TOP AUSSIE NOSH
The revamped Royal Mail Hotel (519 Spencer St, West Melbourne) is flying in by light aircraft fresh produce from Flinders Island, including crays. Open under new owner Jen Matthews for seven weeks, and with a new chef, the pub also offers your basic $10-$12 mains and plenty of grub for the kids. Watch out for wallaby and smoky bacon sausages, roo burgers and other national emblems.
VIN JONES
Look for new twists in Thai-influenced modern Australian cooking at Vin Cellar (212 High St, Prahran) with the arrival of Damien Jones, whose last local gig was as head chef at Mrs Jones (now Three, One, Two) in Carlton. Jones, who replaces Will Parbury and has been consulting in Hong Kong, is a disciple of Australian Thai cooking guru David Thompson. Owner Damien Hobday, after revamping the Argo (64 Argo St, South Yarra) last year, says his focusis now the Vin, where a new menuwas launched last week. Drink: a flight of three wines from the cult Giaconda label for $18 during the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival (from March 16).
SERVICE SMILES?
After being open for just four months, new faces at Teague Ezard’s new pan-Asian eatery Gingerboy promise service with a smile after complaints over glum table service.
CONSISTENTLY LARGE
Some restaurants are nothing but consistent. In 2000 at France-Soir (11 Toorak Rd, South Yarra) I ate the largest steak tartare I’d ever seen. Last week, for the first time in seven years, I had another and it was equally as large. Split it between two people.
Best feed
There’s no menu to speak of and we simply put ourselves in the hands of the waiters at Da Noi (95 Toorak Rd, South Yarra). The Spaghetti con Bottarga has a stunning, smoky-bacon flavour thanks to a Sardinian speciality, air-dried mullet row. It is shaved on top of spaghetti and clams and knocked me off my chair. I want more. Now!
Read Ed Charles at www.tomatom.com