Funky without being intimidating, this new city restaurant is wowing diners.
On first perching at the bar of the spanking (spanking being the operative word) new Box Deli you might nearly fall off your stainlesssteel bar stool.
Then again, perhaps it’s just a girl from the burbs’ reaction to the metal spikes protruding from the funky white plastic bar that suggest you’ve stumbled into the latest S&M venue.
Surrounded by this you don’t even want to begin to wonder what they do with squid-ink risotto, duck salad and linguine.
However, this girl quickly recovered from the momentary lapse into unhip behaviour by nonchalantly hanging up the handbag on one of the spikes while enjoying a pre-dinner sip of Louis Roederer.
The bar was the best vantage point from which to soak up the atmosphere of this inner-city restaurant in the Box Building in Hay St. It’s already become a drop-in pad for beautiful young things on their way home from work or out to party.
I’m sure that was Davide Bianchi who was checking out the upstairs bar, where smoking is permitted and where corporate functions are held in the private dining room. I don’t often mention the soundsystem of restaurants but here the Bang& Olufsen sets the tone of the venue. It is as much a workof art as the black net curtains, the marble floor and ‘60s chandeliers.
Also suggestion Box Deli (short for delicatessen, delicious and delicate, as explained in the menu) is seriously into substance is the wine list, which is WA-based but includes wines from the best Australian and international regions.
There is nothing to shock or even surprise on the menu, and most diners will find something they’re comfortable with from the mains, which include beef, lamb shanks, duck, salmon and a couple of pasta dishes. Slightly at odds with the décor was the ironic attire of the waitresses– denim skirts, T-shirts and joggers. They were young and a tad inexperienced but made up for that with enthusiasm – especially on the subject of squid-ink risotto.
We took up our waitress’s offer and ordered it for entree ($12). It was pretty luscious for a dish that I always think looks questionable – an earthy black mound of rice, glistening and garnished with crispy deep-fried garlic tentacles served in a whimsically curvy bowl.
The French onion soup ($8) was thinner than I had anticipated, made with a beef stock that had a commercial flavour but was palatable enough and had a couple of gruyere dumplings afloat in it.
I had the duck breat ($29), which came as a Maryland with very crisp skin on top of witlof tartin, sauteed savoy cabbage, and julienne carrots and zucchini. Encircling it was a randomly patterned jus.
It was overkill to order a feta mash ($6) on the side but I was glad I did. It was sensational.
The angus beef slow-roasted sirloin was the most expensive dish ($34) but came with goats’ feata mash, mixed wild mushrooms and garlic butter. It, too, was very good.
Desserts are standards such as lemon tart, rice brulee, crème caramel and chocolate pudding, and cheese platters featuring Quickes Farmhouse and Tarago River cheeses.
And for a funky finish there’s liqueur teas and coffees. So, whatever the reason is behind the spiked bar, don’t think S&M, unless in your vocab that means sensational and modern.
