Meat Market – Dani Valent

Back to Restaurant Reviews
Meat Market: 53 S Wharf Dr, Docklands, 9008 8953

My score: 3/5

If there’s one thing Melbourne doesn’t need it’s a new eating precinct so I approached the South Wharf development with scepticism. However, on first blush, and without it being finished, I think this is my favourite urban tart-up project so far. The buildings blend old and new on a manageable scale and the pitch feels local, as though you could wrap a visit into a shopping outing, a city meeting or an after-work meander. Even though I visited on a breezy night, the wind trundled off the Yarra without whipping and sniping.

People need confidence to try a new restaurant so it’s smart that the South Wharf brains trust lured tried and tasted operators, including Paul Mathis (ex-100 Mile Cafe, Chocolate Buddha), the Riverland crew, and Eddie Muto (Terra Rossa, Left Bank). Muto’s Hospitality One group owns three restaurants, including Meat Market, which might be thought of as a featherweight version of Rockpool Bar and Grill up river at Crown.

Meat Market has the dry-aged beef, confident European flavours and water views. It doesn’t have Rockpool’s wood oven, on-site beef ageing, nice wine glasses or interesting desserts, but you’re not paying $50 for a main course either. Chef James Wilkinson superintends a completely open kitchen in the middle of the restaurant. His menu is short and appealing, and he can definitely cook.

The Bucket o’ Prawn is a fun starter. Prawns are poached in a gently spiced stock, cooled and served shelled over ice with a slightly spicy warm butter dipping sauce. I advise sharing. The bone marrow entree is pretty straightforward: a shank is sliced lengthways, roasted to a wobbly mess and served with a tart, salty salad that does what it can to cut through. The pork chop was faultless. Free-range pig is marinated in cinnamon, thyme and lemon, chargrilled and presented tender and juicy with a frisee, pickled onion and snowpea tendril salad. All beef is grass-fed Black Angus aged for a month on the bone. Our porterhouse steak, cooked to order, was textured and nicely beefy but I wish it was served on a hot plate. There’s a choice of classic sauces but the red wine jus lacked acidity. The chips – ‘Cut by hand! Human hands!’, as the menu says – were great.

Overall, it was a promising enough experience to ensure I’ll be following South Wharf with interest and an appetite. You know what? It just might work.

See their website.

More South Wharf:

Sotano, Hilton Melbourne, South Wharf, 9027 2122
The tapas bar portion of the Hilton’s pioneering South Wharf restaurant offers cured meats from Spain and snacky platters.

The Boatbuilders Yard, 23 South Wharf Promenade, 9686 5088
Open and relaxed, this sprawling bar from the Riverland guys has everything from seafood yakitori to steak sandwiches and salt-and-pepper tofu.

First published in The Age, March 18, 2012

Back to Restaurant Reviews

2017-09-18T17:39:54+10:00

Leave A Comment

© Dani Valent 2024