Onzieme’s name and clean-lined fit-out – bentwood furniture, glass partitions scribbled with the daily-changing menu – might suggest Parisian bistro, but it’s actually a quintessential modern Australian diner, mixing global influences with quality ingredients grown and produced nearby. Take a deftly spiced and textured mutton kibbeh nayeh, topped with an egg yolk and served with pickled turnips, which shares menu space with precision-cooked kingfish skewers dressed in deep-flavoured yuzu sambal or crisp-fried enoki fritters with sweet-salty miso mayo. There’s a rustic honesty to the cooking here, so much of it wood-fired, but there’s also finesse, in sweet little roasted carrots lifted by an addictive peanut chipotle sauce, say, or a crunchy-edged potato galette finished with salmon roe. It’s an approach mirrored in the charmingly relaxed but focused service and the wine list embracing minimal intervention, perfect for the kitchen’s smoky moves. As for your pre- or post-dinner moves? Hit up Onzieme’s basement bar 11e Cave.
Lean Timms
