Old Palm Liquor

It’s time for the pig’s head sanga to step aside: there’s a new cult dish in town

OWNERS ALMAY JORDAAN and Simon Denman are describing their East Brunswick wine bar spinoff, Old Palm Liquor, as a pub. We’ve never before been to a pub that serves more than 300 low-intervention and biodynamic wines alongside 12 tap beers and a super-slick menu cooked over coals with a South African inflection, but we love it. So much so that Old Palm Liquor has taken out the award for Best Bar Food in Time Out Melbourne’s Bar Awards for 2020.

Jordaan is taking the opportunity to inject flavours from her South African heritage into dishes such as the beef tartare, which is flavoured like biltong (coriander-spiced South African jerky), making grilled rockling with Cape Malay spices, and cooking over a grill not too dissimilar to a braii, which imparts char and smoke.

Our shout for Bar Snack of the Year is the fried shallot, splayed out, battered and fried before receiving a dab of cashew sour cream and a touch of diced, pickled jalapeño, which eats like a very grown-up Bloomin’ Onion. It’s vegan, but not by accident. Jordaan has learned from her time at Neighbourhood Wine that she has to be less rigid with her French training and be more flexible for the neighbourhood. She has noticed a shift towards more plant-based eating and instead of altering meat dishes to the point of zero recognition (and sometimes, flavour), she’s opened Old Palm Liquor with outstanding vegan dishes littered throughout the menu. Carnivores don’t seem to mind, and the shallot is in such high demand that Jordaan couldn’t tell you how many she sells a night, only that there is a point where the kitchen is prepping them as fast as they can sell them.

And what of the proteins? The brined pork chop is equally as popular, but it can’t be prepared during service as it spends 14 hours soaking in a cider, ginger and lemon bath before it kisses the braii, is slicked with a maple glaze and simply seasoned with salt and pepper. Perfection. It is a plate that makes a great argument for excellent-quality produce with very little done to it, and it begs you to pick it up with your hands to gnaw on the bone. In fact, many do, due to the casual nature of Old Palm.

Old Palm Liquor is probably as Brunswick as you can get with its daggy-but-beautiful fitout, natural wine list and flexible menu imparted with flavours we rarely see, but it’s a winning formula that has it packed out every night it’s open. Book ahead to avoid disappointment.

à133 Lygon St, Brunswick East 3057. 03 9380 2132. oldpalmliquor.com. Tue-sun noon-midnight.