Pope Joan — Restaurant in Melbourne

2s (Melbourne Eateries that I wouldn't rush back to, but wouldn't be adverse to going back to either. Food needs some development)[40]: Centonove (Kew) Cicciolina Back Bar (St Kilda) Da Guido La Pasta (Carlton) Emporer Court (Mitcham)[RIP] Fonda (Richmond) Georges (Croydon)[RIP] Grants On Sherbrooke (Kallista) Harry's On The Esplanade (Cowes) Ishiya (CBD) Laurent Boulangerie Patisserie (Albert Park/Camberwell/Doncaster) Maestro (Geelong) Matteo's (North Fitzroy) Matsumoto (East Brunswick) Minh Xuong (Richmond) Nude Food (San Remo) Ocha (Hawthorn) Pope Joan (CBD) Queenscliff Brewhouse (Queenscliff) Rumi (East Brunswick) Sarti (CBD) Small Block (East Brunswick)[RIP] Spot + Nosh (Heathmont)[RIP] Stalactites (CBD) Sugardough (East Brunswick) The Corner Hotel (Richmond) The Court House (North Melbourne) The Firehouse (Ringwood) The Groove Train (Cheltenham)[RIP] The Press Club (CBD)[RIP] The Restaurant At The Herb Farm (Lilydale)[RIP] The Studley Park Boathouse Cafe (Kew) Thirty Eight Chairs (Carlton North)[RIP] Tiamo 2 (Carlton) Tien Dat (Box Hill) Tin Pot Cafe (North Fitzroy) Trotters (Carlton)[RIP] Warwick Thai (Brunswick)[RIP] Wild Cattle Creek Estate (Seville) Woodstock Cafe (North Fitzroy)[RIP]

3s (Melbourne eateries with good solid tucker that I wouldn't mind eating fairly regularly. Food is competent)[63]: Allegro (CBD) Alma (Geelong) A Minor Place (Brunswick) Bar Idda (East Brunswick) Bekendales (Croydon) Bellarine Estate (Bellarine) Bistro Guillaume (Southbank) Bistro Thierry (Toorak) Boire (Collingwood)[RIP] Brunswick Flour Mill (Bunswick)[RIP] Cafe Terroni (Yarraville) Carlton Wine Room (Carlton) Carsons (Yarraville)[RIP] Chapelli's (South Yarra) Cheeky Monkey (Richmond) Chez Bob (Armadale) Chez Olivier (South Yarra) Chris's Beacon Point Restaurant (Apollo Bay) Cicciolina (St Kilda) Collins Kitchen (CBD) Cornershop (Yarraville) Di Palma's (East Kew) D.O.C. Mozzarella Bar (Carlton) Donnini's (Carlton) Dragon Boat (CBD)[RIP] Emerge (Geelong) Empire Cafe Gallery (Brunswick)[RIP] En Izakaya (Balaclava)[RIP] Enoteca Vino Bar (Carlton North) Feast Of Merit (Richmond)[RIP] Fiorelli (Hawthorn East) France-Soir (South Yarra) Grossi Florentino: The Restaurant (CBD) Ides (Collingwood) Izakaya Chuji (CBD) Kinya (Docklands)[RIP] Kofi Beans (Croydon) Laurent Boulangerie Patisserie (Toorak) Lau's Family Kitchen (St Kilda)[RIP] Lindt Chocolat Cafe (CBD)[RIP] Little Creatures Dining Hall (Fitzroy)[RIP] Miss Marple's Tearoom (Sassafras) Monsieur Truffe (East Brunswick) Mr. Wolf (St Kilda) Orange (Windsor)[RIP] Pumphouse Hotel (Fitzroy) Punch Lane (CBD) Reunion Cafe And Dining (Surrey Hills) Sapa Hills (Footscray) Secret Kitchen (Doncaster) Shujinko (CBD) Thanh Phong (Richmond)[RIP] The Carlisle Wine Bar (Balaclava)[RIP] The Green Refectory (Brunswick) The Hardware Societe (CBD) The Kent Hotel (Carlton North) The Perch At Lavers Hill (Lavers Hill) Tim Ho Wan (CBD) Truffles Patisserie (Balaclava) Vines Restaurant at Helen's Hill (Coldstream) Wing Loong (CBD)[RIP] Zelena Cafe Bar & Restaurant (Croydon) Zen (Hawthorn)

