The Lucky Coq @ Chapel Street, Melbourne

Melbourne 2010 Post #1: REALLY affordable food in Chapel Street...

(Note: These are some of the few photos that survived my recent SD Card Disaster - still looking for a hero, btw.... *muka kesian*)

Arriving in Melbourne, straight off an Air Asia flight, I was hungry and kinda tired... so Cindy thought of a great way to help lift my spirits - a good meal at the very cheekily named bar called the Lucky Coq, in the Chapel Street area.
:)
Outside the Lucky Coq...
The interior of the bar was cosy but looked just a little run down (in the harsh mid day light)....
The main upstairs area of the Lucky Coq...
Still, it was charming in its own quirky way with strange decorations like a pair of bright green legs hanging from the ceiling and a nice open air section upstairs (mainly for the smokers)......
(Apparently, its a popular hang out/ party place and gets very packed on most nights)
Nice open air section...
Martian legs, floating in from outer space?...
The main highlight at this pub/ bar? - their ongoing AUD$ 4 Pizza promotion, which is available during the following times*:

Sun - Thurs: 7 to 11pm
Weekdays: 12 to 4pm
Sat: 7 to 9pm

(* According to their official website)
(Note: We were there on Sunday at lunch time and got the pizzas for AUD$ 4 each anyway. Dunno why....)

The selection of pizzas is not great for meat lovers (mostly vegetarian options) but many of the topping combinations are pretty interesting (eg. the ORGANICO pizza with roasted pumpkin, soy cheese, pine nuts, rosemary).

Of course we went for the more meaty options:
- LAMB AGNELLO pizza
... spiced lamb with mozzarella and pine nuts, topped with rockets
The lamb pizza...
Not bad...
While there could have been larger chunks of lamb (for more bite), the minced clumps of meat were fairly tasty and juicy enough, contrasting well against the crispy thin pizza base*.
(* Not 100% authentic Italian thin crust but still good enough for 4 bucks!)

- CAESAR pizza
... bacon, anchovies, egg, baby cos, parmesan, caesar dressing
YUM...
OMG.
While it may be partly because I was pretty hungry coming off the plane, I found this pizza AWESOME.
(Thank goodness Cindy's friend Cheng convinced me to try this pizza)
- Oily but yummy slices of (pork) bacon, slightly crispy on the edges,
- Slathered with a healthy dose of creamy Ceasar salad dressing,
- With a runny, yolky poached egg,
- Accentuated by the briney flavour of the anchovies and the saltiness of the cheese,
- Atop a crispy thin crust pizza base.
- With some fresh crisp cos lettuce leaves on top so you can try to tell yourself that it's healthy.

WARNING:
1) They put the anchovies in a small pile at some random corner of the pizza. I guess this is so you can just remove it all if you don't like it, but it really does accentuate the yummy-ness so please spread it evenly across the whole pizza before biting in.
2) The best way to eat it, is to fold it in half and eat in like a sandwich so that you can fully enjoy it without the yolk dripping straight off the edges. :)
Fold in half and EAT...

To be completely fair, there was one pizza we tried that we all didn't like (one of the new additions/ specials)
- PRAWN pizza:
Hmmmmm. :(...
It looked good and the prawns were fresh, but unfortunately the pizza was pretty darned tasteless....
(Don't waste your time with this. Just order the Ceasar pizza! Anyway, 2 successes out of 3 pizzas is not bad, right?)

I also tried beer they brew in house, the Blonde Cock.
(LOL)
Yes. I tasted Blonde Cock (on the right) :P...
Overall, the taste was ok... light, refreshing and with a slight citrus-y aftertaste (although I think it's mostly because of the added lemon slice)

Ok.
So maybe it's not the best pizza in Melbourne... and maybe you won't get full on just one pizza (for guys/ people with bigger appetites)... but it's a really good eat considering the (promotional) price tag! :)

So, it's: Decent gourmet style pizzas (with a really good promotion), interesting selection of booze to wash it down with, quaint ambience BUT beware! some "misses" on the menu, parking in the area can be a challenge....

Summary Information:
The Lucky Coq @ Chapel Street, Melbourne

Opening Hours: Mon to Sat- 12 noon till 3 am, Sunday - 12 noon till 1 am
Phone: +61 9525 1288
Address: 179 Chapel Street (Corner of Chapel Street & High Street), Windsor, Melbourne 3181, Australia
Map: (Below)
Website: HERE

NOT HALAL

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OTHER REVIEWS:
- The Real Melbourne
- Urban Spoon
- Melbourne's bargain foodie
- Alley Life

TAGS: Food, Blog, Weblog, Malaysia, Restaurant Review, Restaurant Reviews, Lucky Coq, Pizza, Cheap Eats, Pub, South Yarra, Victoria, Australia, Melbourne