Lady Carolina in East Brunswick dishes up Latin American fare that’s hot stuff
TACOS and tortillas washed down with pisco and punch, Lady Carolina is showing East Brunswick how to have a Latin American good time.
Melbourne
Don't miss out on the headlines from Melbourne. Followed categories will be added to My News.
COURAGE under fire. Strength in adversity. In a restaurant, as in life, it’s not what you do when things go to plan but how you react when they don’t that defines success. And it’s hard to think of a scenario for a new restaurant that is more anti-plan than the electricity going out at 9pm on Friday when the place is filled to bursting.
But that’s what happened at Lady Carolina, East Brunswick’s long-awaited Latin American kitchen that has Paul Wilson (New Market Hotel, Acland St Cantina) at the helm. A block-wide power outage, a full dining room, a back bar likewise …
In most hands this would be the moment when not only the wheels fell off, but they rolled down the hill, never to be seen again.
Seemingly not missing a beat, out came the iPhone flashlights in the kitchen, the floor staff carrying on as if this were a most normal occurrence.
With the restaurant already lit by candles, it did an even better job of transporting us all to a little Mexican beach shack than the already flowing margaritas. That this show most certainly went on, with grace and good humour, was a true credit to all.
And why wouldn’t we all roll with it when the cocktails were being shaken with real class? Along with those margaritas — Cazadores tequila and French curacao and a rock salt rim elevating the classic but just $12 — Peru’s national drink, pisco, is the main focus of the shakers behind the bar.
The signature Inca Punch is a good way to get in the mood ($14). So, too, a bright and eggwhite frothy pisco sour, bursting with lime ($14). Along with the bowl of spiced roasted corn kernels, on the table gratis, and you have a great intro.
All that citrus plays well with Paul’s love affair with the food of Latin America that here trips from Peru through Cuba and Mexico.
A cone of brilliant tortilla chips (made in the traditional stoneground corn nixtamal method) are good enough to eat on their own, even better to use to scoop through the bowl of guacamole topped with puffed pork rinds, crisp bacon and pomegranate ($15).
There’s a good line in ceviche, none better than the pretty storm clams, served in the shell, that had an incredible elegant heat that danced and romanced in equal measure ($12).
A piece of excellent tuna, deep ruby in colour and creamy in texture nodded to Peru’s Japanese heritage with pickled ginger and jalapeño sparring along with a sweet-salty sauce that was deftly refined and deeply delicious. Expensive at $16, but most definitely worth it, and the only real stand out, cost wise, on the menu that’s otherwise keenly priced.
No faulting the plate of suckling pig for $32, the succulent meat served with just-fatty, supple skin, plantain crisps and a sharp orange mojo with a hit of bitterness that provided a confronting contrast to the sweet meat.
Excellent tortillas from Kensington’s La Tortilleria are the real deal, filled with a changing selection, including punchy pork with fermented pineapple, or smoky sweet potatoes amped up with a cheesy huancaina sauce ($15 for two).
It’s not all meat and fish — with real highlights found under the verduras section, including a plate of charred broccoli that’s a riot of textures and flavours: nutty, cheesy, salty, crunchy. With a spritz of lime to finish, it’s stupidly delicious ($7/$14). Also good, the shredded chayote (a Mexican squash), served with a pumpkin shoots and a sour tamarind dressing ($7/$14).
Though romantic by candlelight, I went back the next day for lunch to see the space in all its turquoise, yellow and black-and-white tiled glory. It’s a good-looking, clever use of a big room, with wooden screens breaking up the dining room while still retaining a sense of intimacy.
There’s a cheeky, vibrant, astro-turfed bar and “street kitchen” out back, where it’s all about proper tacos to make you sweat and Peruvian snow cones of fruit and rum to cool you down, with the dining room more formal — good crockery, proper napkins, separate menu — but still casual.
While it seems odd seeing a restaurant described as “for profit” on its website, this makes sense given Alby Tomassi — he of social projects YGAP and Feast of Merit — is behind this good Lady, which was previously his cheerful pizza joint Jimmy Jamz. It’s now buzzy and bustling with an unapologetic love of authentic heat that’s delicious. You could say Lady Carolina is almost as much fun you can have with the lights off.
LADY CAROLINA
175 Lygon St, Brunswick East
Open: Tues-Fri from 6pm; Sat-Sun from noon (kitchen closed 4.30pm-6pm)
Highlight: Cool ceviche that’s hot
Lowlight: Tyranny of tortilla choice
Score: 15/20
Originally published as Lady Carolina in East Brunswick dishes up Latin American fare that’s hot stuff
Join the conversation
Where to eat and drink this weekend
Whether a bar snack sanga that’s the city’s best, a toastie with the mosty at a reimagined fine diner or worldly sips at Sandy’s new wine bar, here are Dan Stock’s top tips for where to eat and drink this weekend.
Read more
A west newcomer with booked-out-for-weeks bang
NO longer just where fab pho and other cheap eats can be found, the west is now also home to Yarraville’s Navi, Melbourne’s newest destination diner, writes Dan Stock.
Read more