Half Acre

Hidden Gem tucked away in Sth Melbourne. Great place for a meal or function. While the rustic farm look feels warm and inviting, the exquisite food was the stand-out item for us. Presented by cheery staff, the balance and unique combination of flavour was 10/10. 👌 The service was quick, friendly and attentive. My favourite was the Porterhouse. And while the food is exquisite - the wine and cocktails cannot be ignored. 🍸 The Salted Caramel Martini gets my vote! Look for a brick wall with an open barn door. 🚪 Easy to miss. Hard to forget. Highly recommended.

🐟 Kingfish Crudo 🐚 WA Scallops 🥩 Grass Fed Porterhouse, Black Garlic Butter 🐓 Rotisserie Chicken Platter 🌽 Whole Corn off the Cob, Smoked Almond 🥔 Fried Sebago Potato, BBQ Sauce Half Acre is hidden in the backstreets of South Melbourne and houses a 95 seat restaurant, an outdoor courtyard as well as unique function and event spaces. The venue is a stunning, warm space featuring an open kitchen cooking up Modern Australian fare from brunch to dinner. 🍃 We dined in the glasshouse for dinner, opting for a few shared entrees, sides and their Rotisserie Tuesday platters. The Kingfish (and every dish for that matter) was beautifully presented however was deceiving and lacked flavour. The scallops however were absolutely amazing and possibly my favourite dish of the night. The steak sadly was cooked well done rather than medium-rare, which was a shame because everything else about it was sensational. My brother was way too hungry at the time to send it back. The rest of us enjoyed the very generous Rotisserie Platters, each coming with some dips, pickled vegetables and salad. The Chicken had crispy skin and was moist, the Lamb had a great char and was not at all fatty. Both side were delicious, the corn had a nice heat to it and the potatoes were extra crispy, just the way we like it. Almost all of the dishes came with saltbush which was interesting yet welcomed. All of us woke up severely dehydrated the next day and through the night 😂 Half Acre are well known for their bottomless brunches and lunches with DIY Cocktail Bars, which I would love to try if and when they bring back their buffet style service. They also have live music Sunday Sessions! 🎶 ⭐️ 4/5 (Great)

A pretty big dining venue located in the outskirts of South Melbourne with an open kitchen in the glasshouse dining area, an adjacent bar and also an outdoor space. Came here on a weekday when they had the rotisserie night special but decided on the full acre set menu upon confirming that it was available for single diners as well. The set menu offered a good selection of dishes cooked on woodfire grill and oven with Middle Eastern flavours. The set menu was served over several courses, starting off with the za'artar bread, corn and burrata. Bread had a nice soft chewy texture and paired well with the torched burrata as recommended by the staff; corn was juicy and bursting with a mix of flavours; sweet, savory, citrusy and spicy. Then came a whole half of a roasted cauliflower, soft but not mushy served with creamy nutty tahini, some spices and pickles. Was quite filling at this point so only had half the cauliflower to save room for the meats. First meat dish was the dry aged porterhouse steak and a side of fried potato wedges. Potato wedges were super crunchy; inside still nice and soft with some good BBQ sauce to go with; just a bit too much salt. Steak was not the most tender but had a lot of flavour. There were a lot of condiments for the steak; the caramelised onion jus was the go to with some salt. Final mains was half a chicken with the breast meat and the leg and a large bowl of leafy salad. At this point I was at capacity and could only try a bit of the chicken and it was very tender and juicy; savory and tangy. With enough room for dessert, had the chocolate nemesis which was rich and fudgy; the crème fraîche was a nice touch to smooth out the sweetness. Overall food was very tasty and the staffs were friendly. Extremely great value for single diner for the set menu which can easily be enough food for two people; definitely too much food for one person but fortunately they allow takeaway so no food is wasted. Downside was the long wait between the courses which took 3.5hrs to finish but was probably due to understaffing with only three chefs and two staffs looking after the main dining area as well as a function happening on the night.

Half Acre had a spacious and calming presence. Seated in the glasshouse indoor area, I could see the open kitchen and into the outdoor courtyard. The staff were attentive and warm. We ordered the half acre set menu with the addition of the Moreton bag bug special. All dishes was deceivingly simplistic and comforting. I felt like I was visiting a lovely home set in regional Victoria where the produce and ingredients were fresh from the garden. Vegetables were a feature on the menu. There was a lot of food for the price of the half acre set menu. The cocktails were great and the Pinot noir by the glass was pleasant. I had a great night with my friend, and it was a pleasure catching up with her over a wonderful meal in a beautiful and considered setting.