The Colonial Tramcar Restaurant

The Colonial Tramcar Restaurant Melbourne is a special attraction - an authentic Australian dining experience, while travelling through Melbourne's city lights in a romantically lit antique tram car.

Following is a visitor’s account of his Tramcar dining experience:

‘My wife and I recently had a fabulous dinner on the Colonial Tramcar restaurant while staying in Melbourne. We were visiting Melbourne for our daughter's wedding, and ended up with a couple of weeks in this great city, looking for things to do.

My wife found the Colonial Tram Car Restaurant on the internet and, on a lark, booked us a dinner for four (both of us, our daughter, and the maid of honor) for the Wednesday before the ceremony.

It was - for Australia - a brisk winter day in May – luckily the tram was heated.

The Colonial Tramcar Restaurant is very ‘Melbourne’ (Melbourne loves its trams just like San Francisco). It was a lovely experience - certainly a treat after all the wedding rehearsals and preparations.

The Tramcar Restaurant picks you up at tram stop #125 near the Crown Casino - called ‘Normanby Road’, and runs a circuit through Melbourne as the food is served.

The Tramcar’s interior décor is very refined. It reminded me of some of the historical re-enactment restaurants: Lots of Victorian brass fittings and velour covers, a very rich carpet on the floor – tastefully done. The flatware was lovely and the service prompt.

The appetizer was a liver pate, and while it's not something I'm normally fond of, I'll admit it was well done.

The first entrée was kangaroo, braised with a mixture of honey and herbs, and served with some vegetables I wasn't sure about. I was the adventurous one trying it. Kangaroo meat is surprisingly lean, somewhat gamey - a bit like mutton, but lighter. My wife and the girls both had the smoked salmon instead, which looked excellent.

The main course was a bit more conventional - for me a rib eye, medium rare, with potatoes and onions, and roast chicken breast for the others. The food was served promptly and appears to have been cooked on the moving tram.

You dine and wine while the tram is in motion – it's amazing how stable the car is. I've eaten on a Pullman dining car before, but this tram dining car is miles better – or perhaps we should say ‘kilometres’?

The portions are generous – all of us looked at the chocolate mousse and decided to split two rather than each getting our own dessert.

The wine list, while short, had nothing to it that we found objectionable, though nothing to write home about.

Overall, the dining was elegant, and the food quite good. I'm glad my wife came across it – we found that reserving the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant ahead of time was a good idea!’

You can also have lunch or early dinner in the Tramcar Restaurant.