation since we left Australia in the late 1990s. Last week we chatted to Chef Paul Wilson, one of the culinary forces responsible for its recent renaissance in Melbourne.

Counter meals – while being something we Aussies inherited from our British ancestors – are nevertheless quintessentially Australian. We both grew up with pub counter meals. When our parents didn’t feel like cooking and didn’t want restaurant food, we’d head to the local pub for a counter meal.

When Lara and I later did long outback trips in four-wheel-drives while writing guidebooks, we survived on evening counter meals at country pubs. Our most vivid memories, however, are of steaks too tough to chew through, dry overcooked roasts cloaked in cloying gravy, and watery vegetables that had clearly been living in a freezer rather than the earth for a few months.

So what is a counter meal? Traditionally, it was a feed of cheese and bread offered to customers in Aussie pubs during the gold-rush era of the 1860s. Being free, it was a way of bringing clients to the hotel and giving them some sustenance while drinking, as well as a gesture intended to attract travellers passing through.

As pubs battled with each other by doing increasingly elaborate spreads, it transformed from being a free meal to one that was affordable. Although the counter meal disappeared by the 1920s, it was revived during the Great Depression which began in 1929, in the form of hearty fare such as ‘bangers and mash’.

The Renaissance of The Great Australian Pub Counter Meal, with Chef Paul Wilson. Melbourne, Victoria. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Ever since, counter meals have followed fashion, just like café food. After a couple of decades of everything from ‘surf ‘n’ turf’ and Asian stir-fries to salt and pepper calamari and anything with wedges, sour cream and sweet chilli sauce being served up, there’s been a return to some of the great Australian pub counter meal classics such as succulent roasts and hearty meat pies. But now they’re made with fresh, local, seasonal Australian produce, and an attitude that celebrates homely classics rather than over-thinking and deconstructing dishes into less satisfying pastiches.

Chef Paul Wilson’s The Melbourne Pub Group, which owns The Middle Park Hotel, The Albert Park Hotel, The Newmarket, and The Prince, has been central to the revival of local pubs, from venues where you only eat out of desperation to places where you want to leisurely spend a day or night, eating and drinking with family or friends. The Middle Park Hotel’s delicious counter meals and popular Sunday lunch virtually erased our childhood memories of bad pub counter meals.

It must be said, however, that while the Melbourne Pub Group’s stylish refurbishments and new menus might appeal to us, they have not met universal praise (check the comments on this story in The Age). Some locals lament the loss of sticky beer-soaked carpets and shitty schnitzel, while the Group’s recent take-over of The Prince hotel has St Kilda locals and music fans worried about the future of the iconic band room and the front bar. We chatted to Chef Paul Wilson in the light-filled new Circa restaurant at The Prince.

For more interviews with locals from Melbourne and beyond see our Local Knowledge series of interviews with local experts and insiders from around the world.

Interview with Chef Paul Wilson on the great Australian pub counter meal

Q. Were counter meals part of your early life? Did you have nostalgic reasons for embarking upon a counter meal crusade?

A. As a child in England the family would go on a mission to find a good pub lunch. Being a Melburnian – a new one, a pom arriving in Melbourne – I certainly recognized there was a gap in the market for a good pub lunch and it was like the ambition for The Melbourne Pub Group. Melbourne had great cafes, great fine dining restaurants, great wine culture, but it didn’t have a great pub culture really. It had a couple of great venues, but not many. We really wanted to rebrand pubs in Australia, so we started with the food, taking an old favourite (the counter meal) and giving it some importance and good produce, but still making it like feel like it’s a pub meal and has a sense of place – it’s familiar and affordable.

Q. Historically, the counter meal served to feed the often single, working class man after work who wanted to sit at the bar and have a meal.

A. It’s still much the same really. With the Middle Park Hotel we moulded it on an old travellers rest, a place you stopped on a way to a destination or on your way home where you could eat and drink well – and affordably – and sit on your own and have a good experience. We wanted to create two price points in the same way that the airlines have economy and business class. We wanted to do that too, so eating at the Middle Park could be three or four days a week or could be a special occasion.

