VENUE PROFILE: FLYING DUCK HOTEL

Seeing what works

The team behind Hobsons Bay Hotel have taken on Prahran’s Flying Duck Hotel, and are making sure the menu keeps diners coming back for more.

BUSINESS PARTNERS Brenton Lang and Michael Conlon – who also own Hobsons Bay Hotel and Rustica bakery and café in Melbourne – took on the Flying Duck Hotel in May 2022, completing major renovations and reopening the pub to guests in November. After refreshing the dining room, the beer garden and glasshouse were left relatively untouched, providing a quiet oasis for diners off the hustle and bustle of nearby High St.

Conlon – who is also the head chef –said locals responded well to the latest iteration of the pub over the summer.

The newly renovated dining room.

“It was a really successful summer, it was really busy. Everyone seems to be flocking to the new venue, which is great. All the feedback has been really positive. It’s livened up the spirit of that little cul de sac in Bendigo St.”

Conlon’s background is mainly in woodfire restaurants (ex Scott Pickett Group), and he used that as the inspiration for the menu at Flying Duck Hotel.

“We were lucky enough to put an extra extraction into the kitchen and fit a woodfire grill. I come from a background of woodfire restaurants where steaks and proteins are the focus. So I’ve drawn on that experience and centred the menu around those things.”

Dishes include a 300g grass-fed sirloin; charcoal-grilled duck breast with braised red cabbage and plum jus; and wood-fired barramundi with potatoes and warrigul greens and a seaweed butter sauce.

As Prahran is a fairly well-to-do suburb, it’s given Conlon and his team the license to push the price point a little further than you would in a neighbourhood pub. Also on the menu is a $75 500g rib eye, and a slow cooked whole lamb shoulder (to be shared between 3-4 people) for $110.

“We wanted to see where we fit in the market, to judge that and offer a whole different spectrum of price points that people can jump in on and see what’s going to work. We have the shared lamb shoulder on there that’s up there in price, but everyone who has that has loved it.”

Many of the dishes are cooked on a wood-fired grill

The head chef says that as long as the quality is there, there will be guests who won’t baulk at the price.

“I think the quality always shines through regardless of any price point you put on there. It’s a hard time right now to price accordingly – proteins especially – so putting that aside, it did give us a license to try stuff out and see what worked,” Conlon explains.

“That’s the best part of a young business, I think, is just seeing what’s going to work, what people want. It’s one thing to come in with a concept and an idea, but it’s another to change on the fly and see what your guests are interested in and gravitate towards that.”

GETTING THE BALANCE RIGHT

There may be some pricier dishes on the menu, but the Flying Duck Hotel team have ensured that no one is alienated by the pub’s menu, and with classic counter meals still featuring heavily.

“We still are a pub at the centre of everything we do, so I definitely think there was room on the menu to do both. By no means do we ever want to push people away – we want to be super inclusive and get everyone in the venue and enjoying it.”

It’s one thing to come in with a concept and an idea, but it’s another to change on the fly and see what your guests are interested in and gravitate towards that.

-Michael Conlon, Flying Duck Hotel

A chicken parmigiana still reigns supreme at the Flying Duck Hotel, and Conlon hopes that their version of the classic dish gets people in to try more from the menu.

“At the end of the day, people love a parma and people come in for that. That’s the goal really, get people in for the parma and then maybe the next time they come in they have the duck breast or the barramundi, and find their own adventure in the menu that way.”

It’s also a classic that the team found out should not be messed with. When they first reopened the pub, Conlon had created an elevated parma with a scamorza mozzarella. Feedback from locals meant that the team reverted to the usual cheese blend fairly quickly.

Other menu amendments have been made as the team finds their footing and what their patrons are after – namely striking that balance between classic pub food and more elevated dishes. And there’s more to come.

“Menu and structure wise, I added some extra sides because we felt we needed it, and some extra snacky starters. I’m trying to stay away from being too restaurant-y and be more pub and snack-focused,” states Conlon.

“That’s my aim with the next change, is to bring in a few of those dishes that are recognisable and that people are comfortable with.”