Money Order Office

LOCATION
MELBOURNE CBD.

PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIA
If you haven’t yet been to the Money Order Office you need to be prepared to get lost in a maze of Melbourne’s laneways before you get your just desserts. Here is what you need to know; the Money Order Office (or MOO for short) is tucked away in Driver Lane, which is off Little Bourke Street. Keep your eye out for the doorway just past the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra box-office, then head on through and go down the narrow dimly lit steps. At the bottom you’ll find a big glass door which will open automatically to reveal – ta da! – the Money Order Office.

The food here is worth savouring and the menu is full of clever twists on dishes – a traditional dish of vitello tonnato (Italian poached veal with a tuna sauce) is turned into an entree of veal with seared tuna, fried capers and a lemon and tuna sauce. Among the mains is a good mix of the hearty (roast sirloin with grilled ox tongue) and the more delicate (whiting with a zucchini and mozzarella terrine). The bar menu is an appetising blend of smaller and larger dishes, from marinated olives to a plate of charcuterie, or grilled king prawns with braised chickpeas. The humble bowl of chips is transformed into a plate of potatoes cooked in duck fat and served with saffron aioli. The wine list is a very serious collection, with an excellent range by the glass. You could spend a few enjoyable weeks holed up in here, working your way through the wine list with delicious tid-bits from the bar menu to sustain you.

Rita Erlich

PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIA
At the end of a short alleyway, down a stone staircase, through an automatic frosted-glass door and into the basement of the old Money Order Office lies a restaurant unlike any other.

Resisting the urge to ask the secret handshake or lighting a fat cigar the immediate feel of this classy establishment is that of a private boys club.

Plush leather chesterfields in maroons rest on 17th and 19th Century parquetry, while suede booths run the entire length of the restaurant with seductive lighting seeping through the wall mounted wood panelling. From here lies the perfectly set dining room and to the right a smoking area around the fully equipped leather-edged bar offering beer on tap, an extensive cocktail list and wine selection to awe.

Here, however, is where the boys club feel ends and a stylish and sophisticated restaurant and bar evolves. Co-owner and former antique dealer Callum Baker-Ralton assures that women are very welcome and regularly frequent to sample Chef Peter Fleming’s wares. Dishes from this Asian influenced modern Australian menu include a starter of grilled king prawns with spiced eggplant and pomegranate and a main of crisp skinned spatchcock braised in coconut, chilli and lemongrass with chilli salt and coriander. Or simply indulge on a mixed tapas platter. Follow with dessert and wine, wine and more wine.

Veda Wickens