Q. The Middle Park Hotel seems to typify the new breed of pub, feeling both traditional and modern.

A. With the Middle Park Hotel, we never really knew where the food would take the business. It was set up to be a beverage business, as you can tell by the size of the bars compared to the size of the restaurant, and the food was a secondary to the drinking. The drinking side of it didn’t really take off as we hoped but the food did. I think it was the quality of the food and the honesty of the food that really resonated with people at the time.

Q. We had Sunday Lunch at the Middle Park and it was great to see families sharing Sunday roasts around a table like they would at home.

A. Sunday Lunch is such a European, British and Aussie tradition and it works well for this venue. It was set up to be that offering – the classic pub cornerstones – and give them a makeover without changing their charm. The weekend roasts were a way for us to buy large volumes of rare-breed meat and put on a good quality weekend lunch at a really good price.

Q. What makes for a brilliant counter meal? And does the bloke who pops in after work care about seasonality or the breed of pig you use?

A. Well it’s very diverse and the menu reflects that. There’s comfort food on there. We do a terrific chicken schnitzel and we do fantastic fish and chips and a good shepherd’s pie. We also do a rare-breed roast, so it’s got something for everyone. And whoever you are it just makes you feel better, so it’s a feel-good thing. We’re in the pleasure business — our aim is to make people feel a lot better about their day, have a good meal for under $20, and a nice drink — everyone deserves that little bit of luxury after a hard day at work. It’s what we try to do at all our venues really, and the Middle Park’s strength is that it’s comforting, very friendly, very homely.

Q. If your last meal was a counter meal, what would it be?

A. A pie – pies are fantastic! I wanted to do an Aussie classic, a pot belly pie was researched to be a real iconic Melbourne dish from years ago, and we wanted this to be a signature at Middle Park.

The Middle Park Hotel

102 Canterbury Road, Middle Park
www.middleparkhotel.com.au

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About Terence Carter

Terence Carter is an editorial food and travel photographer and infrequent travel writer with a love of photographing people, places and plates of food. After living in the Middle East for a dozen years, he settled in South-East Asia a dozen years ago with his wife, travel and food writer and sometime magazine editor Lara Dunston.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Changes In Longitude says

    April 5, 2012 at 10:44 pm

    We love eating at the counter. You’ve really captured the essence of this fun way to enjoy a meal.

    Cheers!

    Larissa and Michael

  2. Carina says

    April 7, 2012 at 7:10 pm

    It’s so refreshing to read a positive piece about Australia and one that makes me miss the small things like a pub lunch.

  3. Lara Dunston says

    April 19, 2012 at 12:36 pm

    Totally agree! Especially when you’re in outback/country pubs in Australia – everyone sits at the bar eating, drinking, and chin-wagging to the barman, so you get to meet all the local characters. Great fun!

    Thanks for dropping by, you two :)

  4. Lara Dunston says

    April 19, 2012 at 12:39 pm

    Thanks Carina, but does that mean you’ve only read negative pieces? There’ll be lots more where that one came from, so do visit again. Thanks for stopping by!

  5. Keith Kellett says

    June 13, 2015 at 2:38 pm

    I will never forget my first counter meal. (1962, I think). I had a steak … and I remember the barman’s look of disbelief when he asked how many eggs I wanted with it, and I said ‘Just one!’

  6. Lara Dunston says

    June 21, 2015 at 2:16 pm

    I love it that you remember the year of your first counter meal, Keith :) I assume that was in the Australia outback where a couple of eggs and a mountain of steaks, sausages, mash/fries, and veg is the norm.

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Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check o Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check out our seafood recipe collection, especially if you celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve with a fish focused meal in the Southern Italian tradition, transformed by Italian-Americans into the Feast of the Seven Fishes, or like Australians, who celebrate Christmas in the sweltering summer, feast on seafood for Christmas Day lunch, we’ve got lots of easy seafood recipes for you.

