Sofia Levin’s top special edition eats in lockdown 6.0
The lockdown 6.0 extension comes with a silver lining. Our restaurants are so used to this toing and froing that their lockdown specials are better than ever. Here’s a list of seven venues across town putting on limited-edition meals, including some from brand new restaurants.
Before we get into them, a head’s up that you can flash your fully-vaccinated card at any of Jessi Singh’s venues (Daughter in Law, Mrs Singh’s, Mr Brownie Rooftop or Horn Please) and you get a free drink on the house.
A Trip to Turkey
Tulum
217 Carlisle St, Balaclava
Chef Coskun Uysal usually serves a fine-dining take on Turkish food, but during lockdown he’s wheeling out his street cart filled with traditional baked goods and sandwiches. His new lockdown 6.0 dish features battered mussels in a sandwich drenched with walnut tarator (tahini). There are also house-made boreks, hot pide and simit. 10am to 2pm (or until sold out) Tuesday to Saturday.
King of the North
Gray & Gray Bread & Wine
188 High Street, Northcote
This Russian-inspired wine bar (and one of my favourite restaurants of 2021) is assembling bread pockets with four exciting fillings: glazed oyster blade steak with preserved sunrise lime; Russian salad with smoked mussels; twice-cooked beets with brinza and horseradish; and their take on a prawn cocktail made with fried prawn heads and fermented chilli. You can also expect large format wines poured into takeaway cups and white Russian cocktails (technically vodka, coffee liqueur and cream or milk, but there’s an oat milk option for boozy vegans). Saturday and Sunday, 11am to 6pm.
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Brand New
Robata
2 Exhibition Street, Melbourne
This brand new restaurant from the San Telmo team has already had to pivot to meal boxes showcasing their Japanese menu. They’re ideal for two and available between Friday and Sunday during lockdown (order before 5pm for next-day delivery to most of Metro Melbourne, check the suburb list online). Here are the two options:
- IE De Robata
Hand roll with fresh tuna and salmon
Chicken thigh yakitori with spring onion
Chicken meatball yakitori
Leek kushiyaki
Yaki onigiri (grilled rice ball)
- IE De Robata: The Sequel
Assorted pickles
Fresh tuna and salmon sashimi
Pork katsu with cabbage, red miso sauce, Japanese mustard
Cucumber, shiso, sesame, shredded nori, pine nuts
Yaki onigiri (grilled rice ball), pickled cabbage
Yuzu marshmallow
Brand New
Deeds Taproom & Kitchen
4 Paran Place, Glen Iris
Opening in June, Deeds’ lockdown offering is all about fried chicken. Order two, five or 10 pieces, or a Nashville hot chicken sandwich, for pick-up or delivery. Pair your chook with classic sides (rustic mash, slaw, buttermilk biscuits, mac ‘n’ cheese and iceberg wedges). For dessert there’s malted whipped cheesecake. To drink, try one of 20, one-litre “crowlers” (one-litre cans filled with the brewery’s tap beer.
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Eat Curiously
Mumchan
1b Triholm Avenue, Laverton
395 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne
Mumchan offers anywhere between 60 and 85 banchan daily (Korean side dishes) daily, along with traditional soups, stews and stir-fries. Their delivery packs are one of the best things I’ve eaten during lockdowns and feed two people multiple meals. Set packs go online every weekend and have to be pre-ordered before 5pm Tuesday for delivery between Wednesday and Friday (or in-store pick up). That said, you can still order individual dishes. The most recent, sold-out pack included army stew for two, chicken noodle soup for two, three mung bean pancakes, beanshoot japchae noodles, garlic potatoes, sweet soy beans and nuts, kimchi pancake batter to cook at home and yakshik (a glutinous rice dessert). Add raw marinated blue swimmer crabs to your order when available – they’re hard to come by.
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Pop-Up
A weekend with Tom Sarafian
Tom Sarafian, former head chef of now-closed Bar Saracen, is popping up at two locations over the weekend. On Saturday he’s out the front of Hardware Club in the CBD cooking Armenian barbecued pork with grilled potatoes, toum, onions, parsley and sumac salad wrapped in bread. There will also be tubs of hummus available and Hardware Club chef and owner Nicola will cook his spaghetti assassina. From noon until sold out, takeaway cocktails and beers available. On Sunday Tom’s at Prior in Thornbury from 10am to 3pm, cooking kafta arayes, a Lebanese toasted pita bread sandwich filled with ground lamb, herbs and spices that’s served with labne and pickled cucumbers.
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Just Desserts
Matilda
159 Domain Road, South Yarra
If you want to eat your lockdown feelings, Matilda is making one hell of a version of s’mores. They’re replacing graham crackers with waffles and cooking the whole thing on the wood fire. It’s a little fancier than your campfire favourite, made with chocolate ganache, tangy lemon myrtle and melty marshmallow. Available from 8am to 4pm daily with a St. Ali coffee to go. Hello, breakfast.
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Fusion & Fun
Hanoi Hannah
306 Glen Huntly Rd, Elsternwick
This Saturday only (aka tomorrow), one of Hanoi Hannah’s most popular dishes is hitting the curb. Between noon and 3pm you can order a banh xeo taco outside the Elsternwick location. Traditionally the Vietnamese crepe is eaten with herbs and nuoc mam dipping sauce, but the taco version is great for on-the-go eating. Choose between pork and prawn, tempura eggplant and turmeric and lemongrass-grilled fish. $12 a pop.