Balencea
454 St. Kilda Rd.
Melbourne
03 9867 4466

When I was a young BB&B Police reporter in Sydney, brash (I thought brilliant) boozy and broke I shared a huge old house at Fairlight, near Manly, with other BB & B journos.

We all worked erratic hours, weird shifts, the worst being midnight till dawn, and we rarely ate at home. Except for bacon and eggs or snacks. But I could cook and would sometimes rustle up a stew.

Put cheap wine in and you’d call it French, some beer it was Belgian, tomato sauce made it Italian. But on a Sunday I would sometimes stuff and bake a rabbit.

I remember one culinary crisis when I couldn’t find anything to truss it with so raided a wardrobe for a hygienically suss shoe lace.  And I thought back then, apart from the shoe lace, how maligned rabbit was as a classy meat dish.

Perhaps because it was regarded as a desperation dish by our parents who had memories of rabbit stew during the Depression. But I’ve always had a soft spot for lapin despite all the ‘pet cat’ jokes.

(Maybe that’s why I end every radio program with the salutation ‘thank your mother for the rabbits’.)

To be honest, I haven’t cooked rabbit in decades. My only roast dish is the Hungry Hinch special – Laid a Lot Chicken – a whole bird stuffed with onions, allspice, Chinese five spice powder, and basted with olive oil and soy sauce. I’ll let you figure out why it’s called Laid a Lot.

Rabbit has crossed my mind and eventually my palate several times in recent days. First up I took friends to my favourite Sunday lunch spot: Riva on the water at St. Kilda marina.

One of them ordered baked, stuffed rabbit after describing it as his favourite meat. And enjoyed it immensely.

I guess that was in my head when I dined, for the first time, at a new St. Kilda Road restaurant called Balencea. It’s Italian, even if the name does sound slightly Spanish.

Mama Mia! Is it Italian! The stylish plates are huge and the offerings fill the plates. Even Mrs. Nosebag called it quits with food left on her platter of sea food linguini. Forget ‘what about the starving kids in India?’ as my mother would say.

I spotted the ‘chef’s speciality’. Described as ‘wet roasted rabbit in ‘agro dolce’ with toasted almonds, raisins, limoncello liquer and sautéed spinach’.

The serving was too big for me (well, I was breaking my ‘entrées only’ rule) but it was great. Even the Herald Sun food critic Stephen Downes, who gave the place a good review, said the rabbit dish ‘would have fed a family’. Mrs. Nosebag’s pater who also had the rabbit when he went there for lunch was less enchanted. 

Probably because he hadn’t eaten rabbit for about forty years and, being a Pom, had memories of a much gamier, stronger, meat. Personally, the mild farmed bunny suited my palate just fine.

I had a taste of a pasta special – duck ravioli in a light cream sauce. Great flavour… just too many pasta envelopes.

We all just had one course. I want to go back and try some of their starter plates designed for sharing. Various olives, some bruschetta, Sicilian white anchovy, miniature pork and fennel sausages.  All sound good.

Balencea, on the ground level of one of the new swish apartment blocks,is a stylish addition to St. Kilda Road. Adds clout to my argument before the Melbourne City Council to have the road’s name changed to Melbourne Boulevard.

It will become a popular venue this summer. Has great potential outside for early evening drinks and snacks in a vast courtyard with tables and umbrellas and the prices are reasonable. The roast rabbit $32.  Huge seafood linguini $27. Sides are $7 including ‘compulsory’ Italian roasted potatoes. A bottle of Leasingham Riesling only $35. And they won Mrs. Nosebag’s heart instantly when they served it cold enough to frost the glass. She’s on a mission when it comes to bars with tepid wines.

Big Sam Kekovich has already become a regular. He was, quite accurately, singing the praises of the owner, the ambience and the infectious staff (Downes gave them 9/10) in his 90-decibel voice.

He did concede that the place was ‘a bit loud right now’. I pointed out that that would change as soon as he left. Well, his wife laughed. So did Sam. Which is just as well because he is a rather large gentleman. And I didn’t want to end up like an Australia Day lamb.

I really liked Balencea. Could easily become a habit. A rabbit habit.

November 10, 2009