In July I had the great pleasure of sharing a meal with my brother and my mum to celebrate my upcoming 30th birthday, during his short trip home. Knowing my love of food he very generously offered to take me out for dinner to a place I had been waiting to try.
Cue much exhaustive research and deliberation….before I finally settled on trying Newmarket in St.Kilda. It has been on the list for a while and I was eager to see if it lived up to the hype.
From the same family of new-gen pubs, The Middle Park, Albert Park and Royal Saxon, Newmarket is the cooler member of the family. Like the aforementioned public houses, the cool guys at Six Degrees have again given the pub the once over. The result is rather impressive. They have retained the original facade, but everything else is brand spanking new. From the relaxing ‘indoor/outdoor’ beer garden as you enter which offers an alfresco dining experience (weather permitting), to the large central bar and main dining room, which draws the eye courtesy of concrete arches, wooden tables, picnic-rug style carpet and comfortable bucket chairs, the design is very impressive.
The menu is designed around a family style sharing philosophy and with so many tasty dishes on the menu making a decision proved difficult.
To start with we decided to try the soft prawn tacos with fragrant herbs and jicama slaw (a sweet root vegetable). Sadly there was only one each and the pleasure finished all too quickly. I was tempted to try more tacos, but decided to save room for other delights. To accompany these tasty tacos we choose the triple cooked bravas potatoes with 2 sauces. Have no idea what the two sauces were exactly, suffice to say that this is the only way to eat potatoes. Seriously the most delicious thing I have eaten in a long time!
For mains my mum chose the signature dish- Newmarket wood roasted chicken, which was accompanied by savoy cabbage, bitter leaves, garlic croutons, chestnuts, grapes & pancetta. This was seriously tender and so juicy! My brother and I both went for the slow roasted BBQ Pit Wagyu Beef Brisket, which literally melted in my mouth. This was accompanied with heirloom carrots and a punchy horseradish, parsley and caper sauce. Very impressive!
To go with the mains we chose the baked sweet potatoes with jalapenos and queso fresco, a kind of Spanish cheese. Words cannot describe how amazing these sweet potatoes are.
The wine is served straight from the barrel with three different options on offer in each category House, Table and Fine. We went with the house Sauvignon Blanc from the Pyrenees, which was delicious.
With bellies bursting I was the only one who managed to find room for dessert…of course! There is always room for dessert. I had already earmarked my dessert during my research and could not pass up a chance to try the caramelised date and banana cake with peanut butter parfait. All my favourite things together in one tasty package!
Cheers to a wonderful night with the best dining companions!
Check it out!
Newmarket St.Kilda
34 Inkerman St St.Kilda Victoria
03 9537 1777
www.newmarketstkilda.com.au
