Latest news with #Japanese-focused
The Age
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
This inner-city terrace serves outrageously juicy katsu and boss-level drinking food
Previous SlideNext Slide Critics' PickHow we score Sometime around 2005, wood-fired pizza became the default accessory to a tasting paddle of beers. Craft breweries – endlessly creative with what they put in their beer – began to feel like a hall of mirrors when it came to their menus. Get harissa lamb ribs over here, but harissa lamb skewers at a rival beer hall. This one skips chicken tenders, instead you get buffalo chicken ribs. Would you like your fried calamari with lemon or lime? Benchwarmer, a West Melbourne craft beer hangout, breaks that mould. It's not a brewery but it sure gets behind them, which must be a godsend for struggling independent brewers right now. Since opening in an old Victorian terrace in February 2020, it's gradually grown more Japanese-focused with each change of chef and trip to Japan taken by owner Lachlan Jones. The front half holds a few blond wood communal tables and stools (very Japandi), cosy window seats, a small bar and a big beer fridge. The back half is a bit more grungy. New chef Geoff Marett has a CV that makes a lot of sense for a venue that's striving to be an izakaya: the loud and loose Japanese joints where food is there to soak up the copious sake and beer slammed down.
Sydney Morning Herald
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
This inner-city terrace serves outrageously juicy katsu and boss-level drinking food
Previous SlideNext Slide Critics' PickHow we score Sometime around 2005, wood-fired pizza became the default accessory to a tasting paddle of beers. Craft breweries – endlessly creative with what they put in their beer – began to feel like a hall of mirrors when it came to their menus. Get harissa lamb ribs over here, but harissa lamb skewers at a rival beer hall. This one skips chicken tenders, instead you get buffalo chicken ribs. Would you like your fried calamari with lemon or lime? Benchwarmer, a West Melbourne craft beer hangout, breaks that mould. It's not a brewery but it sure gets behind them, which must be a godsend for struggling independent brewers right now. Since opening in an old Victorian terrace in February 2020, it's gradually grown more Japanese-focused with each change of chef and trip to Japan taken by owner Lachlan Jones. The front half holds a few blond wood communal tables and stools (very Japandi), cosy window seats, a small bar and a big beer fridge. The back half is a bit more grungy. New chef Geoff Marett has a CV that makes a lot of sense for a venue that's striving to be an izakaya: the loud and loose Japanese joints where food is there to soak up the copious sake and beer slammed down.
