With Easter blessing us with a long weekend, one half of Feeds took off to Melbourne to explore and along the way try some restaurants the city had to offer. Shadowboxer is located in South Yarra and is a wine bar and modern Australian restaurant. Set in a terrace house, the restaurant has a relaxed yet bustling vibe and plenty of good food on offer.

Location: 302 Toorak Rd, South Yarra VIC 3141
Price: $125 for dishes shown
Website: https://www.shadowboxer.bar/
Social: https://www.instagram.com/shadowboxer.bar/

James – 4.5 out of 5: Great food and good vibes, the starters were the highlight of the night.

For starters we were recommended by the waitress the Duck Ribs and Hiramasa Kingfish Crudo which are both well known and unique to Shadowboxer. Both were amazing starters and I would have given the restaurant a 5 out of 5 if it were only based on the first 2 dishes.

The Duck Ribs were quite unique, cooked perfectly where they were melting off the bone but still had a nice crisp from the batter. Seasoned perfectly so that it was salty, but balanced with a jalapeno aioli and house made bbq sauce making it creamy and sweet at the same time. This was only second favourite to the Kingfish which was my stand out of all dishes. Hiramasa Kingfish with yuzu, blood plum and nasturtium, perfectly balanced from the saltiness of fish which was blended with the perfect amount of yuzu and the blood plum adding more citrus and crunch to the dish. I highly recommend getting both starters, the Duck Ribs were especially value for money at $16.50.

The main was a Spiced Spatchcock with nduja and navy bean and cavalo nero. This was an interesting dish, spatchcock not being something I’ve had before, but it was cooked perfectly, juicy and falling off the bone. The nduja provided some kick that went well with the gravy and was topped off with some fried kale. Overall a decent main but I’d probably opt for something else next time. For sides, we ordered the Triple Cooked Potatoes with confit garlic, rosemary and parsley. These were also solid, well salted and cooked, crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside – but not quite as good as recent potato side dishes we’ve had.

For drinks, we ordered the Blood Plum which was very refreshing with lots of basil in it, recommend for anyone who likes basil and lime. Finally the dessert, we got the Passionfruit Panna Cotta which was the most aesthetic dish of the night. This looked and tasted great, plenty of passionfruit flavour but not too sour that it overpowered it. The meringue gave it good balance and sweetness but sadly the dish was let down by being too runny, and not quite set yet – may have just needed a bit longer in the fridge/freezer.

I really enjoyed Shadowboxer and recommend it to anyone in Melbourne or in the South Yarra area. The food came out really quick and service was fantastic to back up some great dishes especially the two starters which really set a high standard for the night.