Little Andorra lifts the bar with an adventurous wine list and high quality food
THE Carlton North venue that is lifting the bar, with an adventurous wine list and high quality food.
Weekend
Don't miss out on the headlines from Weekend. Followed categories will be added to My News.
IT’S pouring down at Little Andorra. The wine, that is, not rain. As a drowsy afternoon turns to evening, this newish Carlton North wine bar throbs with punters. Some are perched at pavement tables, others are kicking back in the front bar, more in the ivy-walled rear courtyard.
And everyone, it seems, is finding something to satisfy their thirst. That’s because Little Andorra — named in honour of a tiny principality between France and Spain — is run by a team of people who really love wine. They encourage you to try something new, backing their suggestions with a compact menu that suits after-work snacking or a full-on dinner.
FOOD
Three chefs share kitchen duties and they’re turning out quality fare. A salad of house-smoked trout ($18) fashioned from frilly frisee leaves came gently anointed with a buttermilk dressing. A serve of pappardelle ($22) saw coiled streamers of al dente pasta steeped in a refined sugo sauce, with burrata cheese. And a slab of duck and carrot terrine ($15) — a tad too firm coming out of the larder — was pleasingly spiced.
Best of all is Little Andorra’s steak. Our 150-day grass-fed porterhouse ($26, right) was cooked to perfection, thick lobes of pinot-red meat, lathered on top with a zesty salsa verde. Kipfler potatoes ($12), scented with mint, lemon and aioli, are an essential side.
Cheese ($14 for a 50g serve) might suffice, especially if they’re sending out semi-hard French comte or Holy Goat chevre. But if the Marsala spiced apple crumble ($15) is on, don’t pass it up. A fruity, savoury treat.
DRINK
“An honest local wine bar, that’s us,’’ owner Luke Bresnan says. He’s right.
But Little Andorra is not inclined to play safe.
Bresnan has crafted an inclusive, food-friendly collection that can have your tastebuds journeying from Portugal and the Languedoc to Canberra and McLaren Vale. The cellar runs long and deep, “feature pours” are listed on a blackboard and wines by the glass that change weekly tend to showcase lesser known labels. Anyone for a Down The Rabbit Hole sauv blanc from New Zealand?
Non-wine drinkers will enjoy Little Andorra’s beers, ciders, vermouths and sherries.
SERVICE
Spot on. The wine chat is done with charm and ease but if you want the full bottle on your Mate Mantus merlot from Montalchino, Bresnan’s staffers have granular detail at their fingertips.
X FACTOR
Hospitality is almost etched into Little Andorra. This vine-trellised corner site once hosted Tansy’s, one of Melbourne earliest progressive restaurants, but Bresnan has given the place its own loungey charm, with bentwood chairs, sturdy tables and a whopping timber bar. The soundtrack is drawn from a big stack of vinyl, everything from roots and reggae to jazz and blues.
BANG FOR YOUR BUCK
With wines by the glass averaging $12 and nothing on the food menu over $26, this is good value all around.
VERDICT
Lively, well managed and studiously unpretentious, Little Andorra is raising the bar.
LITTLE ANDORRA
555 Nicholson St, Carlton North. Ph: 9042 2255
FOOD Wine bar
HOURS Daily 2pm till late
CHEFS Raphael Exton-Pery, Samuel Reiher, Tad McLean
BOOKINGS For private dining room
TIME BETWEEN ORDERING AND EATING Seven minutes
PERFECT FOR Wine-friendly fare
DESTINATION DISH Porterhouse steak, salsa verde
NOISE LEVEL Cool
ONLINE littleandorra.com.au
WEST
Willis & Anderson
1 Anderson St, Yarraville
Destination dish: Southern fried chicken wrap
EAST
Herd Bar & Grill
Basement 177-179 Maroondah Hwy, Healesville
Destination dish: Lamb kofta, mint, pea puree
SOUTH
Hampton Wine Co
444 Hampton St, Hampton
Destination dish: Smoked salmon profiterole, tomato
The Mexican bites you won’t want to share
The dishes at Windsor’s newest mod-Mex restaurant are designed for sharing, but diners may not necessarily want to share off the small bites menu, which includes heavenly croquettes and fabulous tacos. Here’s where you can dig in.
The Murrumbeena cafe that will remember your coffee order
If Cheers was the bar where everyone knows your name, Murrumbeena’s Citizen is the cafe where they know your coffee order. And they have some delicious new renditions on your brunch favourites too.