Polēpolē

Mosey down Little Collins Lane one evening and become enchanted with polēpolē, Melbourne’s favourite African-inspired bar and restaurant. The establishment comprises two levels: polēpolē on the lower level and Glamp Bar upstairs, a unique cocktail bar with a resident White Rhino keeping things in control. Milk Bar Mag decided to careen into the safari of African–Australian fusion and report on our findings.

Translated into relax, slowdown and take it easy in Swahili, polēpolē was inspired by owners Dean and Jeanelle Mariani’s vast travels in Eastern Africa. Their vision was simple: they wanted to share their love of the region – specifically Tanzania and Kenya – with sleek Melburnian city slickers. ‘The result has been something incredibly unique in Melbourne’s thriving restaurant scene,’ says Dean and Jeanelle.

It’s clear to see why polēpolē stands out from the crowd. Guests are treated to exotic flavours and offerings that are hard to come by, or in some cases, too adventurous an offering for other restauranteurs to wrestle with. Polēpolē is the only restaurant in Melbourne that serves crocodile, char-grilled wild boar, buffalo, and the only restaurant in Australia to serve ostrich.

We participated in Wild Wednesday, a three-course offering specialising in African-inspired Game dishes. This includes the above-mentioned char-grilled wild boar and the tastiest camel sausage I have ever devoured. (Admittedly, it was my first time eating said meat.) For mains, I’d opt for the smoked goat curry with goats yoghurt and pomegranate. The dessert was a tough choice but I couldn’t go beyond the masala chai wanna cotta adorned with Moroccan tea honey foam, raspberry dust and Amarula tuile. The salted caramel tart was divine in its own right, but if you don’t have the biggest sweet tooth (myself included) it may prove too dense and decadent.

Beer lovers can flirt with twelve African beers rarely seen outside their respective homeland. A tip would be to go for the Castel Pale Lager which hails from Ethiopia and the Tusker Lager is a refreshing Kenyan ale. If you’d rather a bit of a spritz, polēpolē’s solid range of cocktails is sure to satisfy.

Polēpolē is the type of venue to take a date with an open-mind and an adventurous spirit so you can both take on the culinary wildebeest and live to tell the tale.

polēpolē
1/267 Little Collins Street, Melbourne CBD
Open Tuesday to Saturday, Tuesday, 5pm to 10pm, Wednesday and Thursday, 5pm to 11pm, Friday, 12pm to 2am, Saturday, 5pm to 1am
polepolebar.com.au