As if travelling back in time ten years, Flinders Lane is yet again one of the coolest restaurant strips in the world. Multiple high profile openings, and the buzz to deafen the most serious hype.

Tonight I didn’t even realise until we booked our parking, that we were going to the old Ezard dining room. This basement oasis of turn of this century dining excellence is once again a hot ticket. It is Tuesday night and this illustrious, completely restyled venue, is very busy. We’ve waited 16 minutes after our 8pm booking, with no drink, so this Nomad place better be worth it. Having been recently pushed out of early restaurant bookings, we held our nerve, and our judgement.

I noticed the kitchen is now mainly at the back of the long rectangular room, with a larder at the front. It’s dark and minimalist, and seems a bit tight to walk along the pathways but staff are quick to step aside. Tonight we are thankful to have one of the experienced Sydney sister venue staff as our wairperson. While she leaves Melbourne to go back to Sydney soon, we certainly noticed all staff are well trained on the menu, waiting etiquette and have a friendly persona. The speed, and depth of explanation about the gluten free options on the menu, were very impressive.

We began with some rock oysters and the wood roasted plant escabeche. The oysters were delicious and the flavour profile in the escabeche was diverse, even if the nature of a marinated dish means a soft texture.

The combination of baked ricotta, Ortiz anchovies, and wood roasted peppers, worked so well I was imagining tapas in San Sebastian. Smoked mussels, piment d’espelette, and a pure garlic puree called toum were superb, only topped by the perfect accompanying hash brown. It may not be an exaggeration to say that pure garlic might be the toum-stone for your date, but here we felt it wore off reasonably quickly.

For our main dish, Murray cod is presented skin side up to keep the crispy texture, topped with saffron butter, and sided by spring vegetables and vine leaves. Cod is an outstanding fish, with its meatiness and depth of flavour, not to mention its versatility. On that front, my Gamay by Sentio in the King Valley was a decent red match, while Catherine’s Mulline Geelong Chardonnay was a natural winner. The Roman beans as a side were more of a hit with Catherine, but I did like trying a side that was a bit different, even if I got a few chewier ones.

Earlier I’d tried the versatile Sutton Grange Fiano and was not disappointed. Catherine had the “gin drink” to start as her cocktail, and it was terrific, but we almost went mad with staff trying to remember the song that talks about “the whisky drink”. It is Tub Thumping by Chubawumba!

The olive oil ice cream sandwich is already signature, and we got a separated gluten free version where I got most of the gluten part, and half of the creamy ice cream. Down the road at a restaurant where Coda now resides is where I tried my first olive oil ice cream 13 years ago, and maybe that is the best way to summarise the impact Flinders Lane dining has had on me.

In one triangle on Flinders Lane we had been to three venues in barely over a month. This has to be one of the great times to dine out between Swanston and Russell. Inventive, risky, but surefooted, and focussed, Nomad is making its mark.

Nomad
187 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
https://nomad.melbourne/
+02 9280 3395
eat@nomad.melbourne