4s (Melbourne eateries with great food. Food is a strength[32]): APTE Cafe (Alphington)[RIP] Attica (Ripponlea) Bamboo House (CBD) Biagio's (Niddrie) Brae (Birregurra) Chin Chin's at Koto Moon (Carlton North) Choi's (Hawthorn) Cumulus Inc. (CBD) El Mirage (Brunswick) Estivo (Kew)[RIP] Ezard (CBD)[RIP] Flower Drum (CBD) I Carusi (East Brunswick) Igni (Geelong)[RIP] Jack Rabbit (Bellarine) Junior Tan Hawker Kitchen (Bayswater) Ladro (Prahran)[RIP] Le Petit Bistro (Kooyong) Locale at De Bortoli (Dixons Creek) Mule (Brunswick)[RIP] Papa Goose (CBD)[RIP] Paris Go Bistro (Carlton) Pioneer Kitchen @ The Grovedale (Grovedale) +39 Pizzeria (CBD) Ribs & Burgers (Hawthorn) Riche (Richmond) SUD Food And Wine (CBD) Tao's (Bulleen)[RIP] The European (CBD) The Grand Dining Room (Richmond)[RIP] Vue de Monde (CBD) Wall Two 80 (Balaclava)

5's (The Best Melbourne Eateries. Food is very much a strength)[5]: La Fantaisie (Richmond)[RIP] LeTAO (CBD) L'uccellino (Yarraville) Rockpool...

If you want an ol school Katz deli Reuben overflowing with moist pastrami, drowning in Russian dressing and mustard this possibly isn't the place for you.

Same for if you only want massively spiced dry pastrami and sauerkraut on a dark rye (normally my thing)

If however you're open to the idea of your Reuben suiting up, sitting down and sipping a fine sav blanc or a red ale and being a modern and classy version of itself.

Then I have two words. Smoked mozzarella (scamorza) . When you first see it as one of the ingredients you might wonder how it works and or why it's there but then...

Pope Joan has ALWAYS done amazing meat with a very distinct character to it and this sandwich is subtle but beautifully, perfectly balanced. The sauerkraut is only lightly sour but clean, the multi grain similar both having their flavours BUT definitely being background in this sandwich but the smoked moz is in my opinion what links all of this particularly in the place of a sweet and rich Russian dressing (which would have overwhelmed all the ingredients)

It pairs really well with every other ingredient and carries their flavour whilst letting the subtle , clean but DEFINITELY spiced, lightly sweet and moist pastrami shine.

This is pastrami done wilkinson style and he knows EXACTLY what he wants the results to be and he gets them.

I'm almost NEVER a fan of subtle in pastrami but it doesn't surprise me that pope Joan would be the one to change my mind.

One of the best things I've eaten for a long, long while.

And I'm gonna be back to have the bacon and egg sandwich.

Pssst is it too much to hope that you'll be making those amazing Cumberland sausages...

2023: Very disappointed with Pope Joan recently. So expensive, such small portion and it’s not even tasty. I had this The Cornish: Milawa roast chicken, stuffing, mayo, jalapeños, tarragon, lettuce and the chicken looks and tastes like some stodgey paste. For $23 I expected so much better. I felt so disappointed that I bought friends here, recommending them because I thought it would be nice to dine in. I might as well go to the food court. No matter what grade chicken they use, it was still a disappointing lunch.

2020 3.5 stars ⭐️ Ever since Pope Joan has closed down in Brunswick I often lament that I have never tried them. So when they put a signage up near Sofitel I had to knock on their door and asked “ Is this THE pope Joan?!” Turns out it was!

Took my girlfriend to lunch there the other day and we had a whipped cheese w kohlrabi and a mixed platter of salad.

I was a bit unsure about the whipped cheese dish. It had a weird taste to it which I wasn’t sure whether it’s the parsley oil with the dehydrated parsley on top, or whether there was something else which tasted a bit licorice / cuminey which I wasn’t a big fan of.

The mixed salad was fabulous. We had a miso pumpkin w seaweed (note to self replicate that!), a cauliflower salad, a modern take to Caesar which is one large cos leaf w one fish sitting on a bed of creamed egg. Everything tasted nice but not sure whether it’s worth $24 for this.

Maybe it’s the location, maybe it’s the name, maybe it’s both but I just found the price is a bit steep for the portion you got, but the quality...