Molly Rose Brewing Chef’s Table review 2023: Kara Monssen reviews Collingwood brew-pub

Forget spending big money on set menus with matching wine, this Collingwood brew-pub’s fancy new chef’s table does 12 courses for less than $100 — and you won’t leave hungry.

Molly Rose Brewing’s new chef’s table experience is excellent value for money.

Dear Biggie,

We need to talk.

I’ve noticed you’re messing around with flavours that don’t typically belong together. You know what I’m talking about.

It’s that tagliatelle seaweed number you cook at Molly Rose Brewing’s fancy schmancy new chef’s table. The “signature”!

I know Italian food is your love language, and you’ve prodded and pressed enough dough in kitchens with Milanese chef Paolo Masciopinto (of Sarti) to earn your keep.
You’ve done the hard yards at Nomad, Matilda 159, Cappo Sociale and Aromi and have a knack for using Japanese, Thai and Indo flavours.

Miang Kham with mussels, ginger and peanuts.

But on paper, foamy pecorino cheese with seaweed pasta should be illegal; a real crime against cooking. Pumpkin puree as well? These flavours wrestle for your attention like a teething toddler.

So you can understand how sheepish I felt after my first bite. They work brilliantly together.

Hats off to your pasta making skills, as those nori-speckled ribbons were so silky and luscious I slurped every last bit and licked the plate clean, even though by this stage of the degustation I was ready to tap out.

I know the website says five courses for $95, but I wasn’t expecting 12 separate pieces of food – from pre-snack snack, one-bite belters, mid-course bread and parting bombolini.

That pork crackle, dusted in a katsuobushi (fermented fish salt) had me hungry for the snacks to follow. Like the perky pickled mussels with ginger, lime and caramelised coconut sugar sauce snug in a betel leaf. You knocked it out of the park in freshness and flavour.

Your take on bread and butter was also impressive.

I thought the sourdough, made from brewery stout and black rice flour, koji butter and sweet Indo soy kecap manis, riffed on the Italian aged balsamic/olive oil combo nicely.

Translucent sheets of Tassie trumpeter draped over smoked tomatoes in a lively dashi broth, was cleansing and punchy.

Pork crackling.

Trumpeter with smoked tomatoes.

Speaking of, you harness the powerful flavours in some of those heavier dishes like a pro.

Lamb ribs brined and smoked three days prior are squiggled with an uplifting persimmon jam and zippy finger lime.

And can you thank owner and brewer Nic Sandery?

Despite the chef’s table being away from the warehouse buzz, in an exposed-brick walled room out the back, we are is still technically in the brewery. Four fermenting tanks, a masher and kettle/whirlpool sit metres away and are responsible for some of those fancier brews in the drinks match.

Like the mandarin and basil amber ale which shares the same citrus vibe as those starting snacks or the “Rye of the Tiger”; hand-pumped IPA to lower carbonation for a creamy, dreamy bev.

Molly Rose Brewing’s Chef’s Table flips the wine degustation on its head. Picture: Sarah Anderson.

Even non-beer lovers would appreciate being whisked away before dessert by vivacious venue manager Simon Kingsley Hall for a quick brewery tour and tank tasting of “beer tea”.

Those free drink top-ups didn’t go unnoticed, either, nor how incredibly great value the paired experience was at $55 a pop.

Sure, the chef’s table lets you run wild and is unlike typical brewery fare (order this in the front room), but you’ve also gifted our city a truly unique eating and drinking experience.

And for that, I thank you.