Nieuw Amsterdam, Melbourne – American BBQ
This restaurant is now closed.
Finding good spots for groups is always a challenge. On a coolish Sunday night we headed for Nieuw Amsterdam in Melbourne’s Hardware Street and were pleasantly surprised. The restaurant caters well for groups – as evidenced by a fair number of big tables set up. We were lucky enough to get a spot for our group of five in a small alcove. We got the best of both worlds – the ability to carry on a conversation and still enjoy the music blaring.
Gluttonous husband settled in with a Kooinda Black IPA from a boutique brewery in the Melbourne suburb of Heidelberg West. Very black it was too; it looked like a stout but tasted like a true pale ale with a bitter finish. He pronounced himself well satisfied. The rest of us shared a bottle of a French blanc de blancs and turned our attention to the menu.
As is the fashion these days, the dishes are designed for sharing – some shared more successfully than others. We started with four appetisers.
The picture at the top of this blog was a pretty plate and quite delicious – black kingfish ceviche. It was served with daikon, dashi, finger limes and crunchy quinoa. Greedy Girl is becoming somewhat addicted to ceviche – the method of ‘cooking’ the fish in something acidic seems to bring out the very best in the fish. Having eaten a fair amount of kingfish sashimi recently, the flavours here were exceedingly balanced and tasty.
We also took some ham hock and pork trotter nuggets. These were served with a dab of burnt onion jam. They had a strong flavour but went down the hatch quite easily. If Greedy Girl wanted to quibble she thought they could have used a touch more seasoning.
Ham hock and pork trotter nuggets
We also took the barbecued scallops. While this was a vibrant plate, Greedy Girl felt the ratio of scallop to the other elements of the dish – a mango gazpacho, avocado and chilli was rather disproportionate. The scallop was cooked nicely but were dominated by everything else going on.
Barbecued scallops
The final appetiser featured waffles. These lovely bites were topped with chicken pate, terrine, crispy chicken skin and an orange caramel. Delish.
Chicken pate waffles topped with crispy chicken skin
We moved on to bigger plates. First up were very nice pork belly chops served with sauerkraut, apple sauce, and some crispy crackling on top. The waiter poured over a jus at the table; while the moisture was welcome, Greedy Girl quickly fished out a piece of crackling, lest it go a little soggy.
Pork belly chops and crispy crackling
Next were lamb ribs. While this was a good-looking dish, the flavour of the ribs was a bit too fatty for Greedy Girl. She also didn’t get a hit from the honey spice rub.
Lamb ribs
Next up was chicken. This was a barbecued, spiced chicken served with madeira onions and pine mushrooms. In Greedy Girl’s estimation, it was the best of the main courses. The chicken was moist and went well with all the other elements.
Chicken with madeira onions
We also took some grits fritters. These were served with sweetcorn in various guises and tiny slices of heirloom beetroot. Greedy Girl, not being a fan of beetroot, ate around the edges.
Grits fritters
We also took a couple of sides. It was a power of food for five hungry adults, but little was left.
Mash with gravy
Chilli slaw
We turned our attention to desserts – the menu offers four choices, so we took them all. First up were pumpkin doughnuts. These were crunchy, spicy numbers; Greedy Girl tried unsuccessfully to dust off some of the sugar but they were quite tasty. Not a cream lover, she left it for the rest of the table. It was laced with Kentucky bourbon – gluttonous husband commented the booze was very subtle.
Pumpkin doughnuts
One of the best desserts was a chocolate delice. This was very light and soft and went extremely well with the crunchy shards of honeycomb. Delish.
Chocolate delice
More chocolate came with another serving of waffles. These were described as peanut butter waffles with salted caramel, a luscious dark chocolate sauce and a raspberry sorbet. The various elements were all great but Greedy Girl and gluttonous husband agreed they thought the raspberry sorbet worked better on its own than with the rest of the dish.
Peanut butter waffles with salted caramel
Our final dessert was a lemon mess. And indeed it did look a bit messy, but it was a great foil flavour-wise for the rest of the desserts. The touch of coldness from the lemonade granita was a bonus. It also featured a cream cheese sorbet and ginger crumble.
Lemon mess
Well fed, we prepared to head for the exit. The main floor was fairly full, although the dark and moody bar downstairs was deserted – it was a Sunday night so that’s probably not terribly surprising. The building, a former hardware shop, has been nicely converted and the restaurant is trying to evoke the style of NYC. It’s the brainchild of owner Michael Roszbach (ex-Cookie, a noted bar and restaurant in Swanston Street) and head chef Nick Stanton. The service was excellent and, for the amount of food and drinks consumed, it was very good value.
Nieuw Amsterdam
106-112 Hardware Street, Melbourne
Comments