Head to the suburbs for this low-key neighbourhood bar with a high-key wine list of local and European superstars along with a tight selection of snacks by a young-gun chef.
This ain’t your average suburban bar, and this ain’t your average wine list (it won the 2021 Young Gun of Wine Wineslinger People’s Choice Award, if you need convincing). The extensive and diverse list runs the gamut from France’s Jura, Burgundy, Rhône Valley and Beaujolais regions to Victoria’s Yarra Valley and the Derwent Valley in Tasmania. Keeping it to a glass? You might get an Austrian riesling, a Joshua Cooper cabernet sauvignon from Victoria, or a Pol Roger Champagne – the sparkling flagged by a larger-than-life mural out the front, painted by local artist Billie Justice Thomson.
For the naysayers, there’s a strong showing of non-alcoholic drinks, including house-made shrub syrups, beers, wine, and mocktails – a Nogroni, an EspressNo Martini and an AmarettNo Sour.
The spirited cocktails, meanwhile, are slicker than your average – the Leek Flower Gibson has pickled leek flowers, Melbourne Gin Company gin, and Maidenii Dry vermouth from Central Victoria, and the Menta Be mixes minty Branca Menta liqueur with fresh mint, lime and Mischief Brew dry ginger ale. The team also make their own hot sauces and barrel-age them, reusing the barrel to infuse mezcal for the spicy Tommy’s Margarita. There’s also a neat selection of magnums, fortifieds, spirits and beers.
Don’t know what you want? The expansive list might be intimidating to some, but that’ll be alleviated by a chat with the knowledgeable bar staff – owner and sommelier Wilson Shawyer (who cut his teeth in London with the Corbin & King restaurant group) can be found behind the bar most nights.
Chef Savannah Sexton (previously at Brisbane’s Alba Bar & Deli and Stokehouse Q) turns out food made to partner drinks: the likes of Olasgasti anchovy soldiers with confit garlic, crumbed and deep-fried olives stuffed with Spain’s jamón ham, baby beetroot with creamy Italian stracciatella cheese and sherry vinegar, or a coil of spicy Spanish chorizo sausage with mustard and piquant guindilla peppers. If you’re after something larger, there’s braised oxtail with gnocchi-like ricotta gnudi and brown butter, and king dory with warm tartare and baby turnips. Dessert, meanwhile, might include apple tarte Tatin with cultured cream.
At the time of writing, Good Gilbert was poised to expand into the space next door, adding a new, open kitchen with front-row seats and an even greater focus on food.
