msida - 791 glenferrie roadd hawthorn 3122 9818 1232

lets see if i can remember how this goes...its been a long time since i wrote anything here. it probably should be prophetic or at least inspirational. sadly, neither. it's just a review of a really good restaurant, the first new restaurant that i've been really impressed with for a long time. and it's called msida (pronounced emm-seeda) and it's in hawthorn on glenferrie road. now where's that return key again, i'm so rusty on this typing reviews stuff...

oh yeah, msida opened about two weeks ago on the old site that was soul and pepper. that was a shit of a place so no great loss there but msida is something altogether different. for one, it is a family owned and run restaurant, the owner suitably clothed in the working apron and purposefully present at all times. the restaurant is named after his grandmother from malta who was apparently a very tough woman, if you must know. i guess that means msida is here to stay.

and so much the better for hawthorn because not a lot new has happened around there lately. when you first look at the menu for msida it seems like it's more of a tapas-style cafe. although the menu says light meals, they really mean bloody good mains. and they seem to have stolen my idea of eaters being able to order a mix of starters and a mix of mains to share - great for those of us who have trouble making decisions. i'm going to let them away with the theft, one, because i can now get what i want and, two, because i'm too lazy to do anything about it.

bottom line, i've only been there once but i loved the food, the fresh warm bread, the wine list and the service. granted we were there on our own so we got the best service possible but i can see it becoming more of a favourite for hawthornians very soon. it's already one of my favourites for the area and if you don't go for lunch or dinner you're just plain stupid.