Huxtable: 131 Smith Street, Fitzroy, 9419 5101
My score: 4.5/5
Tables. Pah! Yawn. Blah. Sit me at the bar where I can spy and chat and send my feet into wild orbit. Sure, sometimes perching on a barstool is as slippy-slidey as sitting on a toboggan and often there’s nowhere to put my coat and purse. But I’ll wear the hardships because I feel part of something.
The bar at Huxtable overlooks the busy kitchen so you can see dishes being made then decide to order them. You can even annoy the cooks by asking ‘has anyone eaten as many jalapeno croquettes as we have?’ and ‘what is this amazing stuff sprinkled over the fish?’ (It’s a wakame and sesame seed crumb, highlighting the pristine sweetness of steamed cod.) Unlike many bar stools, these ones are comfortable and have seatbacks. There are also handy hooks for keeping belongings off floor and in reach and gaps in the wall that act as footholds.
Wherever you’re sitting, Huxtable is great. The dining room is full of retro-groover charm, the wine list is joyful and approachable, and the service is confident and hospitable. Chef Daniel Wilson’s food is like high-class indie pop, fun yet rigorous, plucking ideas from Asia, Europe and the Americas with witty exuberance. Brioche buns are spiked with pungent XO sauce and stuffed with Thai-style crab mayo. Lamb shoulder is braised to a delightful slump with tomatoes, olives, anchovies, capers and chilli. It’s pressed, wrapped in kataifi pastry then fried to create a new-style sausage roll. (For more high-low brow interplay, check out Huxtaburger over the road.) Like many dishes here, the play of soft and crisp, bite and collapse, is as important as flavour. (Yes, I’m talking about you, rhubarb donuts!)
Smoked slow-cooked pork cheek is another textural winner: the melting meat comes with fragrant Thai curry sauce and a fresh, contrasting salad of shaved coconut, chilli, finger lime and baby coriander. It’s not show-offy but it’s perfectly judged. The long, happy vegetable section includes a corn and black bean braise with lime and chipotle chilli mayo to balance the starchy sludge. It’s one of many soulful dishes that cater to the meat or gluten free.
Huxtable isn’t a restaurant for everyone (lucky, really, because there are only 40 seats). The two-sittings policy annoys some. The noise won’t endear it to others. But I love it: whether at bar or booth, it’s generous, surprising and totally tasty.
More eat at the bar:
Blue Tongue, 62 Ormond Road, Elwood, 9531 3011
Moseying along happily, this old lizard does a good job of feeding and watering the neighbourhood. Slink in for the pork belly baguette with Asian coleslaw.
Coda, 141 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, 9650 3155
The bar has a good view of the frenetic kitchen here, and there’s a little hatch through which the food appears. Best dishes on a recent visit were the cumin lamb chops and the date crème brulee.
MoVida Next Door, corner Flinders Street & Hosier Lane, Melbourne, 9663 3038
Sit at the bar, sip a rioja, and watch the chefs grill quail, fry croquettes and shuck oysters for a fun, tasty and essential Melbourne experience.
First published in The Age, June 10, 2012
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