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MELBOURNE | Supernormal Canteen is the latest incarnation of the space that’s housed owner Andrew McConnell’s restaurants Golden Fields and Bar Luxembourg in recent years. It’s a revival of the popup he ran in Fitzroy that served as the precursor to Supernormal Kitchen, and feels like a bit of a mix between that popup and the CBD restaurant.
The 90 seat space is modern and intimate, feeling like Melbourne with flourishes of a Japanese Izakaya. It’s grown up and fun, with concrete floors, white marble and tiles, and wooden furniture and accents. THe best seats in the house are at the long marble bar, which is the only thing that’s survived from Bar Luxembourg. From here you get a full view of the vibrant kitchen, and whiffs of the beautiful smell coming from the long charcoal grill.
The menu comes on a sheet accompanied by a wooden pencil, and you tick off the items you’re interested in. Like it’s older sibling the menu skews heavily towards Japan with Chinese and Korean influences thrown in for good measure. Deciding what to eat is hard because there’s a lot on the menu that sounds, and is, delicious. Yakitori is delicious, with thigh, fillet, skin, liver and tsukune (meatballs) on offer. We love that the tsukune is served properly, with a soy and lightly cured egg yolk dipping sauce.
From the raw bar, sea bream with fresh wasabi, ginger & nashi is fantastic, and the twice-cooked duck leg bao with vinegar & plum sauce is another winner. For dessert, go for the taiyaki,a fish-shaped pancake with a hot and gooey batter and melted Valrhona chocolate centre. The famed lobster rolls are still on the menu here and, while delicious, can probably be avoided due to the wealth of other options and their expensive cost.
For drinks it’s an extensive wine list with several local and international wines, along with beer, sake and Japanese inspired cocktails. Try the Umeshu Spritz with umeshu (plum wine), shiso, and prosecco.
Service is friendly, fun and attentive, and it all adds up for a very rewarding dining experience.
Supernormal Canteen
2/157 Fitzroy Street
St Kilda
Victoria 3182
Australia
Telephone: (03) 9525 4488
E-mail: [email protected]
Website
Open
Sat – Thu: 5:00pm to 11:00pm
Fri: 12:00pm to 11:00pm