Marmalade & Soul: 162 Queens Parade, Fitzroy North, 9486 2740
My score: 4/5
Recently, in the interests of science, I drove around Melbourne for two days visiting cafes. I hit 19 cafes in the north, south, east, west and city. I hithered and thithered so much I crashed my maps app. I so soused myself with coffee that I briefly saw the Yarra as a percolated brew. I took home so many sweets and biscuits that I felt very domestic goddess, as soon as I hid the telltale paper bags. My overwhelming feeling at the end of my gluttonous ordeal was this: Melbourne is amazing. We are so lucky.
I came home with a clear favourite: Marmalade and Soul. In its scope and ambition it’s as much restaurant as cafe, with top chef Raymond Capaldi (Hare and Grace) as owner and an increasing focus on lunch and dinner. But still: the spacious ex-pub is welcoming and handsome, like a country kitchen with sass and soul. The food is clever, rigorous and satisfying and the service is relaxed but correct. I’ve only one quibble: on my second visit, the seasoning was way out of whack and some dishes were painfully salty. It’s a hazard for chefs living in their high-salt world: sometimes their briny palates only taste salt when it’s at a level that will sting mere mortals.
Cock-a-leekie (chicken and leek soup) shares its Scottish heritage with chef Capaldi but the soup dates further back, to medieval times. This version is made with a double chicken stock (a base stock that’s cooked again with more chicken) so the underlying poultry flavours are rich and deep. The broth is stacked with plenty of white meat, sweet leek and barley. Harking back to an antique version of the soup, it also includes plump prunes which peep from a gorgeous bowl by local ceramicist Robert Gordon. A knack for blending the ancient and modern is also evident in the cottage pie. The ‘pie’ is deconstructed: braised beef in an outstanding dark jus comes alongside delicious quenelles of smoked potato mash and eel fillet. The beef ‘n’ eel pie combination references a classic poor-man’s dish from London’s East End.
It’s clever but it’s not grandstanding: all you need to do is eat and enjoy. That’s an easy ask with desserts like the chocolate bread and butter pudding, sliced like a terrine, and served with brilliant burnt orange custard. In a city that’s dotted with awesome cafes, this one truly delights.
More super soups:
Brown Cow, 382 Hampton Street, Hampton, 9521 0547
There are usually a couple of simple soups on the specials board at this efficient, bustling bayside cafe. Grab a table out the back by the fireplace to sup on Moroccan sweet potato soup served with pide toast.
Laksa King, 10-12 Pin Oak Crescent, Flemington, 9372 6383
Sometimes a cold winter’s night requires a laksa. When the urge strikes, Laksa King delivers with cheap, fast, spicy soups packed with slurpable ingredients. Choices include fish-head laksa, chicken and king prawn.
BrimCC, 601 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, 9629 6794
There are two or three different soups on offer every day at this cute Japanese eating house. The winter roster includes chunky pumpkin soup, and miso soups with either meatballs or salmon.
First published in The Age, July 15, 2012
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