Bishop of Ostia [Melbourne]

[kersizm]

It was opening night at Ben Foster and Matt Wilkinson's new bar. The food like its sister cafe Pope Joan is excellent.

While Ostia only does bar snacks - you can definitely make a dinner out of the selections on the menu.

I tried;
Pig's ear sandwich ($7) - as Ben indicated it does taste like the good part of KFC skin and definitely with less guilt. The bun is a little brioche with some chilli sauce, rocket and pickled carrots. Yum!

Morten Bay Bugs ($14) - Deepfried in spiced chickpea flour and served with aioli and herb salt.

Bone marrow, spanner crab and salmon roe ($15) - Intense, rich and pretty to look at.

Sticky beef rib ($9) - fatty, rich and falling off the bone. A hint of chilli and star anise. Served with corriander and sesame.

Dessert:
Cuppa English custard, doughnuts ($10) - Doughnuts that are warmed and designed for dunking into a thin vanilla custard... Evil!

With two glasses of wine it was $73 for the two of us and there was more than enough food. I suggest all Melbourne Chow Hounds get there quickly before it becomes packed.

[TheHuntress]

Sounds fantastic, will have to go there when I'm next in Melbourne.

[camdira]

Thanks for the review Kerzism. Will give this a go. Admittedly I wasn't that impressed with Pope Joan's on the first visit, and I have had trouble convincing my wife to make a second trip.
As to Kumo, I wasn't impressed. Apart from a couple of the dishes that were sensational, I could have paid much less for the same dish at a less reputable Japanese restaurant. Overpriced for the quality and the staff didn't have a clue.

[mr_gimlet]

Strongly disagree on the food at Kumo, I have taken picky Japanese there. The rest I can sympathise with.

[mr_gimlet]

Is it next door?

BTW, whilst we're on East Brunswick I went to Kumo Izakaya and was unexpectedly impressed.

[kersizm]

Yup next door.

Doors open at 4, food starts at 5:30.

Ahhh.. that's one I haven't tried yet. Will do.

[kersizm]

Ended up at Kumo tonight and was really disappointed. The worst part was the close proximity to other patrons who were completely rude and obnoxious, they made an average meal bad!

Service was surly when we arrived, followed by an affable but over bearing american chap.

The food was pretty good but everything else just killed it for me.

[mr_gimlet]

That's disappointing, I did find it a whisker over-attentive but I had assumed you would be used to this hanging out at trendy Smith Street eateries. I have only been there on a lunchtime so far for the bento.