Amarillo

This place used to be fantastic - my favourite restaurant - but since lockdown the overall quality of the food has dipped quite a bit, especially for the price. Perhaps new kitchen staff? The floor staff however are really knowledgeable and attentive. I've tried the octopus a couple of times now, hoping the previous was just a one off bad dish but it is outrageously chewy and rubbery, flavourless and very disappointing. Really really not worth the $32 price tag.

Amarillo does all things well and evenly. It isn’t an obvious wine bar but when assessed on the breadth of grape-based beverages it trumps most others. Aperitifs may be a Manzanilla sherry from Sanlúcar de Barrameda or a tumbler of white port over ice from Porto. Proceed through to digestives and stickies like Pedro Ximenez stopping for an Austrian rose along the way. The wines are more continental than local and the food is a riff on Catalonian guerrilla cooking with most dishes small to shareable. Amarillo is a Melbourne bar at its best: small but highly curated, warm but professional, with a smart and sophisticated fit-out that’s ultimately warm and welcoming.