Update 15/06/2023: Houndstooth has been replaced by The Shady Lady.
It's been a while since our last visit to Houndstooth, and in the meantime the 3 course meal seems to have increased from an insanely cheap $15 to a still-reasonable $20. It's evident that most of Fitzroy is indeed happy to absorb the price hike, with a healthy crowd making it a little difficult to hear the words of Mike, Marty and Alana across the table. Dim mood lighting prevented this group of maths geeks from resorting to communicating via hand-drawn diagrams.I started with the white nectarine, ricotta, almond biscotti and watercress salad. All the individual elements were of excellent quality and if you had removed the watercress this would have made a delicious little dessert. I was a little weirded out by the salad version, however.
Michael instead had figs with gorgonzola and maybe balsamic vinegar - he can't remember and I didn't write it down. Whatever it was, he happily demolished it in a matter of seconds.
The vegetarian main of the evening was capsicum stuffed with rice, almond and parsley; mushrooms stuffed with ricotta and herbs; and beetroot lentil spinach salad. I must confess to not getting the firm, nutty lentil thing. The capsicum was homely, filling stuff but those herby, creamy, earthy mushrooms were the star of the plate.
Unusually Michael and I were agreed on our dessert preference, but we didn't take advantage of this by sharing. Instead we each polished off a thoroughly enjoyable slice of lemon tart.Houndstooth changes its menu weekly so you're unlikely to encounter these particular dishes should you head over yourself. But they set the mood for what you're in for - something equal parts trendy and homely, it's what I'd be served by my imaginary hipster friend who lives in a artsy shared Fitzroy terrace house and harbours a secret crush on Jamie Oliver.
I missed going when the prices were very cheap - don't know what they will be like by the time I get there. And I loved your last sentence - I want an imaginary friend like that too!
ReplyDelete$20 is still really cheap, but obviously not as cheap as $15 (isn't my maths good, I should be an accountant). I think restaurants are starting to pass on the increase in food costs. Todays paper has shown that inflation is going through the roof. There was an interesting article in The Age about restaurants increasing wine prices and making money there to try and maintain meal prices.
ReplyDeleteThanks Johanna. :-) I was debating whether it was too silly to publish but I'm glad you enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteThanh, selfish ol' me wouldn't be too worried if the increasing costs were transferred to wine prices since I'm not much of a drinker! I'll prepare to cop a price increase on my mains soon anyway.