Third Wave – American Smoked BBQ

Food at Third Wave

Inside Third Wave

Inside Third Wave

Inside Third Wave

Inside Third Wave

Coffee at Third Wave

Coffee at Third Wave

Coffee at Third Wave

Inside Third Wave

Sauces at Third Wave

Sauces at Third Wave

Pomegranate Juice

Beef Ribs

Smoked Salmon BBQ

Smoked Salmon BBQ

Confit Kipfler Potatoes

Smoked Mac & Cheese

Georgian Salad

Pecan Pie

I have previously heard about Third Wave café and their strong focus on American BBQ flavours on both meats and fish, so I was delighted when owner Greg invited me to come and experience this first hand at the Prahran Third Wave. One small hiccup when we arrived was that our reservation hadn’t been placed – luckily a table was available and we were shown our seats.

Third Wave is owned by husband and wife team – Greg and Inga and there are currently two locations – Port Melbourne and Prahran. The café in Prahran is the sister café to their first café / restaurant in Port Melbourne. Both venues hold true to their tag lines – “Café by day, American BBQ restaurant by night” – with the Prahran venue also having a specialised Paleo Menu. The Third Wave at Prahran focuses mainly on breakfast/brunch/lunch but from Wednesday to Saturday they open their doors at dinner time for patrons to enjoy the American BBQ experience.

The fit-out is simple – softly lit with a dark wooden decked ceiling pairs well with the dark wooden tables with curved white chairs – there is also some banquet seating available. The main attraction is the big marble topped bar / coffee counter – with the kitchen located behind. Their homemade sauces and fresh flowers line this bar for added colour and pop. The vibe is welcoming, bright and has a homely feel to it. Another thing to note is that Third Wave is not just about the American BBQ flavours – they are serious about their coffee as well. They use 5 Senses coffee and even have syphon coffee available.

Third Wave has revamped its menu after working tirelessly for many months – on “secret recipes”, as well experimenting with different cuts and cooking times. The idea is also to source some of the best hickory, maple and apple wood in order to impart distinctive flavours into the respective meat and fish dishes as well as using traditional dry rubs and barbecue sauces. The team has now perfected the art of barbequeing. The new menu has a strong focus on a range of slow cooked meats and fish that can be accompanied with homemade sauces and a selection of side dishes.

The menu is split into different sections – starting off with the Slow Smoked BBQ, “More”, Sides, Paleo Menu and ending with Sweets menu. The Drinks menu includes Beers, Ciders, Spirits, and Cocktails such as an Espresso Martini, Uptown Apple Cider and Pomegranate Cosmo. Sangrias are also available and served in a 500ml carafe. Other cold drinks that are available include the usual soft drinks, as well as juices (Pomegranate Juice, Blueberry Juice), Smoothies (Spirulina Smoothie, Mango Smoothie), Iced Drinks – such as Ice Coffee, Ice Chocolate and Ice Mocha.
The Slow Smoked BBQ includes the 6 main meats and fish (Salmon) such as Beef, Chicken, Lamb Shoulder, Pork and Beef Brisket which come in medium/half rack (recommended for 1 person) and large/full rack servings (to be shared by 2). All the meats and fish have been marinated for over 8 hours and the smoked using either apple, hickory or maple wood. They all come served with BBQ Sauces which are made in-house.
The “More” menu consists of dishes that are big enough to be considered mains if a Slow Smoked BBQ isn’t what you are up for and include dishes such as Gourmet Burger, two different Salads, Lamb Quesadilla, Crusty Salmon. There are around 8 dishes to select from the Paleo Menu which include Almond Crusted Chicken, Zucchini Fritters, Lamb Shakshuka just to name a few.
There are a number of Sides that can be ordered as well and most of these can be made into either Vegan/Vegetarian options. These include the Smoked Mac Cheese, Crispy Coleslaw, Glazed Mushrooms, Confit Kipfler Potatoes and a variety of salads.

