House hunting used to be about kitchens, bathrooms and backyards. Now it’s how close is morning coffee, wind-down wine and a good takeaway for when you can’t be stuffed cooking.

Eastern Road Larder and its adjacent bar fit the brief. They’ve popped up at the base of a luxe new development in South Melbourne, keenly pitched to the area’s workers and apartment dwellers, the handiwork of Renton Carlyle-Taylor – the man behind a suite of wine bars including The Alps in Prahran.

Opened in late April, Eastern Road Bar offers 50 seats, a wall of local and European wines, and four taps – pale ale, coffee brown ale, saison and Vienna lager – from another Carlyle- Taylor project, Burnley Brewing.

Classics and comfort characterise the menu in the form of croquettes, fish and salad, and bangers and mash, with nothing more than $20. The stone-baked pizzas land with quality ingredients – olives, salami and anchovies on the ‘capricosa’ – and piping hot on a thin, bronzed house- made crust.

Heartier appetites will love the schnitty, a thick cut of chook covered in a hefty shell of golden crumbs and served with chips and a simple salad.

The dark-timber room opens via a folding-glass frontage to a small outdoor area. With blankets for laps and sport on the telly, this is like a second lounge.

Ten steps away is the 18-seat Eastern Road Larder, its cabinet bursting with baguettes and sandwiches using Ned’s Bake bread, daily-changing soups, sausage rolls and pies as well as wine, cheese, charcuterie and meals to go. The Reuben’s wagyu pastrami is melt in the mouth, and the spanakopita is huge and tart with feta. Coffee is from Allpress.

Whether it’s a quick sanga or a pizza and pinot, Eastern Road’s dual delights herald a new focus in dining – all-purpose and all-welcoming with a knockout address.