Short Bites: Curries and cocktails at Indu Melbourne
It’s curries and cocktails at a new Sri Lankan restaurant. Plus a South Yarra bistro opens and the city has a new rooftop cinema. Dan Stock with the latest food news.
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They first transformed the rear of the Collins Quarter building in the CBD at the end of last year into a bustling taqueria where the mescal flows freely and the guacamole gets smashed tableside at Mejico.
Now Ian Hicks and Sam Prince have turned their attention to the front of the space, turning what was the Collins Quarter cafe into INDU, a Sri Lankan/South Indian restaurant where hoppers and dosa, curries and cocktails are the order of the day.
“INDU is a nod to my heritage and a place that is reminiscent of home and being welcomed into someone’s home especially like in the villages of Sri Lanka,” Prince says.
“There are dishes on the menu that are my mother’s recipes including the Amma’s daal and potato curry as well as dishes that are inspired by my childhood or I have discovered through my travels.”
To a hippy trail soundtrack of Beatles, Dylan and the Doors and a backdrop of Melbourne artist Ash Keating’s fire extinguisher paintings, INDU Melbourne is an evolution of the original Sydney restaurant that opened in 2015.
The menu features Sri Lankan string and egg hoppers (rice flour pancakes) and smoked goat dosas to start before seguing into fenugreek roti with tomatoes and crisp besan (chickpea) fritters, with bigger dishes including devilled pumpkin with coconut chutney, and slow-roasted lamb served with lunumiris, a spicy Sri Lankan sambal.
A selection of signature gins and tonic, along with a tight wine list favouring textural and aromatic whites, are on hand to put out the spice fire.
“When you step into INDU you forget what’s on the outside and find yourself immersed in a whole new place that’s just magical,” co-founder Hicks says.
INDU opens on Feb 8 at 86a Collins St, Melbourne from noon Mon-Fri and from 5pm Sat. indudining.com.au/Melbourne
SHORT BITES
— City wine bar, Embla, has added a rooftop bar and cinema to its summer offering. Owners Dave Verheul and Christian McCabe have taken over the rooftop at 126 Russell St to screen themed retro flicks – Patrick Swayze week; 80s week – after dark and Embla-style snacks and sips from 3pm Wed-Sun.
— Mediterranean-inspired bistro Vesper opens its doors at 25 Toorak Rd, South Yarra, on Feb 2. Owners Duncan and Marlane Fraser-Smith have returned to Australia after a decade operating restaurants in Dubai, with head chef Francesco Castellana earning his stripes at such fine diners as Per Se in New York and Vue de monde here. Open Tues-Sat from 5pm. vesperbistroandbar.com.au
— As part of the Ballarat Summer of Fun festival, Damien Jones is turning the outdoor deck at his acclaimed Thai Mr Jones into a summer pop-up of skewers cooked over coal and served with his new range of hot sauces and cool cocktails. From Feb 4.
— Diana Chan (MasterChef winner 2017) has teamed up cheese wiz Antony Femia to create a toasty with a twist. The Sambal Hae Bee includes a spicy shrimp-lemongrass-galangal sambal topped with provolone that’s baked in a brioche bun and served with pickled on the side. Available at Maker & Monger at Prahran Market until April.
WHISKY BUSINESS
“If you’re not drinking (alcohol), what is there apart from sugar-filled soft drinks or sparkling water? If you’re not drinking, you can feel left out,” Monday Distillery founder Sam Manning says.
So she set about changing that, first with a classic G+T (“gin without the tears”), then a rum “dark and stormy”, a tequila “Paloma” – all alcohol and sugar-free.
Next week Manning will release the latest in the range – “whiskey without the wobbles” – from her Geelong-based distillery in the form of two pre-mixed drinks: a Dram Sour and Dram & Dry.
“We’ve had a lot of requests for this one,” Manning says.
“Aussies love a dram of the amber nectar, but they’re increasingly not so fond of hangovers or losing their motor skills.”
The Monday Distillery range is available at Dan Murphy’s and mondaydistillery.com.
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