Flint — Restaurant in Melbourne

All fire but no smoke.

An unassuming decorations with minimal wall hanging sits within the minimalist trend. You can probably hear the bare dark walls crying out for decorations.

The menu and the name promised an earthy, fiery and smokey combination of flavours. We were excited by the tag line All fire & smoke.

The sourdough with bone marrow koji butter did not bring out the salty nor creamy promise of the ingredients, yet leaving an oily yet creamy texture. The sourdough French toast delightfully crispy with crunchy seeds saved the dish. The kingfish used burnt cucumber dressing yet failing to deliver the smoky flavour but resorted to the surely and commonly used acidic combination. It was a good dish, probably not as a stand out win.

Venison tartare saved the entree with a smorgasbord of flavours: saltly cured egg, sour and crunchy kolhrabi pickle, and tinglingly tangy sichuan pepper seeds. The bonding of nori and cracker was exciting while soft venison was subdued under the onslaught of strong flavours.

With the main, the fire swam home on the surfaces of duck skin and snapper scales, both were enticingly charred. For the snapper, bitterness was the last flavour to leave the party when the creaminess of the vermouth had long gone in the mouth. Similar awkwardness with the duck saw bitter skin dancing alone after the semi fiery fermented cherry had left the station. You would be tempted to look for the matching smoky or earthy flavours promised by the char; yet depending on the bites it was either the punchy tanginess of the cilantro or the bitter skin that was left as you chewed through the duck.

The confusion of flavours was abruptly ended by the surprise charge of extra butter that we requested earlier to assist with finishing 2 separate serves of sourdough. We understand that it does cost money, and would happily pay if it was explained at the time of ordering, or if it was added to the menu as a listed item. Custom charge appeared on the bill at the end had us looking...

I hate giving poor reviews, but after contemplation, I’ve decided to give feedback in the hope that it might be addressed, especially given the high cost of dining at Flint for what was a significant event for us -celebrating a birthday. Unfortunately this place didn’t live up to expectations. Incredibly fatty and chewy (and not much) lamb was a major disappointment (over $40) for which we did get some refund after I raised the issue - one of us had to go to the bathroom to spit out a mouthful of it after 5 minutes of chewing. They were good about it, not defensive, but in all honesty, I saw other tables around us with the same problem (trying to just cut through it was clearly hard labour), so in my mind it felt like wilful feigning of ‘ignorance’ about a poor cut of meat, when it should have just been taken off the menu and stopped being served. The wagyu was exceptional (not a big piece and over $90 - 4ppl, 1.5 slices each), and along with the trout I would recommend. Carrots 3 ways, seemed like carrots 2 ways, and didn’t seem like a lot for the price - approx 2- 3 thin heirloom carrots cut artfully and placed vertically onto an extremely small amount of carrot purée (over $20). Cocktails good, and affordable glasses of decent wine. While the staff were really lovely and very friendly, they were often so loud talking - we actually couldn’t hear ourselves talk over the table….Then there was the dancing…..when I (as well as others before me) needed to get up and pay the bill rather than them coming to us, not to mention the dripping wet dishcloth wiping the table mid dinner, where we were left with a soggy table ….I love seeing staff have a good time, I’ve worked in hospitality myself and appreciate the work they do and importance of having fun, but this crossed the line into being thoroughly unprofessional. ...

Overall, food was delicious and charred perfectly. However, VERY long wait times due to only 1 chef cooking for the entire restaurant.

First entree (not pictured) - bread with bone marrow butter. Absolutely delicious, light crispy yet soft bread paired with melt in your mouth butter.

2nd Entree - arrived after 1 HOUR wait. Blue eye tataki - little bit too sour, and for the price, small portion of fish provided. It was good but not worth the price.

Waitress came to ask us how the entrees were, and we asked for an ETA for the mains since we waited one whole hour for the second entree to come out. She very kindly offered to expedite our mains and it indeed did happen.

Pork chop - delicious flavour pairings with the pickled apple, however again it was too overly sour. The pork was a little on the dry side but the char was amazing.

Lamb - absolutely divine. Perfectly cooked, soft, tender and flavourful. Favourite dish of the night. Possibly favourite lamb I’ve had anywhere too.

Carrots - if I didn’t know the concept of this restaurant I’d think the carrots were burnt. The exterior was completely black. However it tasted great and paired well with the sauce. Although the sauce was again overly sour

Overall a decent experience. Props to the one singular chef for busting her ass in the kitchen cooking up delicious food. Though I noticed a common factor of overly sour components in each dish. Needs improved time management to cut down the incredibly long wait time for food to come out. And thanks to the waitress for pushing our mains through, but I can only imagine that meant another table had to wait even longer for theirs. It’s a vibe to see one chef cooking up everything, so if that’s your thing and you have a few hours to wait for your food then...