Best places to eat and drink in Melbourne and Victoria this weekend
A breakfast bagel to end all brunches. Check. One of Victoria’s best steak sandwiches? You bet. Here are Dan Stock’s top places to eat and drink around the state this election weekend.
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Whether it’s cheese for breakfast, a super steak sandwich for lunch or a true Turkish feast after dark, here are Dan Stock’s top picks for where to eat and drink this weekend.
FOR A SUPER STEAK SANDWICH
It might be one of Australia’s oldest weatherboard pubs (est. 1865) but it’s today’s custodians — Jim and Dianne Frangos of Daylesford’s Hotel Frangos — who make the Swiss Mountain Hotel a must-visit when travelling between Daylesford and Ballarat. Named after the La Franchi family — Swiss-Italian immigrants who ran the pub for four generations until the 1960s — and the dormant volcanoes you can see in the background of the pub, this is a quintessentially Australian country pub where the welcome is warm, the beer is cold and no one leaves hungry.
A terrific beer list fills the fridge with local crafties — Daylesford Brewing, Brookes from Bendigo, Ballarat’s Red Duck — while wines from the backyard (Blampied) and region (Hanging Rock) are joined by nicely chosen drops from further afield. The outdoor beer terrace is a top spot for sunny afternoon sips.
Those who are hungry will find the large dining room full of country charm, with large tables filled with family groups tucking into pub and bistro classics executed with class. Roast chicken served with juicy Swiss brown mushrooms and charred cos nods to current restaurant trends, but many are here for one of the best steak sandwiches around: a monster of a meal with tender aged rump, caramelised onion, piles of crisp bacon, egg, cheese and mound of chips. Magnificent.
Swiss Mountain Hotel, 3454 Midland Hwy, Blampied. swissmountainhotel.com.au
FOR CHEESE DREAMS FOR DAYS
It’s the breakfast bagel to end all brunches.
Sure, on one hand it’s just cheese and egg and rocket on bread. On the other, it’s every reason to jump in the car and head to Thomastown’s industrial back blocks where you’ll now find one of Melbourne’s best brunches.
For that bagel is a double-handed wonder of heart-pounding beauty, where a disc of a cow’s milk cheese called caciotta comes crumbed and fried so it’s at once crunchy and oozy and is then topped with a gooey yolked egg. A lemon-spritzed mayo and peppery rocket finish the best way to start the day that’ll see you through night.
Say cheese to breakfast at That’s Amore.
In little more than a decade Giorgio Linguanti has turned That’s Amore into a lauded producer of Italian style cheeses, his burrata and scamorza, bocconici and stracciatella now namechecked on top menus around the land.
Since January, all that incredible cheese can be enjoyed across a weekend brunch menu. While that bagel beats big hungers the small menu is packed with hits and includes the signature ricotta calda — an unmissable bowl of just-made ricotta served so fresh it’s still warm from the factory. Served either with Beechworth honey and fruit toast, or for those of a savoury bent with olives, Kyneton olive oil and excellent “pane della salute” toast that teams a terrifically crunchy crust with a light, airy inner.
The burrata served with smashed avocado is worth hocking the house, triangles of crunchy potato rosti a nice touch to eat it with ($16), while the weekday lunchtime favourite porchetta comes topped with perfectly poached eggs nestled on stracciatella hidden under a bright fennel, radicchio and orange slaw ($18).
Brunch segues into porchetta panino and a daily changing pasta while there’s always a steady procession of people here for 16 flavours of gelato or cannoli and coffee — which is served in both espresso and granita form.
Come for the bagel, take home some cheese. This is a one-stop shop for all things dairy, from tubs of gelato to wheels of cheese and the full monty of That’s Amore products for the fridge.
That’s Amore, 66 Latitude Blvd, Thomastown. thatsamorecheese.com.au
FOR A TRUE TURKISH DELIGHT
Balaclava’s three-year-old modern Turkish restaurant, Tulum, has had a makeover in both looks and direction.
Coskun Uysal, whose cooking takes a handful of Istanbul and mixes it with a Melbourne sensibility to create something truly unique, has taken lessons learnt from Tulum’s previous and transformed his critically acclaimed destination diner into something more accessible to the local neighbourhood.
The new-look room is beautiful, comfortable and sexy, with dark panels and exposed bricks, timber and marble and leather all adding good looks. The lighting is flattering, the Anatolian pop infectious, the staff welcoming, knowledgeable and efficient.
And the food? Better than ever.
You can still take a seven-course tour of the regions, but the new menu is more mix-and-match mezze in which nothing save a few bigger plates breaks the $20 mark. It’s generous in the you’re-a-guest-in-my-house way of the Middle East, with such touches as an extra bowl of warm rolls arriving unbidden to mop up various sauces late in the meal just one example of hospitality encoded into DNA.
Grab a group, for there is so much you’ll want to try across both the menu and tight wine list that smatters a few locals throughout Turkish labels/varietals where there’s interesting drinking to be had at the $10 glass/$55 bottle mark.
A supremely clever take on icli kofte sees spiced lamb mince served in pie form, the slice rich with walnuts and cumin. A pond of yoghurt sauce sprinkled with parsley dust and dotted with salgam, a red pickle juice served on the streets of Istanbul, finishes a classic reimagined with true class.
Even better, local calamari sliced into slivers, blanched and soaked in buttermilk until silken are served with lemony breadcrumbs and a lick of harissa for a terrific take on a traditional noodle dish. Huge Clarence River prawns are chucked on the grill before resting on tarhana, a fermented grain soup, and finished with the namesake soft tulum cheese, while meaty sardines come splayed and served with batons of raki-soused cucumber.
A supremely moppable almond soup surrounds a puck of spoon-soft kohlrabi topped with whole fennel seeds, slices of pickled grapes and crushed smoked almonds hiding under more fronds and a few petals. Dots of oil — both olive and dill — complete a plate that’s pretty and delicious.
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More wiping the bowl clean thanks to the burnt butter and garlic yoghurt sauce that comes with the manti, tiny meat-filled dumplings delicate and dexterous ($18). A blizzard of Turkish maras chilli and dried mint atop finishes a plate.
High-end cooking smarts now in an accessible format at unbeatable prices, Tulum is an overnight success three years in the making.
Tulum, 217 Carlisle St, Balaclava. tulumrestaurant.com.au
FOR A WEE DRAM
It’s World Whisky Day on Saturday, which provides all the reason you need to head to Port Melbourne and celebrate with the good folk at Starward.
They’ll be showcasing their signature whiskies, along with multiple world drops from six countries at the afternoon event where eats will be provided by Big Earl’s Roadhouse and Babajis Kitchen. Get your Whiskies of the World passport stamped from noon-4pm. Tickets $45.
Starward Distillery, 50 Bertie St, Port Melbourne. starward.com.au
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