N and I decide to dive straight into the Slow Smoked BBQ Section – N opting for the Beef Ribs and I went for the Salmon. We also ordered a side of Confit Kipfler Potatoes, Smoked Mac & Cheese and a Georgian Salad. For drinks I ordered a Pomegranate Juice – which came bottled and was actually 100% Pomegranate juice which I was impressed about. I am a huge fan of Pomegranates, so whenever I see it available on a menu I always order it – this was a massive tick in the box for me.

The Beef Ribs have been smoked using a special 9 spice dry rub and smoked with hickory wood. You can select either a half rack or a full rack – N opted for the half rack. The Beef Ribs come served with their homemade Spicy IQ BBQ sauce as well as a Horseradish sauce. N enjoyed thoroughly enjoyed his dish – the beef he said was tender, succulent and slid off the bone so easily. Further, the sauces were a great addition to the smoky flavours – with the IQ BBQ adding some spice and the horseradish bringing some creamy tang.

I ordered the Salmon which has been brined in salt, sugar and spices for 8 hours followed by being smoked over Apple wood to elicit a beautiful smoky spicy flavour combination. This flavouring really does complement the rich flavour of the salmon. The salmon itself was soft, moist and perfectly cooked and comes served with a homemade dill sauce. A wedge of lemon was also provided for extra flavouring which I didn’t think was needed. The addition of the dill sauce added a creamy, somewhat spicy tang which meshed well with the salmon. Overall a really great tasting dish.

We also ordered the Confit Kipfler potatoes which were dusted in rosemary. The potatoes were well cooked and had a beautiful crunchy casing with a soft, pillow like centre. They served as a great accompaniment for the Smoked BBQ dishes.

The Smoked Mac & Cheese is their take on the classic Mac & Cheese – with an added twist. Third Wave’s version is smoked with Hickory wood. The result is brilliant smoky flavours intertwined with the cheesy flavour. Anyone who is a fan of the traditional Mac & Cheese will definitely want to try out this version.

The Georgian Salad was a mixture of 5 herbs – parsley, coriander, dill, mint and basil – together with tomatoes, cucumber and red onions and dressed with red wine vinegar and olive oil. The flavours were refreshing and punchy and worked well with the combination of the other dishes we ordered. This dish came recommended by our friendly waiter.

No meal is complete without dessert (even if you are really full!) so after much deliberation and some help from our waiter we ordered the Pecan Pie. I was tossing up between the Creamy Orange French Toast – which was concoction between a fluffy bread and butter pudding and a moist French Toast – will have to come back and get that next time around.
The Pecan Pie is served warm with Espresso Cream and Vanilla Ice Cream. I love the combination of a warm pie that literally melted in your mouth together with the coldness of the espresso cream and ice cream. The added texture thanks to the crunch of the pecans was an added bonus. The highlight for me was the espresso cream – with just the right flavouring of coffee.

Third Wave has an extensive menu complete with Russian inspired dishes and the hugely popular and great tasting American BBQ. I have also heard and read great reviews about their breakfast offerings (I must come back and try!). They also make homemade sauces such as Hot Bar-B-Que Nectar and Sweet Apple Bourbon sauce which you can in store. If you are looking for delicious food that you can’t find anywhere else in Melbourne – check out Third Wave!

Rating : 3.5 Pandas
Price: $$
Menu – Refer to the pictures above. You can also find a menu at: http://thirdwavecafe.com.au/prahran/menu.php
Fullness: 100%
Atmosphere / Ambience: Casual, Homely and Welcoming. Great for a catchup dinner with friends.
Standout Dish: Any of the Smoked BBQ Dishes
Service: Friendly and Helpful
Online Booking: Yes via website – For Prahran: http://thirdwavecafe.com.au/prahran/index.php For Port Melbourne: http://thirdwavecafe.com.au/index.php
Restaurant Details and Location:
http://thirdwavecafe.com.au/prahran/index.php
30 Cato St, Prahran
Tel No: 9510 2991

Opening Hours:
Monday to Tuesday: 8:00am to 4:00pm
Wednesday to Sunday: 8:00am to 10:00pm

Third Wave – Port Melbourne
http://thirdwavecafe.com.au/index.php
189 Rouse St, Port Melbourne
Tel No:

Opening Hours:
Monday, Wednesday to Friday: 7:00am to 10:00pm
Tuesday: 7:00am – 3:30pm
Saturday & Sunday: 8:00am – 10:00pm

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Gazi – Greek Hawker Style Food

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* NOTE : The Lamb and Beef are Halal – at the time I went they couldn’t confirm that the chicken was as they couldn’t get in touch with the supplier. So just call up and check if you want to know.

