Albert St Food & Wine

Last minute decision resulted in us eating here and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
Highlights include the minute steal special, great wine — especially the sticky and the goats cheese (holy goat)!!!

Amazing! Although Unilocal has this as mediterranean… Err no it is more American/​Australian/​modern. So… Drink! The drinks were created by a seasoned bartender who is EPIC… You must try the lemon meringue cocktail. Wow… It is sooo soooo creative and delicious! Such creative uses of the good stuff (no cheap booze here… All drinks are made with top shelf which is a good thing!).
Food? Yeah! I had the pork belly and spuds… Delicious! And normal portions! Not some crappy ‘expensive’ joint that has you order 2 – 3 mains to fill a belly. This place dishes out normal portions… So get a main and a side or entrée!
Atmosphere? Super friendly… NOT pretentious. Good music… Date worthy… Beautiful… Good people and vibe.
Overall a true find and keeper in Melbourne!

Quick review:
~ I’ve only eaten here once. I wanted it to be at least twice before I wrote a review, but alas, Albert St Food & Wine have made it difficult: I recently tried to call at 8.30pm on a Saturday to check their availability and reserve a table for 30 minutes’ or an hour’s time only to be shocked by the rude attitude and poor service of the phone people: I was put on hold ~three times~ just while trying to make a booking, only to be told that the kitchen closes at 9.45pm (I was calling at 8.30pm — plenty of time, in my opinion), even though the restaurant’s closing time is advertised as 11pm. And this was on a Saturday night.
~ My first visit was an adequate, albeit slightly disappointing, one. Arrived at around 7pm to a full house, however they managed to find us a table on the provision that we had to be gone by 8.15pm due to a reservation. We ordered almost immediately after sitting down (two pizzas, pretty easy stuff) and we waited 45 minutes for it to arrive. By this time it was nearing 8pm, which gave us a very short time to eat before we were told we had to get out. Never knew it took so long for pizzas to be made!
~ On the upside, the food was pretty tasty, although small and overpriced for what they deliver. The décor inside is lovely, and most likely a nice place to take someone on a date (just made sure you have a solid booking).

Guys over $ 30 for a plate of gnocchi and I’d expect it have more than 6 pieces. Overpaying and leaving hungry I never a good feeling…

Finally made it for an anniversary dinner, this is our local restaurant and aren’t we lucky!
Great atmosphere in there, attentive staff but very relaxed we stayed about3 hours ! My fav were the starters — bug tail and asparagus valute .
It’s pricey but you could easily just come for dessert :)

We had a booking for 8:30 but didn’t get seated until 8:50, being told to wait on the wheelchair ramp, so Albert St and I didn’t get off on the right foot.
We shared a range of dishes between 3 of us. This also meant eating a few dishes that I wouldn’t normally order myself. The crisp pork cheek with grilled bug tail being one of them. However, I’m certainly glad my friend did order this, as it was my favourite dish out of all of them. The ‘Milk and Honey’ desert was the other party in your mouth dish.
As it was a wine bar, we thought that they would be more interested in explaining the wines to us, but we didn’t get any of that. We did notice a $ 1200 bottle of wine on the menu.
So all in all, the service I felt was a bit lacking but overall a good place for a date or a catch up with close friends.

Delicous food, quality ingredients, fantastic dining, knowledgable staff huge drinks selection

If you miss out on the famous snickers dessert, The chocolate parfait and candied popcorn dessert is the next best thing!

Lovely wine, attentive service and fantastic food, Albert St Food & Wine shines brightly in Brunswick.
My partner and I have eaten here twice on different occasions — one on a packed out evening to share a biiig steak for two and again on a quiet Saturday afternoon for a wine and light nibbles. By light nibbles we succumbed to a bit more and ended up with steak tartare and a pizza — both delicious. Not a hint of greasy-​stodginess that pizza can sometimes have, this was perfect.
In addition to being a great restaurant, there is also a small food store next door. I highly recommend taking home some zucchini pickles. We’ve also grabbed some green tomato relish to try. With a cheese, bread and small good selection, this would make for some impressive appetisers or a picnic to end all picnics.

