Little Hunter

Holy toledo, how long ago did I visit this place?! Anyway, I'm blogging about it now.

Well there sure has been some hype about this place even before it opened. Some hype indeed. Maybe it's because the guy heading up this place used to work at the Fat Duck, or because the other owner is on MKR, who knows. I sure didn't see any activated almonds on the menu. I totally would've ordered them. You know I would.

Anyway, located beneath the St Georges building on Little Collins, the entrance is as discreet as it gets, no significant signage, down some stairs into a bunker space. We followed other people and hoped they knew where they were going. They did.

Truth be told, I really only wanted to try Little Hunter because of its name. It's a cool name don't you think? Or not.....

This place is not for vegetarians. So beware blog buddies. If you're a vegetarian, this place may not be for you, as almost everything has a meat component, even the bread. It started off with a baked pull apart mini loaf, herby and delicious (and was unashamedly white white white - let's face it, no one likes to admit it, but white bread didn't survive this long because it tasted bad). Oh, don't forget the chicken skin butter. CHICKEN SKIN BUTTER.

This place is also not for the dieter. So beware blog buddies. If you're watching your calories, this place may not be for you.

We started with the "crackling" and watermelon salad. The crackling was interesting, it was "puffed" rather than the classic rendition of crackling. So it was almost like eating crisps...but well, not quite crisps.  It was fine, but after a few servings, you do get sick of it.The watermelon salad was excellent, the creamy goat cheese and refreshing watermelon. I loved this dish.

For mains, I had spatchcock and my buddy had the lamb...I think. The chicken was good, but it wasn't incredible, it was solidly cooked and not sandpaper dry. Perhaps it was a long day for me when I dined there, as I ultimately found it difficult to stomach all that meat. We also ordered a side of fries and yams. The fries were really more like 7 fries or something (realistically, it was 1 potato), tasty, but really you didn't get into double digits with the number of fries served. This was a bit of a disappointment, when you order fries, there should be a sense of abundance.  The yams were sweet potatoes...and was quite nice...but why not call them sweet potatoes?!

We finished with the licorice ice cream and the frangipane with passionfruit curd. The licorice ice cream was delicious with the only "minor complaint" was that it was quite sweet. I make ice cream with my ice cream machine regularly (ok, I made like 10 batches in 2 weeks and then nothing afterwards since), so I'd like to think I know what I'm on about...and I really think it could've done with less sugar or something that isn't as sweet as sucrose. But then again, a minor issue...you eat ice cream well because it's meant to be sweet, so perhaps I'm just complaining because it's fun.

The passionfruit curd component of the frangipane dessert was excellent and incredibly smooth, I love passionfruit curd - did you know that? Well you do now. I love love love passionfruit curd. Even though there was really only a small amount of it on the dish, I'd order it just for the curd.

Overall, the main disappointment of the night were our seats, we were seated at the bar despite arriving for a 6pm session, and well, it wasn't very comfortable. It was fine for a few drinks, but after a couple of hours, we were ready to leave. Honestly, fix your damn bar stools.

Notwithstanding that issue, the food is generally good, service good, and if you were to eat here you would generally be satisfied. It won't change your life, but then again, it's a fairly new restaurant so perhaps it'll find its groove later down the track.

Where?
Little Hunter
"Down the stairs", 195 Little Collins St
Melbourne, CBD