DRINK Review > Bobbie Peels, North Melbourne (15/20)

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Zicoria Brasserie is one of the restaurants in Hotel Hell, yes that actually is the name. One of the waiters explained that the hotel was his grandfathers business and it was named after him. In fact he was grandson Hell (yep it was also his surname). We wandered along slightly early and were directed to the have a cocktail in the bar which were excellent. It turned out that staff were still finishing dinner in the restaurant, so don’t arrive before 7pm and expect a table for dinner, it is just not done!

AMBIANCE >

The cocktail bar had sports on the TV, there were hotel guests enjoying a drink. It felt at first that this was much more a casual hotel bar than the upmarket cocktail lounge image it was trying to portray. I ordered a Smoked Negroni (that came in a smoker box) and Angie had the Passionfruit Margarita. The drinks were good, and a generous serving of (complimentary) freshly cut parma ham and grissini to go with our drinks was lovely.

EAT >

The dining room is spacious and feels a little more like the upmarket bistro image they are seeking for Zicoria, the lighting was good and the music was great and at a good level.

Head Chef Daniel Janser grew up in South Tyrol, in a small side valley of the Vinschgau, he worked at various international restaurants before settling in Ortisei at Zicoria where he has applying the techniques learned around the world with the flavours and local produce of the Dolomiti.

There was a starter from the chef which was a pretty crunchy thing (I actually could not say what) and then our lovely Sardinian waitress took us through the menu and specials board which was wheeled around the room up to the table.

Our meal started with a shared steak tartare which was excellent (one of the best we have ever eaten) and had a mix of local mushrooms. Then for main course I had slow cooked veal beef cheek with polenta (which was oddly very firm but tasty) and Angie had Seabass with an amazing beurre blanc sauce. We shared a green salad and a crepê suzette for desert, which was the special but was a little disappointing.

DRINK >

The wine list had a good range of wines from South Tyrol and Italy with a few others from around the world. We settled on the bargain wine of the evening, the truly excellent Ratti Marcenasco Barolo (2020) a steal at €60.