offal and craft beer in Melbourne
We went to Josie Bones last night (98 Smith St near Gertrude) and it was FABULOUS. We had lamb heart and duck heart and pork crackling and kipfler potatoes and lamb tongue. And we had some great IPA/APAs that I have never seen before. This place is a temple to beer and offal. The best beer and food combination I have found so far in Australia. We walked in on a Saturday night without reservations and sat down. Plus if you are alone it is an easy place to eat dinner - lots of seats at the bar. I love a place that has crackling of the day. Go quick before a million people all find it. We did run up quite a tab ($148 for 2), but we were trying some expensive beers - a bottle from Japan and some other obscure beer. I had a great time. It is right next door to Easy Tiger which we are trying tonight. The 112 tram will get you close, or the 86 tram. The dishes are small plates that go well with beer. I loved seeing things I rarely see on menus. We'll be going back.
By debbieann
on Sep 17, 2011 08:22 PM
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I knew where you were talking about with the title....It's already been discovered and hot (on the Masterchef bandwagon) and its now passe! I've been in my Smith Street phase, but like many restaurants in the area it is a bit up itself. But I agree it delivers what it promises. Don't think I would rush back unless I lived locally.
Look forward to your views on Easy Tiger - have a Son in Law egg for me - (trusted) friends weren't impressed on the quantity/ price/ quality ratio which put me off going as I am a gannet so I stick with Mamanee. Sunday night is set menu isn't it?
Kersizm, that's your neck of the woods isn't it? Have you been?
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Interestingly enough, I had a work colleague text me last night saying I should go. Might make a journey down there this week. 280 beers with tripe sounds like my kind of evening.
I went to Huxtable about a month ago and really enjoyed myself.
Heard average things about Easy Tiger so haven't bothered.
Monsieur Truffe is incredible.
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New Monsieur Truffe in East Brunswick. Incredibler (well, they have more stuff anyway).
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I enjoyed Easy Tiger - not a rush right back place, but somewhere I would be happy to go again. I liked the set menu, no decisions, they just bring you delicious food. It was cooked well and showed creativity and the fried food was nice and crispy. I'm happy we tried it. I was more excited by Josie Bones because there were things on the menu we so rarely get to see on a menu. We were so inspired that we bought lamb heart today at the store and will try to cook it tonight. The son in law egg at Easy Tiger was delicious.
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I got sucked into Masterchef for awhile, but even before the end, I was over it. I didn't realize Josie Bones got on that bandwagon, ohwell. Anyway, I was just going to say that we were so inspired by Josie Bones that we have bought lamb hearts twice now - cheap as chips! - $2 for four hearts! and they fry up quick and are so tender. There aren't enough places in Australia that have offal on the menu.
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Just wanted to report back that I was recently in Melbourne and gave Josie Bones a try. I had read a bit about it, and thought the whole craft beer + nose-to-tail would really appeal to my partner. Had I known this was a reality TV chef project, I would not have touched it with a 10 foot pole, so luckily, I did not read up on that until after we returned from our trip.
We really enjoyed the meal, ambience, beer, and service. We were there early on a Sunday night and it was very relaxed with just a handful of other tables full. We were served by three staff (including, apparently, Juila Jenkins and Chris Badenoch himself) and it was attentive and fun, without being overly fussy or pushy. They encouraged us to try a range of beers (which we did), and the meal came out at a relaxed pace, though they seemed to sense perfectly when we were just finishing one dish and ready to move on to the next.
Things we tried: Started with pork cracklings, of course. Great way to accompany your first beer choice, though they were oversalted. We moved on to the scotch quail eggs with anchoïade. Fun little bites, very umami, and again, a great complement to the beer tasting. Next came the hop & hickory smoked ox tongue with piccalilli. This was a revelation, and if it was the only dish I had, I would have left happy. I've had tongue many ways, but never this tender, moist and savoury.
Then we broke things up a bit with a salad dish. Heirloom tomatoes with Fiore di Burrata, pickled shallots, and basil. A tasty interpretation of insalata caprese. Very nice and I even spied what looked like some green zebras in there.
Next up was the black pudding with green apple and a pickled ginger and ginger beer jelly salad. I'm a lover of blood sausages, so was eager to try this. It was very mild and delicate in flavour, and so was overwhelmed by the ginger in the salad. The salad was very imaginative (loved the cubes of ginger beer jelly!) and could of stood well on its own. But I thought it way too assertive to pair with the black pudding. I felt like it kind of destroyed my palate and didn't taste the second half of the pudding.
There were many more dishes on the menu that we wanted to try. We would have been ready to call it quits at that point, but then we saw a dish come out for another couple seated at the bar and had to have it. Mountain goat with goats cheese, mint, and pomegranate. This was terrific. Kind of lamb-y, and perfect fusion of flavours. But it also kind of pushed us over the edge into "too full", which was a pity, because then we found out that there were some really amazing looking cheese plates and desserts. But there was just no more room at that point.
All in all, we tried about 7 beers. But you do have to be careful, as our beer tab ended up matching our food tab. The beers are all very full bodied. Makes for a very interesting tasting, but it does fill you up. I might have like to see a few more lighter German style lagers, just for variety.
All in all, super-enjoyable meal. Will definitely make this a regular visit when in Melbourne.
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