Maison Ama Lurra: 123 Howard Street, North Melbourne, 9329 6622
My score: 3.5/5
Tea drinkers have been rather neglected in the recent coffee hoo-hah. But just because there are no $25,000 machines to brew tea, it doesn’t mean tea isn’t special, sustaining and worthy of its own cults, if not perhaps its own bicycle craze. Maison Ama Lurra (that’s Basque for House of Mother Earth) serves Mariage Freres teas in weighty cast iron pots; a complimentary candied nut, praline or other little treat beckons on the saucer. I love the slightly smoky Tsar Alexandre tea; drink it black or the Tsar rolls in his grave. There’s geek-worthy coffee too, including from the clever science-lab-esqe Bacchi stovetop espresso machine.
Ama Lurra is a spacious ex-office space with concrete floors, private meeting rooms (book in, no charge) and an enormous toilet with a baby change table. The dining floor has small tables, a communal space and couches. There’s plenty of pram room and even an indoor bike rack for those who love their two-wheeled babies too much to shackle them on the cold, hard pavement. The silver and green fit-out is cool and calming: future plans include more indoor greenery, art exhibitions to take advantage of the natural light and massive walls, and an outdoor terrace to make it as Parisian as the broad streets of Kangaland can get.
French folk run the place and the food is a curatorial homage to other Melbourne-based compatriots. So there’s great bread from Port Melbourne’s Noisette, including sourdough, fig and walnut, and olive. At lunch, the bread is toasted and presented as a tartine, an open toastie cum ploughman’s platter with yummy comestibles such as pates from La Parisienne, sliced meats from Euro producers, cornichons, tomatoes, a green salad. To feel extremely French, try the Bistro tartine, with pork and pistachio terrine, and chicken liver and wild mushroom pate. Breakfast (all day) means croissants (chocolate or jam), muesli or the brunchy Croque Ama Lurra toastie with bush tomato chutney, emmental cheese and ham off the bone. Macarons are a compulsory part of any French showcase right now: these ones are from Cacao. I admit to a violent passion for the violet version.
Ama Lurra’s offering is simple but mostly lovely. The Devondale butter packet doesn’t match the otherwise artisan feel and I reckon the toast/toppings ratio is a little light on the bread side but the niceties of nice teas are all there.
See their website.
More tea:
Proud Mary, 172 Oxford Street, Collingwood, 9417 5930.
Expect exacting standards and awesome teas. The calming Japanese Gaba is brewed at 85 degrees for three minutes; the champagne of teas, Darjeeling ‘Puttabong’, is brewed at 95 degrees for four minutes and a new pastry chef is creating ace tea-friendly sweets.
Oriental Tea House, Chadstone Shopping Centre, 9949 2072 (also Chapel Street, Little Collins Street, Melbourne Central).
Owner and tea expert David Zhou says the best autumn teas nourish Ying. Consider chrysanthemum flower tea, and his Relaxing Blend with peppermint, wolfberry, Chinese dates and liquorice.
Hopetoun Tea Rooms, Block Arcade, 282 Collins Street, Melbourne, 9650 2777. Daily, lunch.
Nana knew what she was doing. Come for traditional cups of tea and accompaniments in a civilised setting.
First published in The Age, March 13, 2011
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