A 170-Year-Old Malvern Pub Reopens With a New Mediterranean Restaurant and a Listening Bar

In May, the 170-year-old pub on the corner of Glenferrie and Dandenong roads started to come back to life. First, the ground-floor public bar The Angel of Malvern started pulling pints again. This week, Flores, a wine bar and Mediterranean restaurant on the first floor, and Lately, a cocktail and listening bar on the second floor, officially opened.

The trio of venues – also collectively named The Angel of Malvern, since they’re all in the pub building – are operated by Kokoda Property’s hospitality arm Refinery Group, and are part of the developer’s Malvern Collective, a $450 million development that includes two towers with a combined 205 apartments, plus a retail precinct with a grocer, barber, jeweller, cellar door, cafe and fitness studio.

All three venues at The Angel of Malvern are run by Refinery Group executive chef Justin North (formerly of Sydney’s Hotel Centennial and Mister Percy) and the building’s head chef, Josh Rudd, who previously worked at HQ Group (Her, Arbory). Original brickwork frames the venues, while decades-old tiles have been incorporated into the redesign. “It’s a heritage building, which made the project exciting. The trick was blending all concepts and making them well integrated,” says Kokoda Property founder and managing director Mark Stevens.

Victorian produce takes centrestage at Flores, and the menu is mostly “Mediterranean food you want to eat every day and every night,” as North describes it. There’s handmade pasta including spanner crab linguine; fusilli with broccolini and buffalo mozzarella; and prawn and lobster ravioli, served with a citrus and lemongrass bisque. Lager plates go beyond the Mediterranean with a chickpea tagine and Portuguese roast chicken.

There’s also local, line-caught seafood, with dishes changing based on availability. “We use whatever the suppliers have on a daily basis. Spontaneous cooking leaves it open and keeps the menu changing for our regulars,” says North.

Two key design features help create a convivial atmosphere: an open kitchen that runs the length of the dining room, and a marble salumi station where local charcuterie – including bresaola and capocollo from Salt Kitchen is prepared. “It feels like a dinner party. A fun, community shared experience,” North adds.

The party continues upstairs at listening bar Lately, which offers a moodier experience. The intimate listening bar is designed as the final stop in the evening. A rotating line-up of DJs from Mushroom Events keep the music going until 3am on Friday and Saturday nights.

There’s a small, snacky menu including zucchini and manchego croquettes and anchovy toast with roasted capsicum and whipped ricotta. But the focus is on the cocktails, developed by Liam Burns, formerly group operations manager at Scott Pickett Group. Highlights include the Autumn in Aomori, made with Nikka Coffey Malt whisky, quince, black walnut and Amaro Lucano; and the Latitude, which blends a house mandarin aperitif with Buffalo Trace bourbon, citrus and nori.

The Angel of Malvern
​641 Dandenong Road, Malvern
(03) 9964 1895

Hours:
Flores
Mon to Wed 5pm–11pm
Thu midday–11pm
Fri & Sat midday–11.30pm
Sun midday–3pm

Lately
Thu 8pm–midnight
Fri & Sat 6pm–3am

theangelofmalvern.com.au
@theangelofmalvern