Little Hunter

Saturday night date - let's hit the town and paint it red! Steve and I donned our glad rags and headed to the communal table at Little Hunter like true Melbourne fashionistas...ha ha in our dreams!

A subtle doorway and an industrial stainless steel stairway led us to the basement dining room. I expected it to be busy given recent hype and its popularity and we enjoyed the dark and buzzy feel to the place. We took our places at the table and I was pleased to find the high chairs more comfortable than stools at other establishments.

We chose to start with:

• Pork Cracklings - paprika, white cheddar, apple sauce
• Lobster Hushpuppies - softened vinegar butter
  

The pork crackling pieces were so light and crispy...like a prawn cracker almost, not like the cracking on roast pork which surprised me and not greasy like pork scratchings in a packet at the pub. Whilst I liked the texture, the first few pieces lacked seasoning for me and the apple sauce was too sweet but when I got to the pieces that had the cheesy bits and paprika on, that was when the music played! So much better.

Loved the crumbed bites of lobster with the creamy salty butter that had a vinegary tang that cut through the sweet lobster flesh and creaminess / fattiness of the butter. Delicious!
 
What was the best though and arguably it was free was the bread. Buttery t the extent it was almost cheesy. Doughy and warm and herby fragrant - it was a comfort and a delight all at the same time.

Our main courses were meat heavy:

• Wood-Roasted Pork - kale, cider vinegar
• Hopkins River Rib Eye - bone marrow, beef fat butter

 I had a hard time deciding between pork or chicken but the waitress convinced me to go pork. It was a generous portion served in a hot pan and topped with more crackling. This was more like the crackling on a roast. I enjoyed the kale and the cider vinegar kept things tangy, piquant and fresh. I actually found the meat a little dry.

The steak was a decent steak but I preferred the char we'd had on the steak from the Wayside Inn the night before. Tasty enough but not hugely memorable.

The fries were chunky and good and the charred corn I enjoyed as it was fresh and light. With so much meat, clean veggie flavours were welcome.

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Dessert was a delight:

• Frangipane - meringue, passionfruit curd, whole pear sorbet

Sweet, sugary meringue, creamy pear sorbet, tangy passion fruit, fragrant soft and warm frangipane smelling all nutty and poppy seedy. All the flavours and textures combined was a magical symphony!

All in all we enjoyed Little Hunter. The service was efficient but not overly personal. We were just another Saturday night client and there was little interaction or pride or passion coming from the wait staff. The food was pretty good and I can imagine that it can win a following if punters get the right wait staff, Certainly there were three gents sat at the corner of the communal table who were very effusive in their praise for the place. For me, it was good and it holds its own amongst the elite on the scene when it comes to Melbourne dining. Having said that, there are many places on the scene and competition is tough and there are probably other's I'd go to before returning here. No problems with returning but not inspired enough to arrange it myself!

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