Our recipes include a classic prawn cocktail, blini with smoked salmon, a ceviche-style appetiser, and devilled eggs with caviar. We’ve also got recipes for fish soup, seafood pies and pastas, salmon tray bake, and crispy salmon with creamy mashed potatoes.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/seafood-recipes-for-christmas-eve-and-christmas-day-menus/
(Link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas if you’re celebrating!! 

#christmas #christmasfood #seafood #fish #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #grantourismo #grantourismotravels #xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you’re still looking for food inspo for Chris If you’re still looking for food inspo for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day meals, my smoked salmon ‘carpaccio’ recipe is one of dozens of recipes in this compilation of our best Christmas recipes (link below). 

The Christmas recipe compilation includes collections of our best Christmas breakfast recipes, best Christmas brunch recipes, best Christmas starter recipes, best Christmas cocktails, best Christmas dessert recipes, and homemade edible Christmas gifts and more.

My smoked salmon carpaccio recipe makes an easy elegant appetiser that’s made in minutes. If you’re having guests over, you can make the dish ahead by assembling the salmon, capers and pickled onions, and refrigerate it, then pour on the dressing just before serving. 

Provide toasted baguette slices and bowls of additional capers, pickles and dressing, so guests can customise their carpaccio. And open the bubbly!

You’ll find that recipe and many more Christmas recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/best-christmas-recipes/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas!! X

#christmas #christmasfood #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #salmon #smokedsalmon #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels 
#xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I sh If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I shared a collection of recipes for homemade edible Christmas gifts — for condiments, hot sauces, chilli oils, a whole array of pickles, spice blends, chilli salt, furakake seasoning, and spicy snacks, such as our Cambodian and Vietnamese roasted peanuts. 

I love giving homemade edibles as gifts as much as I love receiving them. Who wouldn’t appreciate jars filled with their favourite chilli oils, hot sauces, piquant pickles, and spicy peanuts that loved-ones have taken the time to make? 

Aside from the gesture and affordability of gifting homemade edibles, you’re minimising waste. You can use recycled jars or if buying new mason jars or clip-top Kilner jars, you know they’ll get repurposed.

No need for wrapping, just attach some Christmas baubles or tinsel to the lid. I used squares of Cambodian kramas (cotton scarves), which can be repurposed as napkins or drink coasters, and tied a ribbon or two around the lids, and attached last year’s Christmas tree decorations to some.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/homemade-edible-christmas-gifts/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Yes, that’s Pepper... every time there’s a camera around... 

#christmasgiftideas #ediblegifts ##christmasfoodgifts #foodgifts #giftideas #homemadegifts #christmasfood #ediblegiftideas #hotsauce #chillisauce #sriracha #pickles #homemadepickles #recipes #foodstagram #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood 
#blackcat #blackcatsofinstagram #picoftheday 
#christmas #christmastree #xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas #cambodia #siemreap
This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’ This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’s perfect if you’re just back from the fish markets armed with luxurious fresh crab meat. It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, and very, very moreish.

Our crab omelette recipe was one of our 22 most popular egg recipes of 2022 on our website Grantourismo and it’s no surprise. It’s appeared more times than any other egg recipes on our annual round-ups of most popular recipes since Terence launched Weekend Eggs when we launched Grantourismo in 2010.

If you’re an eggs lover, do check out the recipe collection. It includes egg recipes from right around the world, from recipes for classic kopitiam eggs from Singapore and Malaysia and egg curries from India and Myanmar to all kinds of egg recipes from Thailand, Japan, Korea, China, Mexico, USA, Australia, UK, and Ireland.

And do browse our Weekend Eggs archives for further eggspiration (sorry). We have hundreds of egg recipes from the 13 year-old series of recipes for quintessential egg dishes from around the world, which we started on our 2010 year-long global grand tour focused on slow, local and experiential travel. 