What can i say? I’m a big fan. I’ve been a Brunswick local for a bit over a year now and somehow had never taken the opportunity to try the much lauded Albert St Food and Wine, or ASFAW if you’re a hipster douche-​bag.
I went for lunch with someone who has a list of allergies long enough to fill the old testament. The staff were fantastically accommodating and walked us through the menu until a suitable meal was found. A beautifully cooked sous vide salmon fillet with salad and potatoes was by all accounts delicious. I had the wild barramundi fillet with clams and such accompanied by a great tasting glass of Alsace riesling. An inspired pairing.
The food was fantastic and the service didn’t miss a beat. Its a great space and is entirely comfortable enough to linger over a coffee long after the meal is over. Thank you ASFAW (oops) i’ll be back.

We combined a visit to the Counihan Gallery at Brunswick Town Hall with lunch at Albert St. We arrived hungry without a reservation and were told we should have booked. but all was not lost. A different waiter seated us at a quickly laid a table in the wine and produce area and gave us menus instantly. Food was delightful, seasonal, fresh and classic bistro. I almost took a star away for the Bellini which seemed to owe nothing to peaches, more San Pellagrino blood orange.
Nothing but praise for the hospitality for 8 hungry art afficianardos. We will return but call first and request the «private room» Oh and Counihan Gallery also worth a visit!

A very cool space, perfect for a date if you can score the table between the stack of wine bottles and bread! We just came for drinks which were great to sip on as you overlooked the passers-​by on Sydney Rd.

On my last visit to Melbourne a friend told me I MUST get to this place, she practically dragged me there. I am so glad she did. I loved it & on returning home, promptly informed my better half that HE must get to this place as well.
Albert St is large & open, easy to get to & they don’t cram the seating in. The staff are as attentive as they should/​need to be and never bothersome. If you’re a regular there (as my friend is) you’ll be remembered & treated accordingly. I felt right at home.
The food was wonderful, no boring options, the quality of food they sourced was spectacular, I was lucky to get to try their bacon & I’d order a plate of it to go if I could! I had the coddled eggs which was intriguing and delicious, a wonderful breakfast dish that I’ll be trying to recreate for a while.
If YOU are in Melbourne, then you simply MUST get to this place. It’s only fair.

I’ve been here twice now. Once for lunch and once for dinner.
Both times casual affairs, firstly with my wife, and secondly with a friend. Both times the food was fantastic and the service was exemplary.
Ordinarily I steer away from trendy «Modern Australian» cuisine as it usually isn’t exciting enough (give me Szechuan or Thai!).
However both times at Albert St the food very much excited me.
A squid ink pasta with fresh seafood. A lamb gnocchi which was more lamb than gnocchi (awesome!). Delicious pizza and a stimulating charcuterie plate (I never thought a charcuterie plate could be stimulating until now).
All rounded off with good attentive service and great wine.
Its also got a relaxed vibe, the sort of place where i’ll go back again, without having driven, with more friends, sit back and graze on a variety of foods while polishing of a few more bottles of wine.
If you live on that side of town its a no brainier. Just go.

One of the swankiest places in Brunswick, Albert St Food and Wine Bar did not disappoint. Strategically located in my hood, I’ve been wanting to try this place forever and finally had the right opportunity to do so. We didn’t book reservations because I was lazy and called ahead to see what the standard waiting time was on a Saturday night. The lady informed us they had both reserved and non-​reserved areas so we could risk the non-​reserved section since they were fully booked for the next few weeks. I don’t believe in booking more than a few days in advance, for the sheer reason that you’re only building up your expectations, often to be let down. So we risked and tried our luck to get a non-​reserved seat (oh the unthinkable). We arrived around 8pm, sort of prime dinner time, and the host explained it’d be a 30 – 45 min wait. We waited, against the whinging of my boyfriend, and grabbed a drink menu and stood on the edge of the restaurant (not really a waiting spot as all bar space was given to dinner guests). Before I could decide on a drink, within 15 mins we were seated! Huzzah! I felt like doing a happy dance all over those silly people who book weeks in advance and yelling at my boyfriend ‘patience is a virtue!’ Onwards to dinner, we ordered quail with mushroom panzanella and artichokes in truffle oil, which was divine. My boyfriend got the albondigas because he loves goat (bleh) and also the smoked mackeral (because he’s a fatty). We got a carafe of wine, which I’ll never do again as I was sloppily drunk by the end of dinner and already slipping into a wine coma. To finish, we had the snow white and rose red dessert, which included strawberry sorbet, fresh strawberries and meringue sticks. YUM. So good, I nearly licked the plate, but my boyfriend beat me to it. I’ll definitely be returning here once I roll into a treasure chest of gold, but for not, it’s just a bit out of my price range as a poor grad student so this was a one-​off splurge!

