Cuisine Undercover - The Nixon - 4 stars

Cuisine Undercover - The Nixon - 4 stars

If there’s one thing we all know, it’s that Melbourne is filled to overflowing with good restaurants. And I love it – it’s the reason I get out of bed every day. But every now and then (admittedly, usually after a gutful), I wake up hankering for a good old pub meal and try as I might, I’ve always struggled to find one within the CBD.

But thankfully – one has finally come to me and it’s making quite a name for itself with
the locals. The Nixon is tucked away, you guessed it, under the Watergate development (get it?) in an area of Docklands that’s about to take off. Unless visiting the football, the Bourke St extension in Batman’s Hill has traditionally been given a pretty wide berth
by visitors, choosing to bypass the construction zone and continue over the concourse until they find somewhere to eat with water views.

But not only is The Nixon conveniently located for the numerous offices popping up left right and centre around it, it caters for them brilliantly by having both a casual dining / bar area, as well as a formal (but not too stuffy) dining room – complete with white table cloths, tasteful artwork and nice big wine glasses. So be it a business lunch, team get together or after work drinks – you’re covered. Plus the staff are all quite good looking (where do they get those giant men?).

On a recent Friday night, I couldn’t face the throng of the after-work CBD crowd and thought I’d try The Nixon for dinner. While happily perusing the menu which contains a mix of standard pub fare and a bit of finer dining to boot, one such good looking waitress flew by, depositing some complimentary h’or d’oeuvres on our table! A garlic croquette with an avocado salsa and a mushroom frittata with a teensy side of olive tapenade – superb! And such a pleasant surprise from a pub, albeit in the dining
room section!

The delightful morsels were small enough not to impact on our appetites, which was lucky as we’d already ordered the shared grazing plate, the highlights of which were some crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside polenta chips with a spicy tomato relish,
and some subtly spiced chicken skewers served with an intriguing side of labneh – a Lebanese version of cream cheese, reminiscent of a yoghurt.  

Thankfully, just as I was about to forget I was in a pub, the parma arrived. I’m not sure what they do with it, but it never disappoints. I suspect it’s deep fried, which by rights, my moral food compass should reject. But, it just tastes so damn good, I can’t even bring myself to confirm its cooking origins. I simply don’t want to know. What I do know is that it always comes with the perfect amount of cheese, the perfect amount of Virginian ham and the perfect amount of Napoli sauce – all with the perfect amount of bite. The accompanying salad also contains the right mix of lettuce to tomato ratio (ie. more lettuce than tomato), a good smattering of red onion (essential) and it even comes with the odd olive and cube of fetta (bonus extra).

And tonight it was consumed by my dining companion. For once, I opted for one of the specials and chose a salmon linguine dish in a white wine (no cream) sauce, with a smattering of capers, some sweet, cherry tomatoes and a touch of lemon zest. The linguine was silky yet firm, the flavours light but robust – I couldn’t have been happier! And all at pub prices!

Well, not entirely true – I would have been perfectly content if I could have just got a glass of free water. It’s an annoying (and I suspect illegal) policy of making you pay for a glass of water and one I’m sure they could afford to relax, given the pub’s growing popularity. And, on a Friday night as the noise in the adjoining pub section grew, the service became a bit more “pub” than “dining”. But what do you expect on a Friday night? Docklands is becoming part of the CBD after all. I just hope I can always nab a table at The Nixon at the last minute – although I suspect my days of not booking ahead may be numbered!

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