We’re hoping 2023 will be the year we can finally publish the Weekend Eggs cookbook we’ve talked about for years based on that series. After we can find a publisher for the Cambodia cookbook of course... :( 

Recipe collection here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio):
https://grantourismotravels.com/22-most-popular-egg-recipes-of-2022-from-weekend-eggs/

If you cook the recipe and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either in the comments at the end of the recipe or share a pic with us here.

#recipe #recipes #eggs #eggslover #breakfasteggs #WeekendEggs #egg #breakfast #brunch #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood  #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #lookingforapublisher #writingacookbook  #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angko I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angkor Archaeological Park, home to stupendous Angkor Wat, pictured, celebrated 30 years of its UNESCO World Heritage listing. 

That’s as good an excuse as any to put this magnificent, sprawling archaeological site on your travel list this year.

While riverside Siem Reap, your base for exploring Angkor is bustling once more, there are still nowhere near the visitors of the last busy high season months of December-January 2018-2019 when there were 290,000 visitors. 

Last month there were just 55,000 visitors and December feels a little quieter. A tour guide friend said there were about 150 people at Angkor Wat for sunrise a few days ago.

If you’re looking for tips to visiting Angkor, Siem Reap and Cambodia, just ask us a question in the comments below or check Grantourismo as we’ve got loads of info on our site. Click through to the link in the bio and explore our Cambodia guide or search for ‘Angkor’. 

And please do let us know if you’re coming to Siem Reap. We’d love to see you here x

#siemreap #cambodia #asia #travel #instatravel #traveldeeper #slowtravel #localtravel #experientialtravel #exploremore #neverstopexploring #goexplore #igtravel #angkorwat #angkor #temple #temples #angkorwithoutcrowds #unesco #unescoworldheritagesite #unescoworldheritage #archaeology #archaeologicalsite #traveladdict #beautifuldestinations #beautifulplaces #travelgram #wanderlust #picoftheday📷 #grantourismotravels.
Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky, flavourful and succulent chicken thighs that are fantastic with steamed rice, Chinese greens or a salad, such as a Southeast Asian slaw. 

The chicken can be marinated for up to 24 hours before cooking, which ensures it’s packed with flavour, then it can be cooked on a barbecue or in a pan.

Terence’s soy ginger chicken recipe is one of our favourite recipes for a quick and easy meal. I love the sound of the sizzling thighs in the pan, and the warming aromas wafting through the apartment. 

It’s amazing how such flavourful juicy chicken thighs come from such a quick and easy recipe.

Recipe here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio): https://grantourismotravels.com/soy-ginger-chicken-recipe/

If you cook it and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either here or in the comments at the end of the recipe on the site or share a pic with us x 

#recipe #recipes #chicken #soygingerchicken #asianfood #southeastasianfood #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #cookingtime #recipe #recipes #comfortfood #foodblog #food #foodstagram #healthyfood #instafood #healthy #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re mak Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re making with my market haul from Psar Samaki in Siem Reap — all for a whopping 10,000 riel (US$2.50)?! 

Birds-eye chillies thrown in for free! They were on my list but the seller I spent most at (5,000 riel!) scooped up a handful and slipped them into my bag. She was my last stop and knew what I was making.

My Khmer is poor, even after all our years in Cambodia, as I don’t learn languages with the ease I did in my 20s, plus I’m mentally exhausted after researching and writing all day. I have a better vocabulary of Old and Middle Khmer than modern Khmer from studying the ancient inscriptions for the Cambodian culinary history component of our cookbook I’m writing.

So when one seller totalled my purchases I thought she said 5,000 riel but she handed back 4,500 riel! The sum total of two huge bunches of herbs and kaffir lime leaves was 500 riel.

Tip: if visiting Siem Reap, use Khmer riel for local shopping. We’ve mainly used riel since the pandemic started— rarely use US$ now as market sellers quote prices in riels, as do local shops and bakeries, and I tip tuk tuk drivers in riels. I find prices quoted in riels are lower.