In short, it’s refreshing to see a new and promising addition to the Sydney road scene, but Albert Street F&W misses the mark just a little.
I like that they keep a range of interesting wines. Extra points for stocking Armagnac as well. It’s a good option for a sneaky drink or two in the evening or after work, and to be honest, I can’t think of a better option in the immediate surrounds for that.
Unfortunately though, the wine knowledge was a little thin on the ground, although I did respect the floor staff for being honest about it and seeking assistance from the bar when not sure how to respond my question regarding the nature of one of their by-​the-​glass wines. This was fairly early days too (early 2012?), so perhaps those kinks have been ironed out.
It’s a great building, and they’ve done a good job to create an appealing space. For me though, it’s missing something. A little self-​conscious perhaps.
Food wise, it was good. I was a little confused though as it’s not quite fine dining (IMO), yet too dainty (and expensive) to really make a play at the gastropub circuit. Servings were small, so you really need an entrée, main and dessert if you’re wanting to be fully sated.
Desserts of course were exceptional. Expect no less from Philippa Sibley.

This is a site of great deliciousness. When I got off the tram and saw Albert Street Food&Wine, I thought, «I like food. I like wine. I think we’ll get along just fine, Albert St.» And so we did. The wine list isn’t overwhelmingly long — just a good selection of key varietals, with a smattering of internationals but an overall focus on more local vineyards. Having arrived in the early evening without a booking, we were seated at the long bar by the front window, which was a good place to share a few snacks. The cheeses were delicious (again, local selections), the bread tasty (the fig and walnut was my particular favourite — it came with the cheese platter), fresh oysters and one of the best funghi pizzas I have ever had. One of the best parts of the meal was the knowledge that we could buy certain components — the cheese, the bread, the zucchini pickle — from the in-​house foodstore.
Admittedly, Albert Street’s polish is somewhat at odds with Sydney Road’s usual grunge (this is said with love), but I would regard it as a welcome addition to the area.

In the last half-​a-​decade or so, Melbourne’s northside has been increasingly viewed as an up-​and-​coming place, a favourite of the hipster and bohemian, the student and young professional. Mirroring this trend, a few inspired dining venues have emerged from its generally nondescript road strips. The relatively new Albert Street Food & Wine exemplifies the increasing pace of a demographic change in Melbourne’s inner-​north. Although attracting a crowd generally not drawn from that more traditionally associated with the Sydney Road area of Brunswick, Albert St’s patrons canvass the general spread of Melbourne society — well dressed and under-​dressed, rough and dainty, loud and demure, hipster and conservative. Melding a savvy day and night, eating in and eating out business model, Albert Street is a brunch café, food store, restaurant, wine bar, local pub all at once. Behind a old bank-​like frontage, booths and stools are propped at communal tables and along an enormous bar which imposes itself upon the space. The rest of the restaurant is cloned from the mind of some overpaid interior designer firm peddling its exasperating fixation with black wood, matte steel and raw timber all across Melbourne.
…
Dining at Albert St is more than merely eating-​out or drinking-​out. Dining at Albert St is to be part of a social commentary, a microcosmic experience of Melbourne 2012. There’s the dining crowd characterised by an edgy cosmopolitanism, co-​existing for the most part in unruffled ease. There’s that heavily plagiarised black-​steel-​timber décor that was once unique, now mainstream. There’s the neo-​classical Mediterranean-​European-​infused food that is egalitarian to most budgets, appealing in its unfussy lightness. You see, Albert St is so easy to love. But then, there’s that level of non-​service, courtesy of a veritable troupe of shoe-​gazers, coiffure-​organisers and walkabouts. Everyone understands that a restaurant is a business. The basic principle of business is that a business will exist so long as it has clients for whom to exist. This applies to every business, whether in resource exploitation, corporate acquisition, public policy, healthcare, consulting, manufacturing, education, social justice etc. No business — especially not one claiming to operate in the business of hospitality — has the prerogative to stop overlooking and dismiss the very tenet that underpins their survival. That tenet by the way, is not the food alone.

