Prohibition Food and Wine in Camberwell brings inner-city polish, prices to the ‘burbs

THINK good food, good wine and fun times are limited to the inner city? This stylish suburban joint is changing all that — and the locals are loving it.

Taste full page review: Prohibition. Veal cotoletta. Picture- Nicole Cleary

It’s 7pm on a Wednesday and the joint is jumping.

There are tables of gal pals sipping bubbles and espresso martinis, 30-something boys at the bar catching up over a pint, grey haired duos and extended families tucking into an early dinner. There’s not a spare seat in the house.

Pretty busy night, I said to our waiter. This is nothing, he said. You should see the weekend. It’s pumping.

Camberwell, pumping? But why wouldn’t Prohibition be? In an area of Melbourne known as a dry zone; not of booze, any more, but of interesting, affordable dining options
that deliver a modicum of excitement, of course locals are flocking, especially as this one comes without charging suburban tax.

You know, that offering all-too-often seen outside the inner city, where substandard product is served at inflated prices and getting away with it for a lack of local options, drink driving laws, parking fines and no meaningful competition.

Prohibition is the antithesis – serving generally polished, delicious, on-trend food at
great prices with an interesting wine list.

Wayne and Kirsty Stoll are behind this glorious makeover of what was once the State Bank, so thanks to smart design the high ceilings and windows let the light in, while the dark bentwood chairs and tan leather chairs around the comfortable leather banquette add 2015 style that feels reassuringly expensive.

The crispy prawns. Picture: Nicole Cleary

Wayne was previously the publican of Prahran’s Mount Erica hotel, and, while this is a stylish step up from a pub, that same sense of welcoming hospitality pervades this new venue.

He’s put Matt Barlow in charge of the kitchen, and his time spent at Two Birds One Stone and Fatto shows through a menu that ticks off Eurasian bistro hits with big, comforting flavours that don’t demand much thinking, just enjoying. And there’s much to enjoy.

Such as the doughnuts. This year’s most surprising trend is the savoury doughnut. From the most doughnutty of all (the paprika sugar-coated meat version at Preston’s Dexter) through Two Wrongs in South Yarra, the savoury doughnut is this year’s slider, soon to conquer all menus. The confit garlic version here will easily convert any doubters. Light, airy, cheesy golden balls with just a hint of garlic, hidden under a blizzard of finely grated pecorino, with a sweet-sharp chunky tomato marmeletta to swipe them through ($9).

Even better, the crisp confit duck ($17), the menu hiding the fact this is more best-ever spring roll than anything else. A thin pastry shell is packed with duck and served with an excellent chilli jam that ticks off sweet and heat in equal measure. A peanut-sprinkled salad of Thai basil, lychee and snake beans adds the right amount of green to the rich meat.

The veal cotoletta. Picture: Nicole Cleary

I also very much liked the Asian flavours – lemongrass and betel leaf and turmeric – that brightened the bowl of crisp soft shell prawns that were all crunch, but the calamari curls alongside let down the dish – chewy, damp, disappointingly lacking any advertised crispness ($17).

I wasn’t sold on the octopus. Though teamed with the classic Mediterranean combination of potatoes, peppers and olives, I found the tentacles too mushy-soft, the potatoes too wet, the plate too much of a mess and the only real miss of the night ($19).

No such problems with a wine list filled with interesting drops by the glass (or 250ml carafe) with most at $10 or under – there’s a Kiwi sav blanc, though not from Marlborough but Waiheke Island, the rosé is from Austria, the riesling’s off-dry. There’s a good selection of big-hitting Aussie reds on the reserve list for more traditional tastes.

The chocolate parfait. Picture: Nicole Cleary

And the biggest hit of the night? The pork cotoletta – a simple, elegant, generous portion of pork in a great herb-crumb that was deeply tanned, the meat perfectly cooked. Served with an apple and radish-spiked slaw, it’s the type of textbook dish you turn to in times of comforting need ($28).

Sure the young floor staff could do with a bit more on-the-job training – share plates weren’t cleared between courses, wine by the glass not poured at the table – but at least local kids are getting a taste for the industry. And you do get linen napkins, that glassware is good and hefty steak knives come down for the big stuff off the grill.

It’s jumping for good reason. It’s clever, classy and classic. If I were a local, I’d be
jumping for joy.

Prohibition Food and Wine

1395 Toorak Rd, Camberwell

9889 2385

prohibitionfoodandwine.com.au

Open: Tues-Sun, noon-11pm

Highlight: Crisp confit duck

Lowlight: Can get loud

Score: 13.5/20