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48 Flemington Road, Parkville, 9032 9119
My score: 3/5
If it wasn’t for the unfortunate context of sick kids, the Royal Children’s Hospital would be a lovely place to visit. A coral reef aquarium plunges through two floors. Family-friendly films screen in a beanbag-strewn cinema. Beautiful landscaping includes neat grassy knolls that beg to be rolled down in fits of giggles. There’s even a groovy Art Hotel with an in-room yoga channel and free bikes.
Now the chain food offerings (McDonald’s, Trampoline, Shuni Sushi, Degani) have been boosted by the opening of Smith and Singleton, a proper all-day restaurant and bar that downplays its hospital location and, not unreasonably, acts like a neighbourhood destination.
The décor is from the reclaimed industrial rule book with bar, counter, booth and table seating, and various timbered and tiled textures under high ceilings. The menu is modern but democratic, easy and unthreatening, with a range of tricked up sandwiches, burgers and pizzas, as well as salads and contemporary mains. I thought the food was a bit patchy. Barbecued pork baguette was dry, with a profusion of messy shaved carrot. The roasted pumpkin was mushy and unevenly charred. But the ‘green stuff’ salad was lively and lovely with the creaminess of avocado playing nicely with the crunch of snow peas and soy beans. The ‘baby burgers’ were suitably cute, and the lamb cutlets were straight-up tasty, bashed out to an even centimetre, coated in parsley and lemon crumb and expertly cooked to just pink.
Smith and Singleton will appeal to parents needing coffee to counterbalance time in triage or pinot gris while digesting a tricky diagnosis. It would be a great circuit breaker for siblings – surely they’ll cope with more waiting around after orange pancakes with maple syrup. And I bet it’s a boon for hospital staff who’d rather nibble on spiced chicken ribs than a Big Mac. The food and service needs more polish for this place to rank as a great inner-city option but for an institutional dining room, it’s way ahead.
See their website.
More Institutional:
Zoo Bakery, Melbourne Zoo, Elliott Avenue, Parkville, 1300 966 784.
The zoo has an onsite bakery, selling its own pies, baguettes and sausage rolls. You can even grab a loaf of bread to take home.
The Moat, Basement, 176 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, 9094 7820.
Tucked underneath the Wheeler Centre and State Library, the Moat is a great place to hang out with a glass of wine and snacks such as salmon with beetroot prosecco gel or dal with cumin yoghurt.
St Ali Church of Secular Coffee, Monash University, 32 Exhibition Walk, Clayton, 9905 0888.
St Ali owner Salvatore Malatesta’s first cafe was at Melbourne Uni back in the mid-nineties; now he’s back on campus and offering superior caffeination at Monash.
First published in The Age, March 6th, 2016.
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