Common Galaxia is the latest venture from the folks behind Dead Man Espresso in South Melbourne. They have very recently opened in Seddon and we visited on possibly their first or second week on a Sunday morning. That morning they were very busy and packed right up to the wooden slatted ceiling. So busy that we had to put our names on a waitlist and stand outside in the freezing Melbourne winter because there was no room inside.
This was incredibly unfortunate because it was very cold outside. I was so cold. Look, I just feel the need to tell you again: it was SO COLD.
Mostly I like being an adult. But sometimes it really sucks. Particularly when you have to spend a weekend running errands and doing boring grown up stuff. When I was younger, being an adult looked so inviting – ALL THE FREEDOMS YAY – but the reality can be a bit tedious.
The other weekend, Alastair and I spent a morning dealing with errands. As a reward for being a grown up and dealing with boring grown up stuff, we wandered down to Chicco for brunch. We arrived at about 11am on a Sunday and as they were doing a bustling trade we were fortunate to snag a seat by the large windows (yay natural light). The cafe has high ceilings, a polished concrete floor, and is decorated with white macrame light fittings. They look a bit weird and kitsch but seem to work with the relaxed vibe of the place.
Breakfast is served until 3pm, and lunch starts at 12pm, so we ordered brunch and a round of coffee to start. Chicco uses Padre coffee, and I enjoyed my long black – it was nice and smooth.
To kick off the Australia Day weekend, Alastair and I had dinner at Delizia Cucina in Seddon.
While the food was good, there were a few things that marred my enjoyment. Let me get the complaints out of the way first. Being a small restaurant, the tables are packed very closely. How close were the tables? Well, whenever the skinny waiter bent over slightly to pour water or wine for the table next to us, his butt would bump our glasses. My other main annoyance was the noise. The restaurant is quite smartly decked out and we particularly admired the usage of the bottoms of plastic milk crates that lined the walls. But all the hard surfaces – hard floors, hard concrete-finish tables, hard wooden chairs, hard walls, everything hard hard hard, all reflected sound. With the restaurant full, the noise levels were very high. I’m being a bit of a granny complaining about the noise, but it was so loud that conversation over the table was difficult.
But on to the food. Once seated, a waiter uncorked the small bottle of olive oil sitting on the table, and poured some into a dish for us. Also on the table was a small dish of Murray River salt flakes, (with a spoon – hooray for places that care about hygiene). A basket of bread rolls was bought to the table, and it was hard not to fill up on bread. The olive oil was delicious and when sprinkled with a bit of salt – yum!
We skipped starters and went straight into the mains. I only took photos and notes of what I ate as it was very dark inside (another annoyance of mine…) plus the menu descriptions were rather long.
The quail, looking rather blurry.
My main was a partially boned quail filled with burghal, pistachios, pinenuts and currants, roasted and served with a quail and dual liver bisteeya and a carmelised pumpkin, grape and herb salad ($29). This was a dish that really emphasised the contrast of sweet and savoury. The quail was cooked nicely, and the stuffing was rather sweet. I would have liked the quail to have been slightly saltier (perhaps I should’ve used some of that salt on the table – duur). The flakey and sweet bisteeya was filled with a soft, creamy liver mixture. My favourite thing on the plate though, was the pumpkin and grape salad. It was brilliant, a bit sweet, a bit salty, a bit tangy. I loved it.
We also shared two sides – one was roast beetroot and other vegetables with pomegranate molasses (if I remember the menu correctly). The vegetables were cooked well, and the molasses gave them a sweet and sour edge. The other side was green beans with sumac (again, if I recall correctly). Oh, the green beans. I LOVED the beans! They were perfect – still slightly crunchy, and buttery with a slight lemon tang. I ate quite a lot of the beans and I could’ve finished the rest if I didn’t have dessert in mind. The sides were around $7 and they were both generous serves.
My dessert was the rich chocolate fondant cake topped with a white chocolate and pistachio mousse and served with cherries poached in a spiced red wine syrup ($12). It was lovely – rich and dark, with the cherries providing a bit of boozy tartness. The mousse helped provide a bit of lightness to the dark chocolate cake.
Given the quality of the food, prices were reasonable. On a quieter night, perhaps sitting at one of the high-backed leather banquettes lining the wall, I would have loved eating at Delizia. I think it would be worth another look, perhaps on a weeknight.
Delizia Cucina 160 Victoria Street, Seddon Phone: (03) 9687 9397
