141 Belmore Road, Randwick. +61 2 9399 9660. montpellierpublichouse.com.au
Pig’s head, pot-roasted with cider and served for two with kale and bubble and squeak. Whole oxtail in ale for four with potatoes in dripping. Matthew Kemp has never been a chef to shy away from life’s extremities, and in rebooting what was once Restaurant Balzac and reopening it this past spring as Montpellier House, he has taken things back to basics. Basics, that is, but not basic. Street level is now home to bar-style seating and a value-packed menu that runs the gamut from a credible Welsh rarebit to braised shoulder of lamb with barley. Upstairs in the restaurant, if you’d prefer not to eat a head or a tail, there’s plenty of succour to be found in the likes of the terrine of wild rabbit with confit turnips and bitter leaves. Bold, and not without beauty.
Open: lunch & dinner daily. Licensed. Mains $AUD25-$AUD27.
Source Qantas The Australian Way December 2011