26 Feb Archie Green, Melbourne CBD
A new entrant has made an appearance in Melbourne’s laneway scene. Archie Green is a cafe, restaurant and bar that’s filled with…greenery, as well as industrial design features and striking murals that keep things casual.
Sometimes all-day diners lose their focus and don’t manage to nail all the menus. Thankfully the menu at Archie Green is far from average. Blue swimmer crab scrambled eggs grace the breakfast menu, and pâté en croute appears from lunch onwards. The drinks menu has been created by Stuart Quinn (ex-The Atlantic) and even includes their own canned cocktails.
An amalgamation of sweet, savoury and salty, the fluffy Five Spice Doughnuts are filled with a rich chicken liver parfait and agave. Unconventional, but delicious. The incredibly thinly sliced swordfish in the Carpaccio has a gentle sweetness, and the preparations of green and red tomatoes are a good pairing.
If you haven’t had buffalo curd before, it’s tangy, a little like Greek yoghurt. There’s a bit of sweetness to the Shaw River Buffalo Curd, and it acts as a canvas for the cumin and other strong spices in the black lime pistachio dukkah.
The Warm Salad of Port Phillip Calamari is one of our favourites. The calamari are linguine like, but with more chew. Preserved watermelon rind, spiced almonds, onions, carrots and squiggles of squid ink work well together, and a hint of spice elevates the flavours even further.
The Duo of Millas Farm Duck has a peppery hit to it. Tender confit duck leg meat is found within the spring roll, and there’s sweet marinated capsicum and fig on the side. The Twice-cooked Millbrook Pork Belly has all that crispy skin goodness, and the flavour of the pork is complemented by sweet caramelised onion, and a fair hit of spice from the pickled chilli.
Dark chocolate and marshmallow cookies are warm and crumbly, sandwiching a disc of airy passionfruit parfait, and slathered with a rich chocolate sauce at the table. On the other hand, the Lemongrass Posset with grilled peach, ginger granita, lemon balm might be more up your alley if you’re after something lighter. It’s firm, smooth and so refreshing. It’s the perfect conclusion to an impressive meal.
With a great menu that’s constantly evolving, Archie Green is a contemporary all-day diner we can get excited about.
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