Raising the benchmark with Melbourne’s best bar food
MOVE over cashews, we’re going nuts for super snacks while sipping at bars around town. Here are the 15 best snacks served at bars.
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EATING is cheating. More than anything, this one phrase has defined Australian drinking culture through the years.
Whether it’s a hangover of the days of the 6 o’clock swill or our more distant beer-fuelled colonial past, Australia and booze has had a competitive relationship where it is drink to get drunk, pot after pot, shot after shot.
But a new wave of Melbourne bars is aiming to change this one drink, and bite, at a time.
“No way is eating cheating,” says Mallory Wall of Café di Stasio, which opened a complementary wine bar three years ago next door to the iconic St Kilda restaurant.
“If you’re drinking, you need something to accompany the drink, and for us, that means real food,” she says. “In Italy food is such an integral part of everything, including bars. And when we set up (Bar di Stasio) it was always about food in the bar. We wanted it to be about classic cocktails and eating.”
It’s not just the Italians who do eating and drinking well. After many years living in the spiritual home of tapas, Granada, Callen Parsons returned to Australia determined to bring a slice of Spain – especially its drinking culture – to Melbourne.
Callen, with business partner James Rankin, opened Bar Estrella in Brunswick late last year where you’ll be served a free tapa with every drink. “We want to change the way people drink,” Callen says. “And this Spanish tradition sets the tone of the establishment. We want people to share, talk, socialise, and free food is a really nice way to welcome people.”
In small ways these venues and their operators are doing their part in changing our relationship with alcohol, one delicious mouthful after another.
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Here are the 15 best snacks served at bars where eating’s not cheating but winning hands down:
PARMESAN FRIES: $6
At first blush, it’s the silliest thing. I mean, you don’t make friends with faux bacon. Unless you’re Scott Pickett. Then you make many friends, whether Northcote locals or foodies from further afar, with your dashi, brown sugar and sesame mix that, yes, tastes just like bacon. Sprinkled liberally over thick, crunchy fingers of parmesan-kissed polenta – gloriously crisp and golden outside, moreishly molten inside – and you have a snack that’s a hit with both vegetarians and a crisp pilsner alike.
Estelle Bistro. 243 High St, Northcote. estellebistro.com
RACLETTE: $15
If there’s a better drinking companion than potato smothered in melted cheese with a few cornichons for conversation, I’m yet to meet them. At this simple and sublime little Smith St wine bar that’s modelled on the neighbourhood bars you find on every corner in continental Europe, that raclette makes for a best friend indeed to the interesting wines that are on the pour. Whole baby potatoes under a blanket of bubbling L’Artisan fermier cheese that adds the right amount of farmyard-y France is a plate that’s right – all through the night.
Smithward, 48 Smith St, Collingwood. smithward.com.au
TAPAS, free with every drink
At Brunswick’s Bar Estrella, there is such a thing as a free lunch. Well, not quite lunch, but you will be served a free tapa with your drink. Every time. And this is no stale popcorn afterthought, but a substantial snack – perhaps you’ll be served a slice of excellent tortilla with your Estrella, grilled sardines with your sangria, or a Catalan pork stew with your cava. They’re just some of the half dozen changing options on any day, all equally good. With a good line in on-theme wine, sherry and bottled Spanish beer, and a secret sun-drenched courtyard providing Sydney Rd respite, this is a new way to a bar that we love.
Bar Estrella, 206 Sydney Rd, Brunswick. barestrella.com
BEEF CHEEK TARTINE: $12
“It’s the perfect thing to have, sit at the bar, with a glass of wine, and enjoy with some good bread,” says Damien Desbois of the tartine at his new French bistro, Bon Ap. Tartine (slice of bread in French) are little pots filled with good things to spread on that bread. There’s a ham and cheese number, and ratatouille with goat’s cheese. But the pick is the beef cheek, slow-cooked with carrot, onion, red wine, orange and a touch of dark chocolate. Delicieux!
Bon Ap, 193 Brunswick St, Fitzroy. bonap.com.au
CHILLI DOG: $10
What it lacks in looks, it makes up for with personality. And anyway, everyone looks good bathed in the glowing red of the Heartbreaker neon sign at this late-night dive bar that secretly raises its pinky. And the chilli dog is no exception. It’s the perfect foil to the satisfyingly strong Everleigh bottled cocktails; a soft, sweetish milk bun cradles a thick cheese kransky that’s then slathered in a rustic, onion-rich chilli, with a chunk of grated cheddar melted atop. It’s the best boozy sopper-upperer in town, so you can put another dime in the jukebox, baby.
Love Street Diner at Heartbreaker, 234A Russell St, city. heartbreakerbar.com.au
OLIVE ASCOLANE: $8
Crunchy, salty, meaty fried goodness – yes the stuffed olives at this cool and comfy northside fave are the only plate to put next to a cold beer, negroni or aperol spritz. Large green olives stuffed with a pork and veal mince mix are double crumbed for extra crunch and deep fried. The Italians know good snack and these nuggets of happiness are snack done well indeed.
Joanie’s Baretto, 832A High St, Thornbury. joaniesbaretto.com.au
FOREVER MUSHROOM PIZZA: $12
Footscray has its very own warehouse-down-a-laneway bar and Back Alley Sally’s, from Jerome Borazio, is a fab new spot for pints and pool. Thanks to Slice Girls downstairs, there’s good pizza to go with, too. Along with the ham and pineapple Baby Slice, the mushroom, caramelised onion and mozzarella-laden Forever Mushroom is a chart-topping hit.
