Lulo

It’s almost 9pm when I roll up to Lulo for a late Saturday night dinner. It’s busy, but there’s a few tables spare along with some spots at the bar (my favourite place to sit in just about any restaurant). My dining companion and I pull up stools and peruse the menu — a glass of fino to start, along with a plate of green olives (pitted and stuffed with an assortment of pickled anchovy, black garlic, piquillo peppers and chilli) which help ease us in to the evening after a busy day.
The bread is average (too light, too airy), but the olive oil is good. A board of mixed cured meats ($ 18) is generous, though I would have liked the kitchen to remove the tough rind from the serrano jamon before slicing. The soft spiced sausage has great flavour.
The Patatas Bravas are fun — instead of the mound of cubed potatoes covered in aioli and spiced paprika sauce that I expected, we receive a plate of cubed, roasted potatoes with a melon-baller’s worth of flesh evenly removed from the top and the sauces piped in. Both the flavour and the spin on presentation are good.
Artichoke croquettes are crispy on the outside, oozy in the middle. Perfect drinking food.
My dining companion orders the mini wagyu burger with duck jamon and truffle oil. It seems like a gratuitous ingredient placement to offset the fact we’re being gouged $ 10 for it. It’s flavourful, but I feel sorry for the poor duck that sacrificed its life to be made in to jamon, as I don’t think the flavour can be fully appreciated when trapped under a wagyu pattie.
A small selection of wine by the glass holds some interest — a couple of Spanish and Portuguese varieties hidden amongst the Aussies. The Albarino I order goes well with the pickled octopus with pink grapefruit and dehydrated olive (served up in a little sardine tin).
Service is friendly, though it seems that only one of the staff members (perhaps he was the owner?) is across the entire menu, including the wines.
Nevertheless, we certainly leave happy to have found a new place in the suburbs that can offer reasonable food and an interesting glass of wine when we’re not in the mood for the bright lights of the city.