For years I have been one of the many Melburnians to witness an unusually old tram with tinted windows trundling through the city and thought to myself, ‘that looks fun’ before forgetting all about it. Well, not this time. My plus one and I were finally going inside the old-fashioned tram to eat dinner, have some drinks, and watch Melbourne go by.
I am of course talking about the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant. If you are like us and regularly ride the trams around Melbourne, you might have become a little passé about how beautiful the city is (or be staring at your phone and miss it entirely). This experience was great for seeing the city with fresh eyes.
Over a few hours, the lavishly decorated tram rolls through Melbourne’s CBD, Southbank, and down to St Kilda. All the while, you enjoy nice drinks, tasty food, and excellent scenery.
We were very impressed that the food could be prepared by our chef Liam in such a tiny kitchen onboard the tram. Our waiters for the evening, Matti and Emina, were lots of fun — at one point breaking out the ‘Happy Birthday’ song for two guests.
Some food highlights included a tortellono of goat’s cheese in a pumpkin soup, roast beef with confit vegetable and red wine jus and a lovely cheese platter matched with quince paste and fruit loaf. The warm Black Forest pudding with salted chocolate crumbs was also very nice.
The Colonial Tramcar Restaurant is a great experience for visitors to Melbourne as well as locals.
– Tomas
Tomas Zagoda is a filmmaker, writer, coffee addict and tall person who does not play basketball. You can follow him @TomasZagoda
The Colonial Tramcar Restaurant operates seven days a week. Bookings are essential.