Back Alley Sally’s, upstairs, 4 Yewers St, Footscray. backalleysallys.com.au
PIERINO TOASTED SANDWICH: $10
It’s arguably the most famous toasted sandwich in the world – it’s likely the most expensive. But you don’t need to travel to Italy for a Harry’s Bar toasted sandwich now that Vaporetto has docked, bringing a little slice of Venice to Hawthorn. Granted, it’s not the birthplace of the Bellini, but its homage to Harry’s snack is seriously tasty – prosciutto and oozy Emmental livened with mustard and a pinch of cayenne heat in a whitebread finger toasted crisp. Part of the new Lido cinema complex, this little bar, replete with Murano chandeliers, is the spritz-friendly spot for pre- or post-film fun.
Vaporetto, rear 681 Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn. vaporetto.com.au
MUSSEL DIP, POTATO CRISP: $3
Another day, another excellent wine bar opens in Melbourne. This time, with the collective smarts of Attica alumni Banjo Harris Plane and Michael Bascetta joining forces with Casey Wall and Manu Potoi (Rockwell and Sons) behind Bar Liberty, you know the wine will be as classy as the food tasty. And it is. While there’s seriously good settle-in-for-the-night eating on the short carte, the two-bite mussel crisps are a perfect way to start while sipping something elegant (as recommended). Mussels poached with fennel are pureed with cream cheese until light, topped with lovage and served on a slice of potato fried crisp. At once salty, creamy and elegantly sea, it’s the cracker-snack that brings em back.
Bar Liberty, 234 Johnston St, Fitzroy. barliberty.com
½ SHELL SCALLOP: $6
At this Port Melbourne hot spot that’s brought Melbourne’s current funky SE Asian obsession bayside, there’s many spicy cool things coming out of the kitchen, but the best mate to a cold Singha is the Harvey Bay scallop. Served warmed on the shell hidden under a flurry of chilli, crunchy shallots, spring onion and finished with flecks of smoked trout and pomelo pearls, it’s a vibrant and clever few lemongrass-spiked bites that’s hard to beat.
Tenpin, 67 Beach St, Port Melbourne. tenpinkitchen.com.au
AFTER SCHOOL SANDWICH: $13
It’s the snack that’s as comforting as a hug from mumma after you’ve grazed your knees; as familiar as a spit-licked hanky wiped on your face – though definitely more delicious, and, paired with a negroni, infinitely more adult. Between two slices of effortlessly fluffy white bread slathered in butter a herb-crumbed veal cotoletta lies, its heat melting the butter to be sopped up by the bread. Homework never looked – or tasted – this damn good.
Bar Di Stasio, 31 Fitzroy St, St Kilda distasio.com.au
SOURED CUCUMBER: $8
While this new outing for the acclaimed Town Mouse team is a wine bar first and foremost, it’s one with very good things to eat. Dave Verheul is behind the pass in the kitchen; Christian McCabe’s out front pouring glasses of the organic, the biodynamic and the natural from around the world. And a plate of soured cucumber is the perfectly bracing, palate cleansing way to begin. Chunky pieces of sharp juicy cucumber are served atop feta whipped into creamy submission, the lot dusted with dill powder that adds colour and class. It’s a cucumber sandwich just like nana made, if she had a beard, a few tattoos and an aversion to socks — and gluten.
Embla, 122 Russell St, city. embla.com.au
SMOKED OCTOPUS: $16
It arrives on a board, simple and unadorned. A cheek of lemon to one side, a delicate little pile of salt to the other. A bone-handled Lagoile knife slices the long curling tentacle, all purple-tinged suckers and bright white flesh. Its unassuming listing on the menu as “smoked octopus” does little justice to the most dramatic bar snack in town.Opening late last year at the top end of South Yarra, South Press is another in the recent tide of new-wave bars doing world-wise wine that’s teamed with friendly food, and that soft salty smokiness of the octopus pairs perfectly with a glass of crisp gruner vertliner.
South Press, 27 Toorak Rd, South Yarra. southpress.com.au
SMOKED SALMON PROFITEROLES: $12
Bayside boozing has a new player. Hampton Wine Co brings expertise and enthusiasm to the table, not to mention a smart space with wine-lined walls and an inventive snacks menu. Since three former Jacques Reymond young guns opened shop in December, one dish has emerged as a signature – the smoked salmon profiteroles. Three orbs of savoury choux - plump with a smooth, not-too-fishy mousse, accented with pepper and chives, are given a liberal sprinkle of tomato dust that brings colour and contrast to the plate. Best teamed with a rosé, these are also served as a canape at monthly dinners in the upstairs function space.
Hampton Wine Co, 444 Hampton St, Hampton. hamptonwine.co
PARMESAN CELERY CRACKERS: $8
Singling one snack out of the very many very good things to eat at Marion, Andrew McConnell’s new Gertrude St wine bar that joins his stable of goodtime players, seems almost unjust, so filled is the board with hits. But for sheer poshtastic fun, the two-bite parmesan crackers is the one. Like an adult take on a cheese whiz and celery sandwich (oh the memories), a parmesan custard that’s sticky and salty is zigzagged across a Wheaton-channelling crisp, with pickled celery adding sharp crunch. A shaving of bottarga finishes this perfectly pretty trip down memory lane.
Marion, 53 Gertrude St, Fitzroy. marionwine.com.au
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