Barkers Wine Bar & Bistro, Hawthorn Victoria

Forget the old days of the Beehive Hotel - Barkers Wine Bar & Bistro represents a complete reinvention of the space as a polished gastropub. There are also rumblings in the kitchen, where Michael Lambie and Tony Twitchett, from the much-acclaimed Taxi Dining Room, turn their toques towards the wonderful world of pub food.

It's all about keeping the standards high and the prices low, and Lambie and Twitchett's menu fits the bill nicely with a straightforward selection of pastas, woodfired pizzas, steaks, oysters, salads and seafood dishes. As with Taxi, Barkers displays an Asian bent in a few dishes, like the Szechuan-spiced crispy duck with sesame and tamarind sauce, and the Asian chicken salad with hot mint and pickled carrot.

This is one gastropub, or "wine bar and bistro", that shows off the possibilities of pub food. For restaurant bookings at Barkers please call (03) 9853 6638.