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Thursday May 17, 2012

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Ela digs the Paella at Robert Burns

Posted by: Ela Carte | 14 October, 2011 - 1:15 PM
Paella

ROBERT BURNS HOTEL – 376 Smith Street Collingwood www.robertburnshotel.com.au

Hmmmm. How do you improve on something that’s already considered an institution? Is it possible?

Yes, apparently it is. The Robert Burns Hotel was already a well known contradiction in terms – the Scottish sounding pub with the wholly Spanish menu. And it did the Spanish well, it was place most recommended by my Madrid-born teacher when I started at a little Spanish school in Northcote. It was eternally busy, and charmingly daggy.

So what now? Well, now it’s a wholly Spanish menu, still fairly busy on the Monday night we visited, but certainly not daggy. What I love is that although it’s not daggy, it’s not super cool either – just it’s own little slant on the pub’s Scottish/Spanish heritage – I’m talking crazy tartan carpets and bronze busts on the wall.

It’s a great selection of food, traditional stuff rather than stereotyped – starting with things like the piquillo peppers stuffed with a creamy oxtail mixture ($11.90) or the lomo embuchado ($11) thin slices of salty smoked and cured pork loin served with toasted bread.

Baby calamari ($14.90) is done lovingly on the asado grill, served with caramelised onion and green pepper and lashed of squid ink – it was perfectly chewy and the taste of the grill lingered just long enough to add an extra dimension. I loved it.

Clams ($16.50) were advertised with a salsa verde, but if that’s what came it was diffused within an creamy stock, but either way they still tasted great. Now of course we all know the tragedy that is finishing a bowl of mussels or clams or ragu or (insert delicious dish with sauce component here) and being left with glorious liquid with no way to ingest it. Praise the Robert Burns, who declare before you even start the seafood that they’ll be bring bread for mopping.

Rounding off the starters, or starting us on the mains, was a sausage platter ordered off the “De La Parrilla/From the Grill” menu – served on a wooden board with a side of the divine Argentinian chimichurri sauce were three sausages ($19.90) – a chorizo, pork, and the ever-controversial morcilla. I can’t believe this is now the second time I’ve had to put this in writing, but that black pudding would have to be vying for my favourite dish of the night. The Spanish version always seems to have that extra spice, extra flavour, perfect soft texture that makes you forget exactly what it is you’re eating. This was no exception.

Of course it’s hard to go past a paella for main, and there’s an impressive five varieties on offer here. A word of warning – don’t go along with your friend who doesn’t like seafood, or you’ll miss the version that boasts prawns, calamari, mussels and clams, or the squid ink option with cuttlefish, and scallops. Instead you’ll make do with a worthy replacement in the traditional Valencian with chicken, rabbit and green beans. Paella’s a strange beast sometimes, it’s such an old reliable, but then when you’ve been tasting such rich and disparate dishes it can seem like a plate of rice – this was a good dish, but I was definitely blown away by some of the earlier tastes.

There are desserts on offer (of course there’s churros) and side dishes, but we simply couldn’t fit them in.

Fittingly, it’s an exclusively Spanish wine list, three reds by the glass from $8 - $11, and two whites at $8 and $9. Speaking of drinks, check out the bar menu – a brilliant selection of tapas, all at $6.50.

This isn’t stereotypical stuff – you’ve got a new Spanish chef, a manager hailing from Barcelona, fabulous authentic ingredients and a warm, fun feel. Definitely worth a visit, por supuesto (for sure!)

PLAY: Ela Carte with Ross and John

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3AW Food - Eating Melbourne

3AW Food 3AW is Food: Melburnians love to eat so it's fortunate we live in the culinary capital of Australia. On this dedicated food page you will find the latest recipes by Bob Hart as well as Tony Leonard's Pub of the Week reviews. La Luna head chef Adrian Richardson also serves up a dish from his own cook book and food reviewer Ela Carte visits one of Melbourne's hottest eateries weekly.

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