Melbourne Food Reviews

Meatmother

167 Swan St, Melbourne VIC 3121

He Says
My mother was out of town for Mother’s Day, so as a homage to her I decided to go to Meatmother for dinner.  Well, that’s what I’m telling myself now, but I’m sure she’d approve of a place dedicated to the worship of meat.

Meatmother has opened up near the corner of Swan St and Church Street in Richmond; an area not necessarily brimming with quality restaurants (Demitri’s Feast being the exclusion).  The narrow restaurant is divided into a rather modern looking bar/eating area downstairs, and a dining area upstairs. Although I was a little annoyed initially to have been seated downstairs, it turned into a blessing in disguise when I discovered that @beergirlbites was behind the bar. It was one of those awkward moments when I wanted to mention that I recognized her from the Internet, but it sounded awkward enough in my head to not bring it up.

I ate

I was lucky enough to visit Meatmother with one of my good friends, who’s almost as big a glutton as me, and his girlfriend. As a result, we ordered all the sides.

Rib Tips ($6) were a saucy delight, which I proceeded to drop all over the table. If it weren’t for the next item, this would have been the standout starter.

The Hock Croquettes ($6) were mind blowingly good. I hadn’t really read the menu item correctly, so when I bit in I wasn’t expecting the meat explosion that greeted me.

BBQ Chicken Wings ($6) were also lip lickingly good.

We also ordered a side of the house pickles ($5), but I was too enamored by the other dishes at this point to photograph them.

The main dishes are served in trays, and after you select your meat type, you get to select a side. We went with two trays of beef brisket ($19) and pulled pork ($19), with sides of BBQ beans, mac cheese and gravy mash.

My brisket was amazing, as were the BBQ beans. Even if you don’t have the room for the starters, you can’t go wrong with the brisket. They also do matched beers and cocktails but unfortunately I was driving, so I didn’t get a chance to indulge. Luckily I was able to drown my sorrows in Frozen Lime Pie .

To Conclude
If you enjoy your meat, nobody does it better than your Meatmother.

De Clieu

187 Gertrude St Fitzroy

She Says

My best friend recently moved to East Melbourne so we’ve been slowly moving through cafes within walking distance. One of the first places we visited was De Clieu. We went on a weekend back during the great heatwave of February (or was it March? Yes, this post has been sitting in our drafts folder for a while now) and I enjoyed everything about my brunch experience. Well, everything other than the heat. It was 30-something degrees outside and about 9000 degrees inside. Luckily that won’t be a problem again for another 8 months.

I like that De Clieu has a relaxed atmosphere, great service and an interesting brunch menu full of items which are just a little bit more exciting than the standard cafe breakfast offerings. I also love those window sills that you can sit in. I think that I am actually in love with them. Excuse me while I go and pin 17 photos of people sitting in window sills and cry a little bit about how I’m never going to be able to recreate that in a first floor apartment.

He says

Just when you think that Gertrude Street has been completely over saturated with cool, along comes De Clieu. Opposite the painfully trendy TITLE, De Clieu explodes out onto the street with a wonderful blend of outdoor tables and wide open windows into the shop.

Walking in, I was sort of expecting a level or pretentiousness exuded by some of the other establishments on the street , but the staff were exceedingly friendly, and very attentive. And we weren’t even dressed the part. The service was quick, and we were constantly getting refills of water, but i suspect this was mainly due to it being hotter than the sun inside. 10 days straight of over 30 Melbourne, you will not be missed.

We Ate

I had the pancakes with figs, mint, maple syrup, marscarpone and bacon ($16.50 for the pancakes and sides other than bacon, $3.50 for the bacon). Anytime I see pancakes with bacon and maple syrup, I must have them. Sort of like when I was a little kid and saw a new matchbox car at the milkbar (remember either of those things, kids?). De Cleiu added a bit of underground trendy to the dish with some fig. The presentation was a little on the “dumped together” side, but plating isn’t really a priority when you’re serving the holy trinity of gluttony. Everything about it was spectacular, and I even ate the figs.

Marg had the roast tomato bruschetta with parsnip puree, proscuitto and fetta ($15.50). Again, the parsnip puree added something a little different which really made this dish memorable.

 To Conclude

Great service and food that is simple but a little bit exciting. Also some great window sills.

Fonda Mexican – Windsor

44 Chapel St, Windsor

Almost a year and half ago, Fonda Mexican burst onto the Melbourne Mexican scene like a delicious overstuffed piñata. The tiny Swan Street Richmond storefront was soon overrun with diners, and even after expanding into the adjacent shop, the queues routinely stretch out the door. Unless you are blessed with the opportunity of a visit outside of traditional hours, you are going to be queuing.

Fast-forward to today and the folks at Fonda have opened up a sister restaurant in Windsor, which dwarfs its Richmond sibling. The expansive double storefront at the good end of Chapel Street is significantly larger, with a lovely downstairs dining area, and a bar at the top for some cheeky late night drinks (liquor licence coming soon). The attention to detail hasn’t been lost in the transition, with the kitchen area-looking picture perfect and funky string-backed booths lining the walls.

We Ate
Normally this is the part of the review where we’d jump into each of the dishes, but considering the menu is almost exactly the same as the Richmond store, and the quality was just as great as our last visit , I might forgo that and just leave you with the drool worthy photos instead.

The kangaroo fillet burrito ($14.5):

The chopped beef burrito ($14):

Braised pork taco and beef taco ($6 each):

Charred corn ($4):

To Conclude
For those too scared to venture north of the Yarra, Fonda Mexican has arrived at Windsor and you won’t be disappointed.

The Urban Coffee Farm and Brew Bar – Melbourne Food & Wine Festival 2013

 Queensbridge Square, 1A Queens Bridge Street, Southbank

He Says

Over the last couple of years, the magicians at the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival have been conjuring up various pop-up cafes at Queensbridge Square. This year, they’ve built up the aptly named Urban Coffee Farm and Brew Bar. It’s been assembled from a bunch of wooden pallets  and shipping creates, with a smattering of coffee plants; very organic. Each day a different darling of the Melbourne Coffee scene serves the coffee, and during the evening a different cocktail bar serves drinks. Simple.

Unfortunately the weather hasn’t really been playing along temperature wise, as mid-30s isn’t really a coffee friendly temperature. The queues in the morning are as deep as you’d expect from a MFWF event, but lunchtime is a great time to sneak down for a coffee.

He Drank?

Although they do offer a rather good looking selection of pastries, I’ve only managed to get there after lunch.  These coffee below is from Proud Mary,  who were serving it up on the Thursday 7^th March. My coffee was a single-origin short black from Guatemala, and even with the heat it was one of the best coffees I’ve ever had.

To Conclude

Even with the weather, the Urban Coffee Farm and Brew Bar is a must see. Be quick, it finishes up on the 17^th of March.