Set at the very start of St Kilda Road, a new family and pet-friendly bar and food truck park has aimed to recapture the historic beauty of the Holy Trinity Church Hall.
Majestically transformed into a bright and luxurious bar with a separate wine room, Trinity St Kilda also features a huge outdoor space with rotating food trucks, and a beautiful outdoor seating area that can accommodate large groups and furry companions.
Entering through the decorated archway entrance through the seated outdoor area and past the food trucks, the grand reveal of the white and gold bar as you enter the Trinity indoor area is nothing short of breath-taking. The original windows have been given a modern makeover while still keeping their original design, and above the bar are copper tanks entangled in greenery that complements the forest green archways.
The copper tanks aren’t just for decoration either. Once inside, I settled for a crisp Carlton Draught, delivered fresh directly to Trinity and kept at its unpasteurised best in those very same tanks. It’s beer as the brewers intended it!
There are beautiful barstools around the backside of the bar, with plenty of family-style booth seating towards the front, filling the huge space. The furniture has an upmarket vintage vibe, creating an old school luxurious look that fits in well with the rest of the space.
Behind the bar you’ll find another 11 on-tap beers in addition to that Carlton Draught, as well as a variety of wine choices (mostly Victorian, of course) along with cocktails and mocktails.
Ascending to the mezzanine behind the main bar, you’ll find a smaller bar offering an intimate setting with huge bay windows overlooking the venue. Along the back wall are the original church hall windows with views over the bluestone church and an outside play area. Here, I tried the Four Pillars Shiraz Gin cocktail infused with lemon and orange. The lounge chairs parked in front of the windows were the perfect place to people-watch while we sipped our gin.
Conscious of the sensible need to line our stomachs, we headed outside to the food trucks. A restored 1965 Airstream Overlander operates as a permanent kitchen, slinging mini burgers and fries. The mini burgers were delicious with the perfect ratio of salad to meat with just a drop of sauce. The meat was tender and melted in the mouth. The fries were standard and were constantly rotating among the hungry guests who had also discovered the gin special. There were also lobster rolls dripping in butter and dill that were the perfect warm-up to the freezing cold day.
On the day of our visit, Vietnamese food truck Nem N’ Nem set up shop, serving pork belly and beef brisket bao. The pork belly was perfectly soft on the inside and crispy on the outside, with herbs and a cool piece of cucumber. The beef brisket bao looked flavourful but due to the sheer amount of people in attendance we only got to try the pork and the crispy chicken, which was tender and juicy.
A third truck offered dessert waffles. We had the dark chocolate with pretzel crunch which was a beautiful mix of sweet and savoury. If Nutella is more your thing, the Nutella covered waffles with Maltesers hit the spot. While the waffles were slightly underdone, the toppings were generous and the sauce delicious.
The rotating food trucks will offer something different each time you visit which is more than enough incentive for me to keep coming back.
The outdoor seating offers three different areas you can sit in, with plenty of tables to fit all size groups. Planters and vines dominate the outdoor space, making it feel lush and alive. The space is also family-friendly with a wooden playground constructed behind the bar with a wooden boat and some more spaces being constructed when we visited. And if you’re planning on bringing your four-legged friend, there is some room to spread out so the dogs aren’t all in one space.
While there were staffing issues with the outdoor area – at one point one of the servers was downright rude when we enquired about the food – we will see how this fares on a repeat visit. That said, the staff behind the bar were extremely friendly and knowledgeable, going the extra mile to chat to guests about the drinks and design of the bar.
This venue offers something to everyone and I can’t wait to head back in a few weeks and visit again. The beautiful restoration of the hall and transformation of the grounds is a sight to behold and is the perfect place to start (or end!) your night out.
Trinity St Kilda is located on the corner of Brighton Road and Chapel Street, St Kilda.
It is open seven days, from 12pm – late. More info, including menus, can be found HERE.