There was a long awaited catchup that was in order and I heard of George Calombaris’ new restaurant – Gazi – opening up so suggested we try it. Gazi is located where The Press Club used to reside – in Exhibition Street in the Melbourne CBD – and looks totally different to what The Press Club did. For all you Press Club fans – The Press Club will be re-opening in the later part of 2013 and located where The Little Press used to be situated (next door to Gazi).

Gazi can be seen as the city sister restaurant of Hellenic Republic (located in Brunswick) and is an all day diner that represents Hellenic street food- Calombaris dubs this “Hellenic dirty food” – delivered in classic Melbourne style. Gazi is named after Calombaris; favourite Athens neighborhood and has a wow factor as you walk into the elegant cave like restaurant. The wow factor I talk about comes from the ceiling canopy of more than 3000 terracotta pots turned upside down that also provide a glow to the ceiling. Beneath this breathtaking art installation is where diners seat. There are booths along the outer edges of the restaurants, as well as seating at the bar which allows you to see the chefs moving fast paced to make each and everyone of the dishes. There is also seating throughout the rest of the restaurant in the form of wooden tables and comfortable seating.

Another great aspect to the interior is the table decor – each table has royal blue plates with a huge evil eye located in the centre – which is called  μάτι (mati) – and is a charm of sorts that according to superstition wards off bad luck. There is a description of this on the menu. Something a little special to be noted is the presence of two suitcases as decor – they are mounted on the wall facing the kitchen. They both hang open and if you take a look inside there is a date and name present – and these represent the years and the names of Calombaris’ grandfather and grandmother. The years represent the years which they made their long journey across from Greece to Australia. Such a great touch and addition to this already spectacular place.

The staff are super friendly and welcoming – starting from the time you walk into the restaurant to when you leave. They welcome you with a Greek greeting such as “Kalispera” which means Good Evening. As I only eat halal meats, I asked our waitress if any of the meats were halal – she went to ask the chef if they were and came back to inform me that the Lamb and Beef were, but they weren’t sure if the Chicken was as they couldn’t get in touch with their supplier. The fact that they went to the effort to try and contact the supplier I thought was great. Thumbs up for service for sure. They are also enthusiastic and happy to offer up opinions on what types of foods we should try or if we had enough food ordered or not.

This night there were four of us for dinner and we were located in a booth seating and as we had an early dinner booking, they needed the table back by 8:30pm. As we perused the menu’s we ordered some drinks. The drinks menu is quite impressive in itself – there are cocktails, mocktails, wine, ouzo and more to choose from. There are 6 different mocktails to choose from all of which have really interesting ingredients for a mocktail drink such as cucumber, beetroot, egg white etc. I started off with the Cucumber, Rose Water, Lime and Soda which was quite different. The Cucumber taste was quite strong and left quite a dry taste in your mouth. I also go to try the Pear, Ginger, Lemon, Egg White (sour) drink which I preferred to the previous one.

The menu is split into 7 different sections – starting off with Dips, then Ethnika Vromika which are smaller dishes,  Soulakakakia, Wood Fire Grill and Wood Fire Spit sections, Salads, Vegetables, Pulses & Grains and finally ending with Dessert. Head chef is Luke Croston and he has done great things in providing an insight into food from street vendors as well as bustling ouzerias. At Gazi the kitchen not only has a wood fire grill but a wood fired spit as well (you can check it out in the gallery above). There is a 10-course sharing menu that you can choose that costs $69 per person – and the kitchen can tailor make this to be vegetarian, pescatrarian etc – and is aptly named “Doing It Greek Style”. We did consider this option however with differing dietary requirements amongst us we decided to do our own version of the 10-course menu =p Also something to note is for Lunch on Monday to Fridays there is a “Bend Over Box” which takes you from savoury to sweet – something that I need to come back to try.

