Bar Torino
THIS is a busy, buzzy honey pot for the after-work crowd, with terrific mixed drinks and wine list, and an inventive, substantial tapas menu.
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158a Hutt St, city
(08) 8155 6010
IF you’re after buzz, here’s the beehive. A honey pot for the after-work crowd, the long, narrow and darkly-styled Bar Torino mixes European cool, tempting tapas and some mean cocktails. There are outdoor tables, but inside is best: dark tiles and timber, stone walls and a bar opening into a brighter dining room. If it’s busy grab a drink (there are two pages in the list for gin and tonics alone) and wait for the leather-aproned staff to spot a table — no bookings are taken Friday nights. It’s tapas style with tweaks, in a mix of small, medium and larger dishes.
The fun way is “mangia mangia”, six dishes for two people, chosen by the chef. We open with two fat crisp pastry cigars filled with molten vitello tonnato, then tangy mortadella and pickle sandwiches, before a plate of oven-hot crispy potatoes with spicy sauce provoke a cross-table fork fight. The bigger dishes work up terrific flavour and texture combinations, such as the roast pumpkin with whipped feta and fried brussels sprouts, or a sliced rump steak on cauliflower puree with horseradish shavings. Sweets include traditional Spanish doughnuts churros and a panna cotta with maple, berries and rum caramel.
- Hours: L|D Tues-Sun
- Bill: E-M $6.50-$28 D$8-$9
- Wine Wine list
- Chef: Sebastian Richards
