Restaurant News

Mizu, The Roast Collection, Momofuku Seiobo

Our restaurant critics' picks of the latest and best eats around the country this week.

Mizu, Brisbane
Our restaurant critics' picks of the latest and best eats around the country this week including Mizu, The Roast Collection, and Momofuku Seiobo..
BRISBANE
Mizu
For years, Japanophiles have trekked to pint-sized Mizu in Teneriffe (pictured) in search of everything from glistening curls of sashimi to sake classes and off-beat treats such as its Japanese-style weekend brunch. The owners have now unveiled Mizu 2.0, and with its matte-black walls and bare tables, this low-key arrival is a definite win for West End. At lunch, red lacquered bento boxes display their precisely arranged contents to great advantage. Alongside black sesame-sprinkled rice and a bowl of savoury miso goodness, you might find an array of sashimi (tuna, salmon and reef fish), a tumble of mixed leaves glossy with zingy Mizu dressing, a duo of salty-sweet dashi maki rolls and your selection from eight "mains" - from chunks of crisp battered chicken kara-age to wagyu yakiniku. It's a cracking value at under $20. Mizu West End, 63 Hardgrave Rd, West End, Qld, (07) 3844 9918. FIONA DONNELLY
MELBOURNE
The Roast Collection
Melbourne Food and Wine's winter festival, The Roast Collection, is now in full swing across Melbourne and Victoria, with roast-centred events happening throughout June. This Sunday sees GT's Brigitte Hafner head to Eastern Peake winery in the beautiful Clunes-Creswick district, about an hour and a half north-west of Melbourne, where she and her team from the Gertrude Street Enoteca will be slow-cooking shoulders of lamb from local producers Tuki Farm. There'll also be twice-baked cheese soufflé and tarte Tatin in the mix, plus plenty of excellent Eastern Peake pinot noir, all served in Eastern Peake's lovely glass-walled cellar door. At $100 a head for food and wine, it's the perfect excuse for a Sunday drive. Eastern Peake Winery, 67 Pickfors Rd, Coghills Creek, Vic. Bookings 0419 501 175. MICHAEL HARDEN
SYDNEY
The Momofuku Seiobo bar
The problem with best-kept secrets is that they just don't last. Somehow word that the Sydney branch of Momofuku sells food at its tiny bar by the entrance seems to have gone largely unheeded by the hordes whose hopes are so frequently dashed by the web-based bookings system for the restaurant proper. Okay, so the bar menu is a far cry from the wonders of the real thing right now, but here's a handful of good reasons why it's worth your time and attention: (1) It takes walk-ins. (2) It offers the same service and, better still, wine service as the rest of the restaurant. (3) And the same rockin' tunes. (4) It's bar food, but it's very good bar food. No other pickle-plate in town comes close, and that goes double for the eggs. If you want something sizeable, there's also the likes of the Korean rice cakes with lamb and XO sauce. (5) You can get the pork buns if you need them. (6) It won't cost $200 a head unless you go REALLY hard on the Bornard. (7) They do the Momofuku Ssäm Bar-style Brussels sprouts. Momofuku Seiobo, Level G, The Star, Pirrama Rd, Pyrmont, NSW. PAT NOURSE
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