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97 Graham Street (corner Esplanade West), Port Melbourne, 9676 2566
My score: 4/5
If expensive consultants brainstormed and blue-skied to create the perfect neighbourhood restaurant, they’d come up with something like The Graham. It’s a 19th century corner pub so it feels like it’s meant to be here. It’s contemporary too: brothers Tony and Peter Giannakis have run the place for 15 years, adjusting course as befits their changing neighbourhood and their own ideas of welcome and value. The offering is flexible. Plan restaurant lunches either discreet or rollicking. Keep it casual with steak sandwiches in the bar. Take a date for degustation dinner. Confidently book a special occasion in a private room. Whatever it is, you’re in safe hands.
Three years into the gig, chef Perry Schagen has taken the French technique he bedded in at Circa and the Asian dash he picked up at Taxi to find his own delightful, modern style. The ideas are clever, the cooking is excellent. Take the mud crab broth, a modestly named but outstanding seafood dish that nods politely to both bisque and tom yum. The soup is redolent of lemongrass and kaffir lime but it’s spiked with saffron too. Also in the bowl are mussel and scallop boudin blanc (white sausage), roasted flounder, sweet crab meat tossed with crunchy freekeh and verdant parsley oil for herby lift.
The pasta list is seductive: fagottini (‘little bundles’) steer towards Japan with their shitake filling seasoned with sake and mirin; they paddle in yuzu (citrus) butter. Are they luxe dumplings or ravishing ravioli or is it enough to know they’re really good? Stick around for buttery baked-to-order friand. Leafy green with pistachio flour, it’s served with preserved mandarins and whipped honey ricotta. Whether savoury or sweet, each dish is purposeful, sparky and satisfying. This might be the archetypal local restaurant but the food would fly anywhere.
See their website.
More Spring Lunches:
Verve Spice, 330 Toorak Road, South Yarra, 9827 2050.
Choose something from the extensive all-day breakfast menu or dive into a big salad or towering sandwich at this friendly and accomplished little cafe.
Fatto Bar and Cantina, 100 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, 8698 8800.
Making much of Hamer Hall’s river frontage, Fatto’s al fresco terrace is a happy place for classy snacks or Italian-leaning meals.
The Grain Store, 517 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, 9972 6993.
Organic vegetables inspire the exuberant salads at this atmospheric and peaceful warehouse restaurant. Prepared sandwiches make speedy lunching easy too.
First published in The Age, September 20th, 2015.
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