We decided t o get 5 “Ethnika Vromika” dishes – which are the Hellenic Dirty Food hawker style dishes. The Crispy Lamb Brains with charred creamed leeks, picked grapes was first to arrive. I have never had lamb brains before so I was a bit apprehensive at first to try it out – but if you don’t keep thinking that they are lamb brains then it just tastes like a lamb cutlet really. There is a crunchy golden crumb on the outside and the lamb brain mixture on the inside is smooth and flavoursome – kind of creamy tasting. The addition of the creamy leeks and the pickled grapes which adds sweetness to the dish and it really is a great flavour combination.  I actually really enjoyed this dish.

Next we got the Prawns – Braised, Olives, Capers, Onions, Garlic & Parsley (there are three pieces of prawn in this dish). The prawns are decently sized and are wood-fired showcasing its woody flavours. The prawns are nice but not a stand out dish to me.

We also ordered the Koulourakia with meze – Lamb Keftethes, Braised Baby Octopus. I was really looking forward to this dish – I am a huge Lamb Kefte fan – but I was disappointed at the size of the Keftethes. They are as small as a marble. The flavours of the Keftethes however are delicious – perfectly seasoned and cooked. This meze comes with Braised Baby Octopus, as well as some Smoked Pork Belly and some Bread to eat all these elements with. The concept of the meze is good idea and it works – I just think the Keftethes could have been bigger.

We then got the Roast Bull Horn Peppers – Chargrilled Cuttlefish,Witlof. Garlic Dressing. This dish was quite colourful and vibrant, and had the flavours to match. The cuttlefish were cooked for just the right amount and wasn’t tough at all, the garlic dressing was punchy and together with the roast bull horn peppers (which provided the smokiness) worked well together.

Lastly we got the Saganaki – Cumquat and Currant Mustard Glyko. The Saganaki – which in this case is a wedge of Kefalograviera – serves as the base and the cumquat glyko with currants is smeared over the top of it. This dish is an interesting concept putting together the sweet and cheese flavours and I think (as did everyone else on the table) that it worked. The cumquat jam provided some tanginess and the currants some extra sweetness to balance out the strong cheese flavour.

We all had heard about the souvlakis’ here and couldn’t have come to Gazi for Dinner and not have tried them out. There are four different varieties to choose from – Chicken, Beef Brisket, Pork and Crab. I ordered the Crab Souvlaki. The Souvlaki is served on pillowy marshmallow soft flat bread which encases the soft shell crab that comes with coriander, mint and mayonnaise. There are juices which flood out the bottom, but you are still left with so much flavour as you bite into these. The other souvlaki have a welcome addition of French fries which I think is a great idea. I first had French fries in my souvlaki when I visited Saudia Arabia and it was strange at first – but a welcome strangeness.

At this point we were all pretty full and wondered if we had ordered too much food. We still had the Baby Snapper from the Wood Fire Grill and the Chicken from the Wood Fire Spit to come. Together with this we ordered two Salads – Marouli – Iceberg Lettuce, Lemon, Olive Oil, Oregano and the Beetroot – Roasted, Pearl Barley, Peanut Hommus, Toursi Red Onion, Watercress. I couldn’t try the chicken from the wood fire spit – but my friends told me that it was a really great dish – the chicken was moist and the combination of the feta and the red capsicum (tyrokafteri) together with the white beans was tasty. The Baby Snapper from the Wood Fire Grill was great as well – the snapper was moist and not too dry. The fish on its own didn’t have as much flavour as I would have expected, but with the topping of chickpeas and caramelised onions it enhanced this flavour.

