Broadsheet Restaurant

If there was ever a question as to whether there was a bit of a formula for opening a cool venue in Melbourne, Broadsheet’s pop-​up restaurant is the perfect case study. Covert a previously unloved venue (in this case an old hardware store) into a beautifully minimalist restaurant, fill it with good coffee and trendy items from hot local chefs & bartenders and wha-​la, instant success right?
Yes and no. The concept is great, I think they’ve done a good job bringing it all together and it would have been loads of hard work to pull off… but when a venue is established by a publication, the blood and sweat from the owners/​chefs is noticeably absent. I think that’s what jars people about the pop up concept. People are coming expecting to be blown away, but the soul found in a lot of their featured cafes/​restaurants/​bars is missing.
The menu is an eclectic mix of popular dishes from multiple venues. If you’re an avid foodie that frequents a lot of these places, I don’t think you’ll be super impressed by the pop-​up. But if you live out of the city or are a visiting tourist, it would be an awesome choice to come along and preview Melbourne’s food scene in a single location.
Not sure how they work the staffing, if they have borrowed from other venues or have dedicated people here, but they too are an eclectic mix. When I visited, I had very polished and professional service that almost gave off a dinner vibe rather than a casual solo pop in for early lunch and a coffee. Then at the counter finishing up it was all over the place.
On the coffee note… the coffee was excellent! Small Batch is the listed roaster but on my visit there was a tasty filter blend from Axil.
I didn’t love the lunch/​brunch menu and wish I had come for dinner instead to better suit my tastes and try out places like Estelle Bistro that my car-​less self hasn’t made it to yet.
5 stars for coffee, 3 for food and value, 3 for atmosphere and concept. About a 3.5 experience all up. If you’ve got a group with mixed tastes or haven’t been able to catch up with a lot of Melbourne venues lately, it’s well worth a look before it finishes up in August.

You would think a team which specializes in what’s cool in Melbourne would’ve done a better job? I love Broadsheet, their reviews and weekend guides are my go-​tos for fun, food and all things worth talking about. We had a dinner and drink here on Friday and I was sooooo underwhelmed. We started by arriving at around 5 since it was indeed friday and they don’t take bookings. On the plus side there were a lot of free tables, downside they were only serving drinks between 4 – 6, which is a bummer. I nursed a martini which I later found out was intentionally low alcohol :/.
By the time dinner rolled around we’d already gotten so bored lost our appetite so we just shared some sides — roasted Jerusalem artichokes, mac & cheese and brussels sprouts. they were all ok, decent, but nothing special.
The service was the only thing saving it from getting just a «meh», even the photogenic atmosphere was blahhh in realty it was FREEZING inside and they took quite a while to turn the heating on and one of the heaters had run out of gas. The night menu overall was a bit hodge podge, there’s no cohesion, it was as if they rang some restaurants and asked «hey we like this, can we sell it here for like 2 months? cool». The day menu looked a bit better.

Wowser… so we ask to be seated for Desert and Coffee. Told to sit anywhere on the left of restaurant and we will be looked after. The waitress does not acknowledge us in our section or seem to attend most her tables (she has four of around ten occupied).
Twenty minutes of looking around for someone to help us after looking over the menu results in no service. I finally turn myself completely around to try and get some acknowledgement that we are wanting to spend money. Our waitress comes over whilst chewing on her food «What can I get you…»
No apology, no acknowledgement of us waiting. I’m gobsmacked an amazing concept restaurant with amazing looking menu with clueless staff.
We ask for deserts and put through our coffee order to be told coffee is only during the day. Explanation is that is when they can get the good baristas. So we ask if we can get a tea, nope we can only get Cocktails.
I’m shocked, we then get told that we can put through our deserts and she will come back for our drinks order. We’ve lost hope by now, I inform her that I was wanting a coffee more so and the desert was just to compliment that.
Two stars for hope of better service and experience on a second visit. Zero stars for tonight’s terrible experience, we walked out without trying a single thing.

