Colonel Tans

I felt slightly hesitant as we walked down Chapel St and up the stairs to Melbourne’s iconic 24-hour night club Revolver.  Its only 7pm on a Friday night and no, we are not trying to beat the lines, instead we have a booking with friends for dinner at the quirky Colonel Tans restaurant, located on the upper level of the club.  

Colonel Tans is the inspiration of Karen Batson, head chef of renowned inner city gastro-bars Cookie and The Toff in Town. Serving a cultural mix of traditional Thai and American Diner treats, the restaurant’s menu is a mixed and muddled as the decor in which you enjoy it.  The room is lit with an orange glow while guests sit happily around dinette dining sets covered with plastic floral table cloths, circa the 1950s. The walls are lined with a miss mash of vintage pictures, post cards, photos and scraps of images, most of which were probably found during numerous Sunday afternoon visits to the Chapel St Bazaar next door.  The atmosphere is laid back and offbeat.

As we cheers to Friday evening and chatter over the loud buzz of the restaurant and music streaming from next door, we decide it is time to eat.  Pondering over the menu items, which includes Bangkok bolognaise and tofu burgers, we keep it safe and order the Rendang Chicken Curry Dip with Roti Bread, Corn Fritters with Sweet Chilli, Deep Fried Chilli Squid and Chicken & Kaffir Lime Nuggets with Cucumber Relish. While the corn fritters and squid were on par to expectations, the stand out for me tonight is the nuggets. A new take on the traditional ingredients and flavours of a Thai fish cake, dipped in the cucumber relish they are delish… who would have guessed.

The drinks are flowing as we settle into the evening and the Colonel Tan vibe around us as we order our mains. This time sticking to the traditional we choose the Green Chicken Curry with Rice & Salted Egg Salad, Penang Lamb Curry with Rice & Eggplant Salad, Stir Fried Beef Basil with Eggplant & Chilli and Stir Fried Chicken with Wild Ginger & Black Mushrooms. The curries are just what I was after, rich, creamy and bursting with spice! The ginger chicken has a refreshing ginger bite although is a little lack lustre compared to the others but the beef basil is what leaves us all talking. Instead of your regular sizzling plate of beef strips, vegetables and basil we are served a small bowl of grainy minced beef? The flavour was definitely there although it was the texture of the dish that threw us off.

Full and content we order the bill. Although Colonel Tans prides itself on being fun and affordable with main dishes averaging around the $16 mark, they can certainly catch you with the drinks bill. Watch out for the novelty of Peronie on tap because it will cost you more than you’re starter at $14 a pint. 

As the band starts up down stairs we take our cue and make our way out into the warm November evening, bidding farewell to each other and the eccentric Colonel Tans. 

11 O’s out of 20

229 Chapel St, Prahran