The Triffid's John Collins is celebrating a new achievement: his pub, the Triffid has just had its first birthday and launched a mouthwatering new menu.
“We had our first birthday in November. We launched a new menu around that time. Ben O’Donoghue from Billy Kart designed the Triffid burger which is made on site. We also have lighter options like salad as well.”
The Triffid burger, in case you’re wondering, contains three cuts of quality meat with cheese, pickles, tomato and mustard and served on a Brioche bun. Naturally it’s served with fries and you can go rare to well done. The vegetarian is not forgotten with the Haloumi burger which has grilled haloumi, beetroot puree, tomato and fries for $14.
You might have to be of a certain age to remember a slightly dodgy mid-'90s show named ‘Sliders’, but at the Triffid they mean three delicious options on the aforementioned brioche bun. There is the ‘Triffid Slider’ which consists of a beef patty, pickles, cheddar cheese, mustard and lettuce.
Then there's the Crispy Chicken slider which has, um... chicken cucumber, young greens (it’s unknown if there'ss a political affiliation…) and chilli sauce. And for the haloumi lovers, it’s served with rocket and beetroot puree.
As for hot dog lovers, there’s no need to look elsewhere as they are served up in fine form at the Triffid: take a gander at these ingredients: double-smoked cheese kransky, pickles, onion, cheese, tomato sauce and American mustard for 12 bucks. And if you want fries with that, you’re in luck as that’s included in the price!
If the New Year has inspired you to be health conscious, there’s no reason to avoid seeing top notch rock bands at the Triffid while enjoying a healthy salad option either. In this case, you perhaps can win friends with salad in three options. The Thai prawn, the cauliflower salad, or if you’re hell for haloumi, go for the grilled haloumi salad which will rock your taste buds with rocket, balsamic cherry tomatoes, roast sweet potato, and onion while you rock out to the music!
Or maybe you just want a snack. The Triffid Kaarage Chicken is available as are jalapeno poppers, stuffed with cream cheese both at the eight dollar mark on their ‘Small Bites’ portion of their menu. Fries are available on their own, vegan friendly and come in standard form with Triffid seasoning at a very affordable five dollars, or you can go cheesy, add onion shallots, melted cheese and ranch dressing for an extra three dollars.
The Triffid has really hit its own in the last year, both musically and in terms of their top notch menu. John, or JC as he’s affectionately known by his former bandmates notes that while the connection to Powderfinger assisted initially, the venue speaks for itself. “It didn’t really make a difference, maybe getting it over the line in the first place, but once we opened the doors, no one really gave a shit. It’s only as great as the venue is, really. As long as the beers are cold!”
2016 is also shaping up to be a big one on stage with acts like Spiderbait, The Buzzcocks, Sasquatch, Died Pretty and the Jezebels all playing in the first half of the year. The Triffid will also feature a Triple J Hottest 100 party countdown on Australia Day in the beer garden with Holy Holy playing after that.
“The vibe of the place is relaxed, chilled, very much like a Melbourne sort of vibe, it’s not flash it’s an old building that we’ve converted, it’s not all flash and shiny but it’s got a lived in feel,” says John.
The Triffid is located 7 – 9 Stratton Street, Newstead
