Best places to eat and drink in Melbourne and Victoria
At Shane Delia’s new Maha Bar, Maltese mezze are offered for free for drinkers on weekends. Yes, you heard it right. Here’s where to get the most out of Melbourne this weekend.
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Whether it’s a city wine bar that’s a heap of grape fun, cool kebabs in Coolaroo or marvellous Maltese mezze, here are the best spots to eat and drink this weekend.
FOR FREE MALTESE MEZZE
It might be some grilled Maltese sausage with spiced burnt butter, perhaps a little lima bean salad with toum and smoked eel, or maybe a feta and haloumi doughnut to swipe through smoked onion dip.
Whatever it is, it’s assured to be delicious - and for a couple of hours every Friday through Sunday afternoon from 3-5pm, also absolutely free.
Shane Delia says his new Maha Bar, which has taken the place of his Biggie Smalls kebab shop on Smith St in Collingwood, is modelled on his favourite bars in Malta where gratis meze are given out to those stopping by for a drink.
While those meze are the main event for those sipping on a house-infused raki (pickled celery, sour cherry or cola) or Turkish delight martini at the bar, for diners in the 50 seater it will be such snacks as spiced beef borek buns and semolina crumpets with salmon caviar that’ll get the feasting under way.
Bigger proteins (Maha’s famous 12-hour roasted lamb; duck with muhammara) are bolstered with jazzed up vegetables (asparagus with sujuck; roast carrots with maple and harissa; tomatoes with almond hummus) across the menu that encourages solo diners popping in for a plate of chickpea and garlic dumplings and a glass of wine and groups going the full soufra (banquet) in equal measure.
Maha Bar is at 86 Smith St, Collingwood. mahabar.com.au
FOR COOL KEBABS
He heralded the era of cool Collingwood when he opened the hottest little restaurant on Smith St a decade back, now Gigibaba’s Ismail Tosun has added his Turkish cool to Coolaroo.
After a successful stint as a food truck, Tosun has just opened a bricks and mortar Miksa.
He’s serving the Anatolian adana, kofta, and chicken sis that made the truck such a hit on Wednesday to Saturday from 6pm in the 40-seat dining room, with weekend breakfasts and a more extensive a la carte menu to follow from next week.
Miksa is at shop 6, 1350 Pasco Vale Rd, Coolaroo
FOR A FINE WINE TIME
Taking over the Flinders Lane site that was until recently Guy Grossi’s pizza pocket place, Pezzo, Mrs Singh is a wine bar that doubles as a bottle shop.
Mrs Singh is the cure for every too-cool inner-city wine bar; sommelier Bhatia Dheeraj the breath of fresh air that blows away every wine w*nker assumption.
With the unique ability to make you feel as excited about drinking something as he seems to be pouring it, you’ll want to put yourself in Dheeraj’s hands and go on a delicious journey of discovery.
It’s colourful and loud and slightly chaotic.
With a soundtrack that could throw out anything from Culture Club through Beastie Boys at any moment, it’s a lot of fun.
Jessi Singh (Daughter in Law) is also having a lot of fun in the kitchen.
You could do the traditional wine bar thing and get a platter of cheese (one soft, one hard, one blue) or meat (spiced venison, duck terrine, chicken pate), but you’d miss out on the breads coming hot out of the tandoor.
Along with garlic and plain naan, there’s kulcha (a mildly leavened flatbread) served with such twisted toppings as taleggio and truffle oil, and blue cheese with onion.
The paratha – a thin flatbread, served crisp and charred – comes more traditionally sprinkled with herbs and chilli, with a fiery mango pickle and whipped butter alongside. It’s terrifically tasty.
A dice of tuna and compressed watermelon provides cool comfort when scooped with pappadum colourfully dusted with beetroot powder, especially when compared with the vindaloo momos.
These Nepalese/North Indian dumplings are densely stuffed with pork and come doused in a vindaloo sauce of complex depth and heat.
Squares of pan-fried paneer – the fresh, mild fresh cheese – sandwiching a crunchy fresh slaw is my kind of slider, while the duck paratha is a bit like a crunchy, smoky subcontinental souva.
Mrs Singh is restorative, relaxed and super enjoyable.
If you’ve ever felt talked down to by a wine waiter, come here. And if you don’t drink wine? A pina colada served in a pineapple has you sorted.
Mrs Singh is at 88 Flinders Lane, city. mrssingh.com.au
FOR AFRICAN COCKTAILS
The Meat & Wine Co steakhouse has opened in Chadstone Shopping Centre and has brought with it an Afro-centric cocktail bar, Puza.
A Zulu word for “drink”, Puza is a modern South African bar featuring more than 130 wines by the glass and bottle and is perfect for a pre- or post-steak drink.
Tucked away beneath The Meat & Wine Co dining lounge, the space puts a modern twist on the traditional African watering hole with circular seated areas, velvet accents and earthy decor.
Puza at The Meat & Wine Co is at Chadstone Shopping Centre. themeatandwineco.com
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