Wild Bunch

Sleepy little Seaforth village — home of soccer mums and long, lazy stretches of sun-​drenched pavement — just got a big ol’ slap with the awesome stick.
The geniuses behind Emmilou in Bourke St have brought their particular brand of Spanish-​flavoured hospitality across the Spit where locals of the insular peninsula can get a hit of their cocktail-​and-​tapas good times.
Resisting the urge to add to the plethora of samesy cafes hereabouts, these guys are shaking things up with some seriously righteous food options.
I turned up unannounced on Mother’s Day with mater in tow, and despite being chock-​a-​block the waitress found room for us at a plum window table. I started with a Colombian coffee: a double shot of espresso poured over sweetened condensed milk served in a giant shot glass. Bitter, sweet, with layers of bold flavour I’d expect from a shiraz rather than a coffee, it was eight kinds of dynamite. Next time I’m trying the espresso poured over frothed milk with a side of Aloe Vera. Mumsy smashed a freshly squeezed rockmelon, basil and I forget what else juice that energized like a lightning bolt.
Now, the food: the breakfast quesadilla was wild, the sort of revelation God handed down to Moses atop Mt Sinai. Filled with sweet pork belly, salty bacon, spinach, fried onions, served in tasty pita with a side of sour cream and green chili jam, it knocked me out of my hipster boots. Mater’s salsichon omelette served in an iron skillet was also a winner.
Can’t wait to go back after dark for the dinner offering. Guzzle guzzle.

This restaurant is pretty good, with lots of things going for it, but it is still a little bit rough in the edges. It has the potential to be 4 stars in my book, with a little work.
When I came here with my wife we met up with her friend and her friend’s parents. When we got there, the wait staff was very friendly and was able to recommend a few mixed drinks and bottles of wine, all of which were great. A few ordered some tequila punch. It was served in some old school pewter mugs. The drink was fruity, tropical, and strong. Everything you want when you are drinking out of some sort of ‘pirate mug’.
We also got a few sharing plates. The beet chutney with goat cheese was surprisingly good. I am not a fan of beets nor goat cheese. But the spices used to make the chutney basically made it great. The second shared plate was some polenta and mushrooms. The fennel seeds added a nice complexity to the meal. We then got stuffed zucchini flowers (stuffed with cheese) and fried up. They were tender, crispy, and fresh. It was by far the best portion of the shared plates. I would recommend getting these. Further I would avoid the hummus. We ordered that as well. It was lacking cumin and tahina.
For a main, I got a steak. The steak was good. I cannot really say anything bad about the cut of meat. It was tender, it was cooked perfectly medium rare, and there was a nice tiny amount of char on the outside. The café de Paris butter was not as anchovy infused as I prefer, but then again did add to the steak.
My wife got a pumpkin lasagna. The flavour was great (I tried a bit), but it was not as big/​deep of a piece as I would have expected.
Well overall, this place was pretty good. I would be interested to see what this place turns into as it becomes more established in Seaforth.