Eating Out - Trunk, Melbourne

Yesterday, after QI Live, Tim and I went to dinner at Trunk in Melbourne.  Trunk is on the corner of Exhibition and Little Lonsdale Streets, in the "theatre" district, and is named after a 150 year old coral tree in its yard.  It serves modern Italian food, but in the last year, has also had a diner attached for breakfast and lunch.

The restaurant is located in "The Rintel Room", but Trunk also has a number of other spaces, including "the Honey Garden" in honour of the rooftop beehive project supported by the restaurant.

On arrival, we are served the bread at the top of this post, I believe sourdough, with olive oil on the side.

For entree, we ordered char-grilled pork belly with apple, walnut and celery salad to share:

I adore pork belly, and the crunch of the salad contrasted nicely with the softness of the pork belly.  There was some kind of jammy stuff on the plate (perhaps plum sauce) which was gorgeous when mopped up with the bread.

Tim and I each ordered a pizza for the main course.  The pizzas come on thin bases, so although they look large, it is feasible for one person to tackle a pizza by themselves.   

I ordered the Melburnian pizza - tomato, mozzarella, ham, mushrooms, artichoke and eggs:

Tim ordered the Maremma - porcini pesto, pork sausage, pecorino and truffle oil:

I didn't taste Tim's pizza (as I was way too worried about finishing my own), but the Melburnian was delicious - I especially liked the baked egg on top, and the artichoke hearts scattered liberally across it.  There was just the perfect amount of topping so that the pizza was not too overwhelming, and I could finish all but one slice (which was happily consumed by Tim).

As a side dish, we ordered a salad of beetroot, goats cheese, aged balsamic and almonds:

The creamy goats cheese really made this side dish, toning down the bitiness of the pickled beetroot.

We sat at a table near some fun artwork on the wall.  Here is part of that artwork:

Tim and I were lucky - we were in by 6.30 without a booking, but the place filled up rapidly with race day crowds after that.

The service was courteous and efficient - despite the crowds, we were not left sitting for ages wondering when the ext course was coming.

Trunk was a fun dining experience, and I would definitely go back.

           

Trunk

275 Exhibition St.
Melbourne 3000
Victoria Australia 

+61 3 9663 7994