StreetSmart’ing at The Commoner

122 Johnston St, Fitzroy
Phone 03 9415 6876

Okay – let me just cut the bullshit and say it up front.  I like The Commoner.  In fact, I even think I’m a little bit in love.  Why?  Well the food is obviously a major part – honest, down-to-earth fare free from foams, powders and the like.  It’s seasonal. It’s paid homage and respect.  And it rocks.

The venue too is rather comfortable.  It’s a small space, but well utilised with a large communal table, mismatched furniture and quirky accoutrement.  The wine list is a lil’ eccentric, which I just love.  Some interesting drops to sample, especially by the glass options.  A Kir Royale is ever such a refined way to start an evening.

Now before I launch into our dining experience, I just wanted to raise a lil’ awareness for the StreetSmart campaign, where you can help out, just by dining out.  Visit a participating StreetSmart restaurant between 9th November and 24th December, and you’ll be asked to add an extra $2 to your bill, a donation that goes towards supporting homeless services across Australia.  Small change can make a huge difference, and I urge you all to show your support by supporting StreetSmart restaurants. Also, for those twits amongst us, tweet your StreetEats and you can go in the running for $150 voucher for any StreetSmart restaurant of your choice.  Conditions found here.  And if you don’t do what you’re told, I’ll send these guys after you.

Anyway, back to the food.

We started with some Boccerones; white plump Spanish anchovies draped ever so seductively across a salty olive oily crostini with roasted sweet peppers, a squirt of aioli and smattering of parsley ($8).  These crisp little bites were so damn good that my mate Shane decided to order them again for dessert!

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We also shared a few plump puck-y potato cakes stuffed with spiced minced lamb and pinenuts ($14).  Oh yes…a curryish interior with a mashed potato exterior, pan fried for extra flavour and crunch.  Yeah…I’d go it again

We also had a share plate of crisp baby school prawns, pan fried with some form of herbage (excuse the lack of detail – forgot to ask for clarification!).  A googy quail egg sat on top, the perfect sauce for the crunchy shrimp.

Then onto the mains.  EG went with the fish of the day, in this case the Striped Trumpeter, a local species of fish found around the coast of Southern Australia and NZ.   This was an absolutely stunner of a dish.  The perfectly cooked pan fried fish (crispy skin and all), sat on a bed of lightly spiced cauliflower “cous cous”, studded with pearls of pomegranate and pecan nuts that gave it a crisp crunch.  A well dressed lemony endive salad sat to the side.

Shane went with the beef with green beans, sweet red onions and smokey garlic ($30).  As you can see, the meat was perfectly medium rare, and Shane proclaimed it to be a very well put together dish.

Penny and Mikey chose the little chicken with moghrabieh (a large Lebanese cous cous), labne and harissa ($28).  I unfortunately did not get a photo of the dish, but it too was a stunner.  The perfectly roasted chicken was crispy in the skin, and the harissa had some interesting complex flavours.

Julie and I chose the simpler (though no less fantastic) pan fried semolina gnocchi, with thinly sliced green tomatoes and manchego cheese ($25). Oh my…this was devestatingly good, from the oh-so-soft sweetish polenta, pan fried for a crisp exterior, the melted salty manchego cheese, the beautifuly lemony and olive oil dressing.  I just didn’t want it to end.

And speaking of not wanting it to end, this gets my vote as comfort food dish of the year.  This is the brown ale pudding, an almost black yeasty, malty slice of steamed pud, sitting in a puddle of salted caramel sauce and served with a vanilla bean flecked custard (or creme anglaise if you want to be pretentious).  I almost had one of those Meg Ryan / When Harry Met Sally orgasm moments.  Oh yeah. I really wanted to. It was THAT good.

Anyway, I can’t wait to go back.