The Beetroot salad was one of my favourite dishes of the night. The Pearl Barley together was soft and together with the crunchy sweetness of the beetroot and the nutty hommus – presented the perfect balance of flavours. The Marouli salad was a simple flavoured salad was a great palate cleanser from all the flavours we had had.

Despite being quite full we couldn’t leave without trying out the desserts. And really everyone somehow has space for desserts. We placed our order and went with getting the Pavlova, Loukomathes, Brulee and Bombe Metaxa. It was 8:30pm at this point, and when I had made the booking was told that they would need the table back by that time. So we had to move over to the bar to have our desserts which we were totally fine with, but the waitress felt so bad and was apologising profusely (eventhough we knew we had to be out of there by a certain time) – see service is a sure winner here at Gazi. And for our troubles, she ended up not charging us for one of the desserts for being so nice about moving.

The Pavlova is a dessert with the WOW factor – it is a spherical meringue that has been shaped around a balloon and dusted with dehydrated raspberry and musk. Inside this meringue cave is ruby red grapefruit sorbet and pomegranate seeds. There are so many little surprises in this dish and it’s really a fun dish to eat. The meringue is crunchy and not too sweet. I love the addition of pomegranate seeds adding a bit of tang amongst all the sweetness. Another WOW factor dish was the Bombe Metaxa which states is for two people but really it is so big that it could easily feed more. The dish come out and looks somewhat like a white bee hive (meringue) – once it has been placed on the table, it is flambed right in front of you. Inside is Tsoureki which is Greek Bread that is similar to Brioche, layered with chocolate ice cream and chocolate wafer. The meringue on the Bombe Metaxa is soft and gooey, whereas the meringue on the pavlova is crunchy and crisp.

The Brulee comes with Date, Turkish Delight Crumble and was also delish. The brulee custard  itself was smooth and creamy and full of flavour – the addition of dates and Turkish delight further added to this. Lastly we had the Loukomathes which are served with Cocoa Nibs and Honey. These are Greek donuts and are served warm and are like eating fluffy clouds. Really delicious.

The atmosphere is buzzing and vibrant and the place is full of character. Everyone is there to have a good time at dinner and enjoy this bit of Greece right in the heart of the CBD and its so easy to do here at Gazi. It is welcome addition to the MADE establishment and to Colombaris’ repertoire. The service is fantastic and the food is really really delicious. I would definitely recommend this place to any of my friends. From the drinks to the desserts there isn’t much you can fault. And you really do need to visit to check out the terracotta pot art installation – so grab a group of friends and explore the menu.

Rating : 4.5 Pandas
Price: $$
Menu – You can view the menu at http://gazirestaurant.com.au/menu/.
Direct link for the Dinner Menu – http://gazirestaurant.com.au/menu/pdf/lunch-dinner
Direct link for the Drinks Menu – http://gazirestaurant.com.au/storage/menu/Gazi_Beverage_List.pdf

There is a 10 course tasting menu including your choice of souvlaki for $69 per person called “Doing It Greek Style” and a
Lunch menu for $27.50 which is called “Bend Over Box” which is available Monday to Friday till 3pm – it includes dishes from savory to sweet.
Fullness: 100%
Atmosphere / Ambience: Vibrant, Casual, Fun and Enjoyable. Bring a group of friends as most of the menu is for sharing dishes – this way you can sample the menu.
Standout Dish: Souvlakis, Roast Bull Horn Peppers, The Pavlova, Lambs Brains, Beetroot – Roasted, Pearl Barley, Peanut Hommus, Toursi Red Onion, Watercress (I couldn’t pick just one – so picked one from each section of the menu)
Service: Fantastic – Friendly and very helpful if you want to know anything about the dishes or even if you want to find out if the meat is halal.
Online Booking: Yes via website – http://gazirestaurant.com.au/ Bookings are recommended but if its not your thing you can just walk in.
Restaurant Details and Location:
http://gazirestaurant.com.au/
2 Exhibition Street, Melbourne
Tel No: 9207 7444

Opening Hours:
Monday to Sunday: 11:30am – 11:00pm