Our restaurant critics’ picks of the latest and best eats around the country this week including Nomad, Peel Street Kitchen, and Bob’s Bar.
SYDNEY
Young gun chef Nathan Sasi (pictured) counts Dinner by Heston Blumenthal and Charleston hotspot Husk among his past places of employ, but it’s the presence of London favourite Moro on his CV that’s the key to his work at Nomad. Playing the depth of spice off the freshness of his ingredients is a theme as he sprinkles whiting or marron with za’atar and grills them, while spanner crab meat gives the twist to felafels encased in a soft, fluffy dough and paired with sorrel yoghurt sauce. There’s not much the kitchen won’t do from scratch, whether it’s bread, charcuterie or cheese, and “MW in residence” (no, really) Rob Geddes keeps things close to home with a 100 per cent Australian list that’s pretty much a rollcall of the most interesting wine being made Down Under today. It’s big, bold and bags of fun. Nomad, 16 Foster St, Surry Hills, (02) 9280 3395. PAT NOURSE
BRISBANE
Chips and banana ketchup? Not a side dish you see every day, true, but it’s a reflection of Angelo and Angela Velante’s joint Filipino-Polynesian heritage. The couple worked under the likes of Gordon Ramsay and Richard Corrigan in London, and at Peel Street Kitchen, their first venture as owners, their menu freestyles across cuisines with glee. Slow-cooked lamb adobo shares space on the carte with a sprightly Asian-accented beef rice-noodle salad. Their twist on siopao – two steamed, sliced buns laden with shredded free-range pork and herbs – all but begs to be dipped into the hoisin alongside it. The décor tilts at the tropics with flamboyant vine-strewn wallpaper and murals, but really this little spot is all about the (very reasonably priced) food. Peel Street Kitchen, 35 Peel St, South Brisbane, (07) 3846 2780. FIONA DONNELLY
PERTH
Last summer it was tomato bread, Spanish smallgoods and salt-cod buñuelos. This season, Print Hall’s rooftop terrace is swapping the flavours of the Iberian Peninsula for Asian spice. Early indications are promising. We’re talking heaps of fried chicken topped with piquant chilli-tamarind sauce and slippery coriander and shrimp dumplings accessorised with fried shallots, garlic, cucumber and other choice items from the Far East. Its food works as well for the lone wolf as it does for groups, even more so when paired with one of the bar’s many fun libations (Sazeracs mellowed by honey and ginger! Blood-orange Americanos!). Bob’s Bar, Print Hall, Brookfield Pl, 125 St Georges Tce, Perth, (08) 6282 0077. MAX VEENHUYZEN
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