Ripponlea Food and Wine – Dani Valent

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15 Glen Eira Road, Ripponlea, 8804 1313

My score: 3.5/5

A good restaurant isn’t always the most innovative or edgy. It can simply be a place that gives you what you want, whether that’s a commuter coffee, great poached eggs, or a frisky glass of wine after a frazzling day. In essence, a good restaurant makes you feel good: it’s as straightforward and as complicated as that. Ripponlea Food and Wine has only been at it for two months but it’s making such a decent stab at being a welcoming local restaurant that I reckon it’s worth rolling in from other parts of town. The heritage corner site extends over four shopfronts and the cool fit-out finds a happy meeting place between rustic and industrial. Laptop-friendly window benches and a cosy gossip chamber near the open kitchen are big pluses.

The food is comfortable but engaging. The breakfast menu rolls out classics (smashed avocado, eggs your way, corn fritters) but throws in a few twists too. Eggs benedict is served on a slab of brioche (instead of muffin) and the ham is shredded hock (instead of the usual slices); the hollandaise sauce is perfectly emulsified with a nicely judged acidic kick. I appreciate the attention to detail on a menu that notes, for example, “We butter our toast.” Three cheers for chefs that butter toast!

At lunch and dinner time there are wine-friendly snacks like oysters with champagne dressing, slow-cooked lamb ribs, and wasabi-crumbed squid. Nothing too startling, nothing I wouldn’t order with glee. Pasta dishes include ravishingly autumnal spinach and ricotta ravioli scattered with pine nuts, shreds of crisp leek and plenty of nut-brown butter. Easygoing main courses include juicy beef burger in a box and chicken breast on the bone with over-sized cous cous and minted yoghurt. It’s all nicely done. Button-pushing flavours clamour for attention in the desserts – my table erupted in fork wars over caramelised banana mousse and salted caramel popcorn piled in a bowl made of white chocolate. Cocktails are made with love, and there’s a mid-priced wine list with enough annotation to make an unknown bottle from Argentina seem interesting rather than intimidating. It’s just one more way of making the hard job of pleasing people look delightfully easy.

See their website.

More neighbourhood jems:

Neighbourhood Wine, 1 Reid Street, Fitzroy North, 9486 8306
The name is self-explanatory and the welcome is warm. There’s a three-course Sunday roast for $35 and more than a dozen wines by the glass.

Plough Hotel, 333 Barkly Street, Footscray, 9687 2878
It’s been here since 1868 but a renovation a year ago has turned a comfortable boozer into a smart local favourite for classy pub classics and pizzas.

Six Keys, 6 Keys Street, Beaumaris, 9589 2627
Gluten-free dishes and meals for kids are a focus at this modern European restaurant with a long list of approachable pasta and risotto dishes, salads and pizzas. There’s always a duck dish of the day, and every table seems to fall for the thrice-cooked chips.

First published in The Age, April 6, 2014.

2017-09-18T15:14:54+10:00

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