Psar Samaki is cheaper than Psar Leu, which is cheaper than Psar Chas, as it’s a wholesale market, which means the produce is fresher. I see veggies arriving, piled high in the back of vehicles, with dirt still on them — as I did on this trip. 

The scent of a mountain of incredibly aromatic pineapples offloaded from the back of a dusty ute was so heady they smelt like they’d just been cut. More exotic European style veggies arrive by big trucks in boxes labelled in Vietnamese (from Dalat) and Mandarin (from China), such as beautiful snow-white cauliflower I spotted.

Note: the freshest produce is sold on the dirt road at the back of the market.

#cambodia #siemreap #foodwriter #foodblogger #foodphotography #igfood #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #instadaily #picoftheday #market #siemreapmarket #psarsamaki #marketfresh #vegetables #healthyfood #marketshopping #traveltips #foodtravel #culinarytravel #localtravel #cooking #cookingtime #curry #homemade #currypaste #grantourismotravels
My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recip My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recipe makes tender meatballs doused in a delightfully tangy-sweet sauce, sprinkled with crispy fried shallots, with carrot-daikon, crunchy cucumber and fragrant herbs. 

The dish is inspired by bún chả, a Hanoi specialty, but it’s not bún chả. No matter what Google or food bloggers tell you. Names are important, especially when cooking and writing about cuisines not our own.

This is an authentic bún chả recipe:  https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-bun-cha-recipe/ You’ll need to get the outdoor BBQ/grill going to do proper smoky bún chả meat patties (not meatballs).

My meatball noodle bowl is perhaps more closely related to dishes such as a Central Vietnam cousin bún thịt nướng (pork skewers on rice noodles in a bowl) and a Southern relation bún bò Nam Bộ (beef atop rice noodles, sprinkled with fried shallots (Nam Bộ=Southern Vietnam) though neither include meatballs. 

Xíu mại= meatballs although they’re different in flavour to mine, which taste more like bún chả patties. Xíu mại remind me of Southern Italian meatballs in tomato sauce.

In Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, home to millions of Khmer, there’s bánh tằm xíu mại. Bánh tằm=silk worm noodles. They’re topped with meatballs, cucumber, daikon, carrot, fresh herbs, crispy fried onions. Difference: cold noodles doused in a sauce of coconut cream and fish sauce. 

Remove the meatballs, add chopped fried spring rolls and it’s Cambodia’s banh sung, which is a rice noodle salad similar to Vietnam’s bún chả giò :) 

Recipe here: (link in bio) https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-meatballs-and-rice-noodles-recipe/

For more on these culinary connections you’ll have to wait for our Cambodian cookbook and culinary history. In a hurry to know? Come support the project on Patreon. (link in bio)

#recipe #recipes #vietnamesefood #cambodianfood #asianfood #southeastasianfood #ricenoodles #rice #noodlebowl #meatballs #igfood #igfoodie #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood  #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #writingacookbook #writingacambodiancookbook #patreon #patreoncreator #grantourismo
It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour matches the furnishings of our rented apartment. So, no, I did not colour-coordinate the interiors to match our cat’s eyes. 

I keep getting DMs from pet clothing brands wanting to “partner” with Pepper and send her free cat clothes and cat accessories. Although she did wear a kerchief for a few years in her more adventurous fashion-forward teenage years, I cannot see this cat in clothes now, can you? 

#pepper #blackcat #blackcats #blackcatsofinstagram #blackcatsrule #blackcatsmatter #cat #cats #catsofinstagram #catstagram #catlover #catlovers #catlove #catoftheday #catphoto #catpic #catpics #cambodiancat #cambodiancatsofinstagram #catlife #catloversclub #catoftheday #catgram #catstagram #cats_of_instagram #catphotography #catsofig #catsoftheworld #catsofinsta #cats🐱 #siemreap #cambodia

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GRANTOURISMO TRAVELS AND ‘MAKING TRAVEL MORE MEANINGFUL AND MEMORABLE’ ARE ™ TO GRANTOURISMO MEDIA.