Fitzroy history – dinner at the Rochester Castle hotel
This undated photo shows the Rochester Castle hotel on the corner Johnston and George Streets in the late nineteenth century. Unlike many other nineteenth century pubs in Fitzroy, which have been demolished or made into private housing, the Rochester Castle is still a functioning and popular pub.
Courtesy of Fitzroy local history photograph collection / ID: 8768 / photographer: unknown / copyright: expired – image is in the public domain
The Rochester attracts a young and casual crowd. It’s not fashionable or remodelled like the Builder’s Arms or Griffs wine pub only a block away. Meals are advertised as $7 before 7pm or $8 after 7pm. They have a long list of parmas (it rivals the East Brunswick Club hotel for the number of different parmas) and other pub favourites. I chose the flake (shark) fish and chips with wasabi mayonnaise.
With prices that low, you can’t expect an enormous serve, but it was entirely adequate and tasty too. It’s not as as flavoursome as the flathead tails fish and chips at the Napier hotel, and not overwhelmingly huge like the flake fish and chips at the Rose hotel. The salad was fresh (‘tops’ as Todd from Life Support would say) and the wasabi mayonnaise is a winner (even ‘topser’).
With a spacious front bar, large back rooms and a garden courtyard, the Rochester is a great place (apart from the very grimy male toilets). The toilets at the Rose and the Napier are much nicer. Maybe they should put the price of dinner up by $1 and put the money towards some hygienic renovations.
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Other posts you may find relevant and interesting
- dinner at the Rose hotel, 31 July 2008
- lunch at the Lincoln Hotel, Cardigan St Carlton, 29 May 2010
- dinner at the Napier hotel to celebrate Fitzroy’s 150th anniversary, 6 October 2008
- summer holidays – dinner at Wildfish seafood restaurant, Port Albert, 11 January 2010
- Jesus gone fishin’, 12 April 2009