Albert St Food & Wine, neatly positioned on the corner of Sydney Rd and Albert St Brunswick, is popular for a reason. The service is casual yet attentive and the menu is modern with a focus on quality produce. Admittedly, I sat down to dinner late one very hot Summer’s evening and was not expecting an extraordinary experience (given it was already well into dinner service and the restaurant was packed). Pleasantly, I was proved very wrong. Upon arrival, the staff were quick to keep ensure hydration levels remained elevated and were careful to point out items on the menu which may be of interest.
The food was prepared exceptionally well, with the Wagyu skewers with white anchovy and eggplant being a perfect first course. The beef was carefully grilled on the outside yet tender and rare on the inside. The roasted rump of lamb with polenta was as equally as tender and delicious. The only disappointing thing about dinner was that the daily specials, served to adjoining tables and leading to a big case of food envy, were sold out by the time our orders were taken. Although I guess the Albert St Food & Wine kitchen can’t be blamed for its own success!
Albert St Food & Wine is a vibrant addition to Sydney road’s diverse urban restaurant strip and well worth a visit or three. I found it a great place to enjoy dinner and some drinks before sampling the eclectic mix of bars that this area has to offer.

Sat among the Middle Eastern bakeries and wedding dress shops of Sydney Road in Brunswick, pastry chef extraordinaire Philippa Sibley’s Albert Street Food and Wine is well on its way to earning her further coveted titles (she was once named The Age Good Food Guide Chef of the Year) and confidently joins the ranks of her previous excellent ventures — est est est, Luxe, Ondine and Il Fornaio.
Occupying the spacious corner plot of a former bank, the space reminded us somewhat of Cumulus Inc. Same sliding vault door (which conceals a wine ‘cellar’ where private dining parties can look out over the kitchen), same industrial-​looking high ceiling, same bar-​side dining option.
Splashes of yellow and gold warm the place up and the atmosphere is lively without noise levels ever reaching a deafening crescendo. Reclaimed timber tables, black chairs, metal lampshades — all bringing a much-​needed dose of relaxed Melbourne dining to this neck of the woods. The kind of place where whatever the time of day, occasion, or hunger levels, you will find something tasty on the menu, which encourages grazing with its little and large Mediterranean plates, pizzas, pastas and charcuterie selections.
First up for me, alongside a chilled glass of wine — bliss, heirloom carrot soup, vin santo, scallops. None of the raspy acidity you might get with a lesser version — this was incredibly smooth and rich. I imagine it contained a fair amount of cream, but at least the veggie content went some way to countering the calories. Perfectly cooked, spongy scallops bobbed around in the unctuous liquid and the vin santo added a perfect tang. Could have drunk this straight from the bowl. Refined comfort food. Loved it.
The boy has trouble seeing past pâté, rillettes or terrines, so on this occasion he opted for potted rainbow trout rillettes, cornichon, grilled bread. Coarsely textured and not overly fishy, there was again no wrong step here.
Fritto misto with punchy aioli was served in a bowl lined with baking paper — lightly battered prawns, white fish, asparagus (still firm, not soggy — bonus points), zucchini flowers and something from the samphire family I believe. With a generous squeeze of lemon it transported us to the sparkling Med and a small Italian fishing village. Sigh, it’s been a long time since we visited one of those.
More comfort food came in the form of saffron gnocchi with braised veal, broad beans and fried sage. Meaty, juicy and full of flavour, those little gnocchis were like angel’s pillows. Right, enough clichés from me, on to the much-​anticipated desserts.
We almost had tears at the table when we were told the Sibley Snickers Bar sensation was not on the menu that day, with one member of our party threatening to ‘have words, but overcame adversity and ordered Amoretti semi freddo with roasted apricots…
…and strawberries with balsamic ice cream and chewy, sticky sticks of meringue.
As if we needed a reason to return, we will definitely be heading back for more sweet treats and to stock up our store cupboard with goodies from the adjoining deli. All in all, a fresh-​flavoured, raging success!