Short bites: The Pirate Experience, Yum Sing House karaoke, Lona Misa’s veg takeover
Dockland’s new dinner and cabaret pirate theatre show has plenty of yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum. Here’s more food news with Dan Stock.
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Ahoy me mateys, if you fancy dinner with a difference, set sail for the Docklands and the compass to the Mission to Seafarers for there’s yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum ready to go.
After a sellout season at the Old Melbourne Gaol, the Queens of the Damned pop-up theatre restaurant troupe have taken to the high seas with their next immersive dinner-and-a-cabaret show, the Pirate Experience.
Set over four rooms of the heritage-listed building, the night begins with sea shanties and getting shipwrecked by the fire in the Castaways Courtyard, before a two-course meal served under the historic Norla Dome that’s been transformed into an underwater world of mermaids and treasure.
The adults-only show features booty-shakin’ burlesque beauties and swashbuckling circus acts and for those making a Big Night Out of it, there’s VIP (Very Important Pirate) packages including cocktails on arrival and access to the exclusive Captain’s Quarters.
Creative director Holly Mouat says she and co-owner Monica Star spent last year writing a number of different themed shows “but once we visited the Mission to Seafarers we knew it had to be pirates”.
Themed cocktails — mostly rum-based, of course — include the Drunken Sailor, the Mermaid and The Kraken — a dark take on a Bramble with mint, lime … and a souvenir tentacle.
Avast ye!
The Pirate Experience runs every Saturday night from May 15 at 717 Flinders St, city.
For bookings: queensofthedamnedcabaret.com
SING FOR SUPPER
Melbourne’s CBD, (slowly) awakening from its COVID coma, is something to sing about and a new two-level warehouse from the team behind Baroque House and Bond Bar is just the spot to do so in.
Yum Sing House is a 1960s Hong Kong-inspired bar, restaurant and karaoke den, where five karaoke rooms named after Hong Kong neighbourhoods and themed accordingly – from the red-light Wan Chai district through the Happy Valley racecourse – join a modern Cantonese restaurant helmed by head chef Aiven Chee (ex Longrain).
Hospo veteran Iain Ling (The Lincoln) consulted on the project that’s been in the works since March 2018 “so every detail, from the design to the menu has been carefully considered”.
Tea-based cocktails complement the menu of mod Cantonese dishes, with the karaoke and carousing continuing through to 5am on the weekends.
Yum Sing House, at 22 Sutherland St, Melbourne, is scheduled to open in May.
VEG TAKEOVER
“What vegetarian restaurant do you know that has a Josper? I mean it’s epic!” says Shannon Martinez (Smith & Daughers) of the lux piece of kitchen kit that’s coal-firing her veg and vegan eatery Lona Misa that officially opened on Friday night.
Taking over the ground floor of the fabulously funky new Ovolo Hotel in South Yarra, Martinez in conjunction with Ian Curley (Kirk’s Wine Bar) has created a plant-based menu that moves from a daytime cafe and all day dining into a full restaurant by night.
The meat-free fare features such dishes as Martinez’s famous tortilla and heuvos rancheros to start the day and snacks including fried olives with queso fresca, chargrilled corn with coffee mayo and oyster mushroom ceviche to have with a cocktail – perhaps the Lona Misa take on a Pina Colada featuring banana-infused rum and pineapple kombucha.
Larger dishes include a signature peri-peri whole cauliflower, and roasted sweet potato with mole negro and spiced V2 mince from the Josper. Martinez says she’s wanted to bring her popular brand of vegan cooking southside for years.
Lona Misa, breakfast and all-day dining daily, with dinner served Thurs-Sat from 5.30pm at 234 Toorak Rd, South Yarra. lonamisa.com.au
THE ART OF COCKTAILS
Artist and cocktail artisan Matt Bax (Bar Americano, Der Raum) is launching his latest exhibition, Memento Moribana, with a cocktail reception at Clifton Hill’s Grau Projekt on Saturday.
Featuring paintings that recall the power of flowers throughout art, as with all Grau Projekt exhibition openings, a cocktail reception featuring a Bax-designed drink inspired by the art will be served.
The cocktail opening party is 2pm-4pm Saturday, April 24 at 2-12 Alexandra Pde, Clifton Hill. Tickets are $18 to the opening party, with Memento Moribana running until June 12.
NEXT DOOR
Nagambie wine bar/restaurant Eighteen Sixty has been joined by a sister cafe next door called Next Door.
The grab-and-go provedore opened on Saturday and serves St Ali coffee, grilled paninis – bacon and egg or truffled mushrooms for brekkie, porchetta and fennel slaw, say for lunch – baked goods and pasta sauces, meats, cheese and wine for home.
“We see Next Door as complementary to the restaurant, it’s more for those who want good food and coffee in a more casual setting,” co-owner David Powell says.
Next Door at 312A High St, Nagambie is open daily from 7am.
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