Restaurant review: Embla, Melbourne

Take a seat at the bar of this Melbourne diner and be seduced by the chefs working the smoky wood oven.

On its game: Embla hits the mark where so many of its competitors miss. Picture: Jesse Marlow

There was an era when the inconclusive restaurant review reigned. You’d read something like: “We ordered the roast chicken; I thought it perfectly seasoned, however my dining companion insisted it was excessively salty.” What, exactly, are you supposed to do with that?

We order the “aged flounder”. You’d do it for the name alone, wouldn’t you? A waiter tells us our favourite flatfish is gutted, brined for a few days before drying and hanging for another seven, then roasted, skin-on. It’s served with buttery little navy beans — like fat pine kernels — mixed with preserved lemon beneath a nest of fried kale. The fish (pictured) is splashed with lemony juices and sent directly to the table, an important part of the vitality of the food here.

Embla’s flounder, like so much of its food, is roasted in a redgum-burning plate-steel box that also provides the kitchen’s grill pit with its incendiary embers. Primal stuff. And, as a diner, you can sense a very direct relationship between kitchen and table, something so often missing in restaurants.

Now to the dilemma. I thought it delicious — funky, musty, gelatinous — but smelling a bit … cheesy. Intriguing. My dining partner did not care for it. The very characteristics the flesh had acquired in the ageing detracted from the basic beauty of the produce, she felt. Stalemate.

What do you, the reader, take from this? Mainly that this Melbourne CBD wine bar isn’t afraid to put up the occasional polarising dish. And that’s a good thing.

I defy anyone to pop in here for a drink — as we did — and watch the bushrangers at work in the kitchen and not be seduced. Slabs of roasted hasselback celeriac, rudely healthy asparagus spears, beef flank, garlic cloves, Jerusalem artichokes and sides of chicken, sizzling over glowing coals, sliding in and out of that smoky wood oven in a carefully choreographed firedance. It’s foreplay.

Embla gets the balance between wine and food right; both are taken seriously without being po-faced, and staff read customers well (I knew just one of the 18 wines by the glass, but enjoyed three recommendations enormously). And the food is simple, refreshing, honest and well-priced; it hits the mark where some very obvious City competitors miss. Little wonder the place rocked into the collective Melburnian heart so fast.

Things such as soured cucumber pieces dusted with dill powder on a feta cream, the perfect modern dill pickle; the distinctly Spanish note of fermented red pepper paste as a base for snapper “carpaccio” dressed with olive oil and Meyer lemon zest; charred asparagus on a cream of goat cheese, finished with a dusting of grated goat cheese; a beautiful piece of beef flank cooked over embers, sliced and served on a porcini juice with golden elk leaves and knobs of roasted Jerusalem artichoke. And the house-made bread is worth the charge.

Desserts are $12, and there are just two. Both fun, both technically excellent. One layers mint sorbet, beautifully textured anise parfait and a thin slice of “preserved” pineapple. The other — malted barley crème caramel served with a burnt pear compote — has the same seductive mouthfeel and restrained sweetness with a touch of acidity. Perfect.

I fully concede to being a late adopter on Embla; by the same token, the place has matured considerably since it opened last December, developing warmth and a real Melbourne personality. I think we can all agree on that.

Aged flounder. Picture: Jesse Marlow

AT A GLANCE

ADDRESS: 122 Russell St, Melbourne

CONTACT: 03 9654 5923 embla.com.au

HOURS: Lunch Mon-Fri; dinner Mon-Sat

TYPICAL PRICES: Starters $14; mains $35; dessert $12

LIKE THIS? TRY ... Bar Brosé, 10 William Street, Sydney; Petition, Perth

SUMMARY: A real catch

RATING: 4 stars