Time Out Melbourne never writes starred reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills for reviews so that readers can trust our critique.
Everyone has a dish that's always a must-order. One that makes your heart race and music swell whenever it appears on the menu. For me, that dish is the scotch egg. It's just so whimsical. An egg! In meat! That's crumbed!
When I saw one doing the rounds on Instagram and learnt it holds a ramen egg, I knew I had to have it, so off I went to one of Melbourne's most celebrated openings of 2024: Reed House.
Situated in the manse building that once housed the minister of the nearby Wesley Church, Reed House is a nod to architect Joseph Reed, who designed the church in the 19th century.
After an internal nip and tuck, the space is cosy, with arched church windows that allow natural sunlight to permeate the room. It's casual sophistication but with a slight twist – the trancey sounds of desert rock humming throughout.
Pairing rock and roll in a refined setting won't be for everyone, but this irreverence is the hallmark of Reed House. The food is playful, and the service is friendly and laid-back. Toeing the line between tradition and invention, Reed House feels like the epitome of next-gen hospo. The cool kids have grown up, got real jobs and now run your favourite restaurant.
The brainchild of chef Mark Hannell and front-of-house extraordinaire Rebecca Baker, Reed House has curated a warm and inviting venue. Our friendly server swats away our concern regarding the volume of food we ordered with a "we're feeders", assuring us we won't go hungry. It's a copacetic relationship – because we're eaters.
The Rye Pici pasta ($29) encompasses this nonchalance. Hazelnuts, pecorino, butter, and plenty of black pepper coat the thick noodles, creating a savoury and rich bite. Hannell has noticed Melbourne's obsession with cacio e pepe and asked us to hold his beer whilst he blows it out of the water. It's an unapologetic smack of flavour to the face with a deeply satisfying chew.
Reed House's neighbour is the celebrated cocktail bar Caretaker's Cottage (you know, only the superstar who just took home a major international award). When Caretaker's opened, they had a Welsh Rarebit that took our fair city by storm. They no longer serve it but must have passed the rarebit voodoo onto Reed House because this one is a banger ($9). In a stroke of genius, Hannell uses a housemade crumpet instead of the traditional slice of bread. It's intensely soft and spongy with a wonderful char on the bottom. These top notes of char descend into a savoury, cheesy beer flavour, and with the addition of Worcestershire for brightness, it's just really, really, really good.
Having a world-class cocktail bar adjacent should only be a positive. However, it has us comparing cocktails because, duh. Our Eastside Rose ($24), a gin and pomegranate number, and the rum and blood orange Sunbaked Smashed ($24) are a tad on the watery side, the flavours more a whisper than a shout. However, we're back on track with a bottle of the Momento Mori "Fistfull of Flowers" ($90), a suitably in-vogue skin contact that is the perfect compatriot to the bold food.
Saving the best of the smalls until last, it's time to behold the ramen scotch egg with mushroom ketchup ($14) – a dish that's since been dancing around the most glutinous recesses of my mind. The ramen egg is marinated in soy and mirin, rendering a lusciously jammy yolk and tender umami white. It blends seamlessly with the savoury sausage and sweet ketchup. Amazingly, Hannell has pulled off a dish that is more than the sum of its parts.
Food offers an opportunity to travel and explore from the comfort of a chair, which is probably what I like most about it. However, at the end of the day, I am my 90-year-old grandfather, who just wants steak and potatoes – and the porterhouse steak with anchovy butter and mustard greens ($45) would have him hopping around the place like Grandpa Joe.
The steak is tender and meaty, the anchovy butter gloriously salty and decadent. And the potatoes. The potatoes with chicken salt and malt vinegar mayo ($16) is Melbourne's Best Potato Dish ™. The dish is presented as a dauphinoise that is cut into bite-sized pieces and then lightly fried so that each part has the perfect balance of crisp and cream. The malt vinegar mayo is invigoratingly acidic and screams of a reimagined British chippy.
Reed House slips seamlessly into the Melbourne restaurant landscape. It has a comforting familiarity yet a boldness and unapologetic confidence in its identity that sets it apart. Hannell, Baker, and the entire team are serving up an experience so self-assured; it's hard to believe they've only been open for a few months. Mark my words: Reed House is poised to become one of Melbourne's greats.