We had dinner for six of us tonight. We were worried about the lack of bookings but arriving at 6pm and there was plenty of space. Pre dinner drinks were great — I was boring with a g and t but the others had an amazing drink infused with filter coffee and Campari which I had to order after trying a sip. Plus a win at $ 10.
The dinner menu is a lot smaller than the day offerings and is an odd selection of curries and modern Aus food. I had the beef ribs which did not blow me away but the boys enjoyed their duck curry. The vego curry was nothing too exciting according to my dinner companion. A round of desserts was required and was the highlight, particularly the chocolate one.
We had some dramas with some strange items appearing on our menu, including inexplicably for dinner service, porridge! These were resolved without fuss and we left full and happy.

Menu items on offer from Melbourne’s best — Coda, Kettle Black, Top Paddock, Huxtable, Town Mouse, heaps more.
Matt L. absolutely nailed it with his review. Check out what he had to say and his picks — couldn’t have put it better.
I had the Kettle black beef burger on the black bun. Clean, fresh flavours. Loved it.
Batch brew from Small Batch was tasty. Short black the same.
On our visit the service was hit and miss; meals arrived 10 minutes after one another and coffees took 15 – 20 minutes to come out. Wait staff were incredibly chatty and accomodating.
Have to be forgiving when the place has been open just on a week, and I’m definitely going to return for dinner/​drinks in the next fortnight.
Sunday August 2^nd is the last day — definitely check it out; day or night!

Melbourne is renowned for its vibrant, creative and world leading dining scene. Whether it be breakfast, lunch or dinner, there is always a high quality dish from the plethora of cafes and restaurant to suit anyone’s tastes. Now imagine the best dishes from the best cafes and restaurants all available in the one venue.
Popular online food and lifestyle magazine Broadsheet has pulled off exactly this with their two month-​only pop up restaurant in Fitzroy. With the likes of Auction Rooms, Coda, The Everleigh, Huxtable, Tonka, Top Paddock and more all collaborating on this exciting venue, it is definitely not something to be missed.
Built inside a former hardware store, the interior has been transformed into a large open dining space centred around the bar area. A mix of clean cut timber furnishings, polished concrete floor, hanging tree branches and wall artwork combine to create a modern yet natural atmosphere.
Seating is a mixture of booths, communal benches, tables and stool around the bar. There is also a covered outside courtyard for those who like a bit of fresh air.
The menu is divided into three key sections; daytime, nighttime and refreshments. Without going into too much detail on the esteemed selection of dishes on offer, highlights include The Kettle Black’s beef burger on their notable black bun, Coda’s roasted yellow duck curry and Huxtable’s red wine braised beef short rib.
Visiting for both lunch and dinner on the same day, I was treated to Grain Store’s cider poached chicken with pickled pumpkin, spiced cauliflower and pea salad for lunch and a mammoth selection for dinner. The dinner portion sizes are a touch on the small side for their price and I ordered two mains, a side and three desserts. Not being able to choose between the impressive selection of dishes also didn’t help.
I had Estelle Bistro’s pork jowl and loin with cider and boudin noir and Huxtable’s red wine braised beef short rib with parsnip purée and persillade.
Dessert was Pierre Roelofs’ crisp vanilla and orange dulce de leche with hazelnut, Phillipa Sibley’s apple and quince macadamia crumble with truffled honey ice cream and Monsieur Truffle’s baked chocolate espresso mousse with cardamom cumquats and cookie crumble.
All of these dishes were immaculately presented, contributing to the overall casual fine dining ambience.
Coffee on offer is espresso from Small Batch and rotating guest roasters on filter. Tea is from Assembly.
On the bar is a range of cocktails from Eau de Vie and now Boilermaker House’s Jack Sotti, who recently was awarded Australian Bartender of the Year, a wine list from Sally Humble and a selection of bottles boutique beers. Also on offer is a range of The Everleigh’s new bottled cocktails, served in cologne-​style bottles.
Broadsheet Restaurant takes the best of the best in Melbourne and combines it all into one fantastic venue. It is exciting to see what will evolve over the next two months and if this venture will spark similar popups in the future.