A top human rights lawyer and a former newspaper editor walk into a bar. No, it’s not a joke. It’s just a regular Friday night at the Royal Oak.

For possibly the first time in its 151-year history, this North Fitzroy boozer has become a dining and drinking sensation. It’s so popular these days there are even staggered dinner sittings. And don’t even think about trying to get a table at the weekend.

Its new-found cool is a remarkable turn of events when you consider the Royal Oak was most recently known (and loved) as a bit of a dive bar. Before lockdowns sent the last operators packing.

Enter the publicans behind Fitzroy’s evergreen Marquis of Lorne and Richmond’s Union House. They’ve given the old girl a bit of a facelift and installed menus featuring artisan wine producers and flavour-packed dishes by ex-Movida head chef Scott Stevenson, who’s exec chef here alongside head chef Robbie Noble (ex-Vue de Monde and Clamato in Paris).

The pub consists of a warmly inviting, completely renovated front section with horseshoe bar and floorboards in jarrah; alfresco seating on quiet Freeman St, and the rear restaurant where there’s a fire raging in mid-October. Bless, Melbourne.

The original carpet, patterned with swirls of dull green and rust, is the cue for new red leather and corduroy banquettes and pale green walls. Vintage drink ads and scenic paintings decorate the space, alongside curios such as a unicorn on the fireplace mantel. Dados, deco plasterwork, exposed brick and leather-topped tables recycled from the State Library add to the retro ambience.

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Royal Oak’s menu, available throughout the venue, mixes pub classics – schnitzel, fish and chips, choice of proteins – with more creative plates like charry swordfish skewers seasoned with smoked paprika and bay leaf, skewered with zucchini ribbons.

Slender scamorza and tomato cigars satisfy my deep-fried-dairy cravings and come showered in parmesan for added umami.

School prawns are sautéed rather than deep fried so the texture’s a surprise but the seasoning – an oil blend with pickled fennel, lemon and salt – is tasty and there’s tarama dipping sauce for extra oomph.

The drinks list is far too posh for a pub but no one’s complaining. Cocktails range from pina coladas and daquiris to the faintly fearsome sounding “Old School” of gin, orgeat and absinthe. The eight beers are a catholic mix of crafty (Bodriggy, Stomping Ground) and draughty (Carlton).

The tight but terrific selection of largely low-intervention wines gathers local heroes such as Clare Valley’s Rieslingfreak and Combes pinot noir alongside Sicilian catarratto, Provençal rosé and a juicy-fruit Beaujolais. There’ll be a reserve list eventually – be sure to ask staff.

Besides the vibe, which is always up, Royal Oak’s other strong suit is the food. The thing about Stevenson is, the man can cook. I haven’t had a dud dish here – so far the braised lamb shoulder with runny mash is my favourite – but chicken-salt chips are not my thing at all.

Dessert is a brisk choice of bread and butter pudding or a trifle-style coconut and rhubarb panna cotta layered with coconut sorbet and crumble and a lid of lime granita. Served in a cut-crystal tumbler on a doilied plate.

Like everything about the new Royal Oak, it strikes a winning balance between ironic and iconic.

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