I popped out the other evening to have a feed with my son. He’s a Brunswick boy and suggested a little spot at 600 Sydney Rd, Caffe Mingo. It’s one of the numerous little shop fronts along that stretch that once housed a dressmaking concern. I remember when it turned in to a milkbar. (Where are the milkbars of yesteryear?)
Later on it became an ‘Espresso Bar’ and featured numerous card-playing Italian men drinking from tiny coffee cups. And here it was, in another incarnation again.
What a surprise to see Joe! He’s the former publican of the Lincoln Inn in Carlton South, a stone’s throw from Trades Hall on the nights we were throwing stones. Now he has this little Brunswick trattoria.
Joe has always served up simple fresh food. Home made pasta and common sense meals. Presentation is definitely not his strong point. Modest, plain white plates and a lack of colour in the servings means nothing when the quality of the food is good. I had the best porterhouse in a long time.
[...] time, we learnt a little about Joe and Laura’s story. It seems they’d had a pub (the Lincoln Hotel, as it turns out), there’d been financial difficulties in the 1990 and they’d lost the [...]