Kara Monssen reviews an exciting new British restaurant to open in Melbourne’s CBD

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Reed House 

The Manse Building, 130 Lonsdale St

Could Reed House be one of the best restaurant openings of the year?

It certainly impressed Herald Sun food editor Kara Monssen when she visited last week.

The British-inspired restaurant, led by chef Mark Hannell and work and life partner Rebecca Baker, opened late August in the old Manse building opposite Wesley Church in the CBD.

The couple worked and lived in London for many years, (Hannell at St John and Ottolenghi, and Baker at Nopi) and are now making the ultimate homecoming with their city restaurant debut.

Reed House has been designed to feel like a home in all it does — from the warm greeting you’ll get from staff upon entry, to elevated homely dishes and a comforting beverage program.

And Hannell isn’t afraid to have a little fun along the way.

His ramen scotch egg ($14) riffs on flavours from Japan’s favourite soup, hiding a perfectly runny googer within its porky, bread crumbed mass.

While the Welsh rarebit crumpet ($9) plays on the St John classic made instead with grilled cheddar cheese and Guinness, and best gobbled with a generous slosh of worcestershire.

Other top-tier snacks include ox tongue skewers ($7), licked in a sweet plum glaze, and raw tuna ($27), tumbled in invigorating orange and fennel sauce with puffy buckwheat crunch and solid aleppo chilli kick.

Perhaps Hannell’s rendition of Sunday Roast chook ($39) is his best trick of all.

The whole bird is splayed, brined and oven-roasted, roughened with za’atar and saltbush over a chunky bread sauce and robust gravy. At this price? It’s an absolute steal and you won’t leave hungry.

You must order the spuds ($16). Picture a dry potato bake with millimetre fine layers, deep fried and dusted in chicken salt, served with a malt vinegar mayo.

As for the most surprising dish? That award goes to the rice pudding ($16). The claggy, glutenous gloop is magically transformed into posh post-dinner porridge thanks to poached quiches, toasted granola and dimension-shifting chocolate mint that takes this to delicious heights.

On drinks, there’s beer under $10, wine starting at $15 a glass and bottles mostly under $200 a pop and some seriously clever cocktails. Plus ask for ‘what’s in the duck’ to get a cheeky nip of a surprise spirit, which changes weekly.

There really is something for everyone, explaining why Reed House is one of the most exciting openings of the year.

Image: Reed House website/Instagram