What does one do if you’re Sydneysiders in Melbourne for the weekend? Eat and drink, I’d say (though we also loved the MOMA exhibit at the NGV). Bar Lourinhã was a superb choice for dining. It felt like Melbourne. Stylish and hip, kind of quirky too. It was very crowded on the Friday night, but we’d made our reservation.
It was hard to choose what to order because everything looked good. And it was. In fact, there was not a miss, and every dish that came out, we oohed and ahhed over. No, I should admit that the chicken liver and pistachio migas (a sort of deconstructed sandwich) was a bit too livery for the rest of the table, but I liked it.
We all particularly liked the croquettes to start with, perfectly light and crisp yet with an intense flavour (nettle and manchego were the ingredients). A simple fish dish of yellowtail kingfish with lemon oil had such a beautiful flavour combination. Suckling pig was as rich as hoped for. A brussels sprouts dish, with cauliflower and jamon was gorgeous. The food seemed both straightforward in that you got what you ordered, but there was always an interesting twist.
We polished off two bottles of wine, and they’re relatively expensive here (we paid $75 for the bottle, which was one of the cheaper ones). Yet the wine was delicious and not run of the mill. And while I thought that the dishes were on the small side and might be a bit expensive, food for the four of us was only $125. So, it was all in all quite reasonably priced, and we all thought it was a great night out.
