Smith & Daughters V

Edit 02/01/2022: S+D has had a revamp and is now located at 107 Cambridge St, Collingwood.

February 11, 2015

We've been keeping up our semi-regular visits to Smith & Daughters lately, but toning down the blog posts a bit - for a while it felt like every second post was another trip to Fitzroy to rave about their wonderful food. This visit, with James, coincided with an updated summer menu, which seemed like a good enough excuse to whip up another post.

The menu hasn't changed dramatically - old favourites like the queso dip, the tortilla and the croquettas (which we ordered again!) remain, but there's been a steady turnover of dishes in the year since S & D opened and we had plenty of new things to try.

The El Nino (spiced rum, lime, agave, mint, ginger and tamarind soda, $17) on the left and the pink lemonade (fresh strawberries, thyme, lemon, vodka, elderflower and lemon soda) on the right maintained Smith & Daughters' reputation for spectacular cocktails - I've yet to be disappointed.

Our first dish was the brocoli y coliflor fritas ($15), a mountain of broccoli and cauliflower in a saffron and caper batter served on a thick smear of salsa verde.

I loved the sauce, which had a warm, smoky flavour with a good hit of roasted garlic and some tangy citrus. The battered veggies were lightly cooked and had plenty of crunch, but the saffron and caper components of the batter didn't really shine through.

Next up were the taquitos (left, $15), fried tortilla tubes stuffed with black bean and cheese and topped with pickled cabbage, guacamole and a salsa of coriander, onion and a mix of pickled and fresh jalapenos. Again, the condiments were really the star here, with the filling of the crispy tortillas not really adding much to the flavour explosion on top.

We finally talked ourselves into trying the morcilla on this visit (top right, $16). This is a vegan attempt at a dish I've never actually tried - blood sausage. It's beetroot-based, with a soft texture and a strongly citrussy flavour, topped with a tangy chimmichuri sauce. After that adventurousness, we had to play it safe and throw in an order of the tuna and pea croquettas ($5 each), which remain an essential component of any meal here.

We stuck with the greatest hits for dessert - warm Spanish doughnuts filled with quince ($12) and the salted chocolate, almond and chili caramel slice with avocado ice cream ($15), both of which lived up to our previous experiences.

Smith & Daughters remains the must-visit place for visiting vegos - wonderful staff, brilliant drinks, a great atmosphere and an ever-changing selection of innovative dishes makes it pretty damn hard to top.

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You can read about our previous visits to here, here, here and here. Since we last wrote about Smith and Daughters it's been enjoyed by I Spy Plum Pie, THEGLOBALRAMBLER, Green Gourmet Giraffe, The Brunch Journal and Occupie Fitzroy. 

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Smith & Daughters
175 Brunswick St, Fitzroy
9939 3293
food menu, drinks list
http://www.smithanddaughters.com/ (although the facebook page is really a bit more useful)

Accessibility: The entry is flat and narrow and the tables are pretty crowded. The interior is dimly lit and loud at night. Toilets were located up several steps, were gendered and of standard dimension. There's full table service.