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Wayside Inn: 446 City Road, South Melbourne, 9682 9119
My score: 4/5
If I see the word ‘rotisserie’ on a menu I see it larger and bolder than every other word. When I’m hungry, the word flashes at me as though illuminated by marquee lights and, if I’m really ravenous, a stern ‘We Want You’ apparition hovers in front of the R-word, making demands to which I’m only too happy to yield. The Wayside has a red rotisserie gleaming in its open kitchen and each day a different meat is skewered and slowly, lovingly rotated, allowing the flesh to bathe in its own fatty juices. The result is moist meat that tastes so overwhelmingly of itself that it doesn’t need much tricking up. Lamb, goat, sirloin, duck and venison are on the rotisserie roster but it’s hard to beat Friday’s suckling pig, rolled and trussed, sticky and tender, with crackling that snaps like toffee and melts like caramel.
The rotisserie offering is a significant signpost to what the Wayside is all about: really good produce, cooked cleverly and carefully, with as much an eye on the brasserie as the gastropub. Serves are generous and prices aren’t steep (the seafood platters are particularly good value). Stocks and sauces are properly made, a legacy perhaps of chef Sean Donovan’s time with uber-chef Pierre Koffman at La Tante Claire in London, and a long period with Paul Wilson in Melbourne at Radii and Botanical. The jus gras that came with our roast chicken was especially viscid and rich.
There’s a minor focus on offal including an earthy black pudding made with pig’s head and apple. Fish is cooked with respect. Desserts – a bruleed lemon tart of cheek-sucking tartness, a silken chocolate marquise with roasted fig – are button-pushing delights.
Donovan runs the business with his brother-in-law Greg Fee. The pair also own the Station Hotel in Footscray. The two pubs’ shared qualities include a steak focus but the western hub doesn’t have South Melbourne’s lunch trade and after-work suit-swill traditions. The Wayside is pleasant to spend time in without being stunningly attractive – the stark lighting in the dining room could do with attention. Tables are well-spaced and there’s a baby change cubicle in the ladies’. A small courtyard, a separate bar with its own all-day menu, and a semi-secluded mezzanine add to the appeal. The Wayside isn’t revolutionary but it exudes integrity and, above all, it’s got that ravishing R-word bigging it up on the menu.
More rotisserie:
PM24, 24 Russell Street, Melbourne, 9207 7424
Philippe Mouchel roasts lamb, duck and rosemary-and-preserved-lemon chicken on his fancy rotisserie. The famous chicken can also be pre-ordered to take home Monday to Friday.
Rockpool Bar & Grill, Crown, Southbank, 8648 1900
At this marvellous dining institution a wood-fired rotisserie cooks chicken to order. It’s served with grilled vegetables and garlicky bread salad.
St Katherine’s, 26 Cotham Road, Kew, 9207 7477
Rotisserie meats are roasted over coal here. There’s a daily platter or you can call ahead to book a suckling pig feast (and other beasts by request).
First published in The Age, April 8, 2012
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