Sometime ago friends gave us a voucher for lunch on Melbourne's world famous Colonial Tramcar Restaurant. Having lived in Melbourne all of my life I viewed the tramcar restaurant as something tourists did and certainly not a seasoned Melburnian.

As we waited in a slightly dilapidated tram stop on a November Sunday afternoon my opinions were reinforced as we were surrounded by aging tourists. Then as if on queue from the distance I heard the familiar rumble of the "W" class tram and before we knew it we were shown to our seats and on our way.

It was then that my preconceived ideas began to evaporate and I settled in to enjoy the experience.

The appetiser of pate and roasted red capsicum dip was complimented by a well selected sparkling wine.

A choice of entrees of either Tasmanian trout with asian flavours or a duck risotto were admirably matched with a choice of Victorian red or white wines. I chose the trout which was cooked to perfection.

For main course there was either the Macadamia chicken breast on a sweet potato mash and baby spinach or Victorian farmed eye fillet of beef on a sweet potato rosti. My preference was for the eye fillet of beef cooked medium/rare , of course and a nice local red.

The cheese platter with its water crackers, fruit bread and pear paste and finally coffee was the final course.

Service on the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant is attentive and off a high standard and most importantly unobtrusive.

The route taken by the tram varies depending on time of dining and on our day the tram traversed through Richmond, Abbotsford and Kew before returning to Southbank.

Overall my partner and I thoroughly enjoyed this experience and would recommend it to any Melburnian as an opportunity to experience something different while enjoying fine dining cuisine and some of Victoria's premier wines.

For more information see: www.tramrestaurant.com.au