June 26, 2026
Patris is an eastern Mediterranean restaurant that opened in Brunswick earlier this year, in a spot that we've known best as Lucy Lockett cafe, although it's been home to a few other businesses in the years we've lived close by. Patris offers just dinner, Thursday through Saturday, and it took us some months to plan ahead and book ourselves a table.
The indoor dining area has previously felt a little sparse and this crew have done the best job yet of creating a warm and homely atmosphere with pre-loved furniture, unique pictures on the walls, indoor plants, and a well-stocked bookcase. It's a welcome break from the white/grey/blonde wood cafe culture that pervades!
The menu sets the restaurant's intentions up front - it's a celebration of the migrant and restaurant histories of its owners, drawing from sustainable, family-centred ingredients and practices, and named after the ship that transported the co-owner's mother from Lefkáda, Greece to Melbourne/Naarm in the 1960s. Dishes across the menu come in a range of sizes (including 3 meaty mains) and there are untranslated codes that I expect mark vegan and vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free and pescatarian foods, with most dishes ticking off three-to-four of these features. There's a helpful glossary of ingredients tucked at the bottom, too.
It was a Friday and we were ready to start with a drink! Michael sampled the KEO pale lager ($12) from Cyprus, and I splashed out on a Hibiscus Sour mocktail ($18), which seemed to use aquafaba rather than egg white.
To eat, we ordered broadly and enthusiastically across the menu. The Yíyantes ($20) arrived first, a vegan-friendly shallow dish of giant white runner beans cooked in tomato yiahní (slow cooked sauce). They were closely followed by zucchini and cabbage fritters ($18) with whipped féta and mint - one of Michael's highlights.
Later came the piláfi ($18), where the seasonal greens, sultanas and rice were barely visible beneath a cloak of flaked almonds and a sprinkling of rose petals. Another favourite was the puffy Ladénia ($16), a house-made bread topped with caramelised tomato and onion.
Even richer foods were still to come! We had to have the roasted lemon potatoes ($16), and I most enjoyed alternating the grilled haloúmi and commandaría poached figs ($18) with the piláfi.
Honestly, we were full, but I found the dessert menu irresistible. We agreed that the tahini brownie would have to wait for another day so that we could try the completely new-to-us Ekmék Kataîfi ($16). It was impeccably piped and garnished with rose petals and crushed pistachios, and we had to dig deep beneath the cream and custard layers to reach the sweet shredded pastry. The overall effect was a bit too creamy for us both after such a feast, but we were glad we'd tried it and grateful for the care with which it was made.
As vegetarians, there was more than enough to enjoy in the Patris menu; vegans would have a pleasant but less varied time with the beans, bread and side dishes (and probably seek dessert elsewhere). The staff were welcoming, and it's just lovely to see a new local restaurant with a sense of self that runs so much deeper than social media branding.
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Patris
140 Barkly St, Brunswick
Accessibility: Patris has a flat entry and clear corridor through the middle. Regular-height tables and backed chairs are arranged somewhat densely. We ordered at our table and paid at a low counter. We didn't visit the toilets this time, but back in Lucy Lockett days it was unisex with a big cubicle and a change table, though access required negotiating a small flight of steps.
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