Marmelo
International restaurateurs Ross and Sunny Lusted are behind this lively venue championing Portugese cuisine.
Overview
Run by Ross and Sunny Lusted (Sydney's Woodcut and Aman Resorts), Portuguese-inspired restaurant Marmelo, along with late-night basement bar Mr Mills, are the beating heart of ultra-cool, HYDE Melbourne Place hotel.
Known for cooking with wood and charcoal, Ross has centred Marmelo's open kitchen around a custom-built charcoal grill and woodfired oven. His menu is inspired by the kind of Portuguese food he grew up with in South Africa, as well as dishes that were built on spices and flavours, from as far as the South China Sea, India, Africa and the Americas, that were introduced into Portuguese cooking. All of this results in mains such as wood-roasted cockerel with African spices, chilli and fried potatoes; Otway pork with rhubarb, red elk and burnt orange; and arroz de marisco (similar to a paella) with grilled, poached, and cured seafood.
The menu also features snacks such as cod and potato croquettes with hot mustard sauce, oysters warmed over fire with charcuterie dressing, tuna with botarga cream and vegetable escabeche, and a savoury take on the much-loved pastel de nata, with celeriac and pickled crab. The dessert menu is refreshingly interesting, think a 19th century steamed pork and egg pudding, a woodfired olive oil cheesecake, and perfumed fruits with feijoa skin syrup, guava sorbet and coconut milk clouds.
Sunny Lusted says, "Ross and I feel a real synergy with the vibrancy of Melbourne and all of its culinary offerings, so it is an honour to be welcomed so warmly into the local dining community; Ross and I can't wait to share our take on the food and hospitality of the Iberian peninsula, here in this beautiful city."
You can also head down a grand chartreuse-hued staircase to find the duo's Mr Mills, a late-night basement bar. It's an altogether moodier space, with intimate booths as well as the option to dine at the bar or overlooking the open kitchen. Snack on Iberian-inspired small plates such as cold meats with guindillas and manchego, Portuguese prawn rolls with watercress, smoked eel doughnuts with ocean trout caviar, and always finish sweet with a pastel de nata. An extensive cocktail menu also features adorable 'Tiny Tinis' (available between 5 and 7 pm). Try a mini dirty martini with saltbush and lemon geranium brine, a Vesper martini with olive leaf gin and tangerine bitters, or a dry martini with Vetiver, pine and peppermint gum gin.
Images: Supplied.
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