European

Ph: 9654 0811; 161 Spring St, MELBOURNE 3000

European, $$ +, * for Ambience, Good Wine List
Open 7 days 7.30am-3am, Closed Some public holidays; Licensed, BYO, Corkage $20 bottle; AE DC MC V
Chef Ian Curley (5-12-08) Owner Con Christopoulos & Josh Brisbane (5-12-08)

Mietta's Review
Stylish restaurant, which takes olde worlde European cafes as its model, serving various incarnations of mostly French and Italian dishes. The wine list takes centre stage here, large and international (no Australian wines). Open for breakfast, lunch, dinner and all times in-between. With the Melbourne Supper Club upstairs, and the newly opened Wine Bar right next door, the European has become a Mecca for Melburnians out and about.

Other published opinions

Age Good Food Guide 2009 Score: 15/20 "What makes for a great menu? To state the obvious, it should be a list of things you'd want to eat, as in, that sounds nice, I can't decide what to have'. So it is at European, where the menu clearly states that this timeless city bolthole is not only a breakfast cafe or a lunch spot but, come dinnertime, a serious foodie player too"

Gourmet Traveller 2009 Australian Restaurant Guide "Cafe king Con Christopoulos conjures continental fantasies out of everyday Melbourne locations and this is his standard-bearer. The wainscoting, black and white tiles and mood lighting make it perfect for clandestine wheeling and dealing, from breakfast to supper (yes, until 3am), while to the theatre crowd it might resemble a betweenwars stage set"

The Age Dani Valent, 16-9-2008 "I walked into European, where I was greeted with Friday-night smiles and bistro buzz. I sat down with pastis to slough off the sad city and was absorbed into the restaurant: its timbered warmth, confident staff and happy-looking diners were my Sunday now, not the dismal dead-zone outside. European is endlessly accommodating: good for wake-up eggs, minute-steak at noon, gossip at five and dinner till whenever. The all-Euro wine list made me feel like a tourist looking through Tiffany's window."

Age Good Food Guide 2008 Score: 14.5/20 "Opposite Parliament House and next to the Princess Theatre, the moody European welcomes power breakfasters, business lunchers, pre-theatre diners and weekend brunchers alike"

Gourmet Traveller 2008 Australian Restaurant Guide "So you're not really in Paris. Or Rome. But in this moody, woodpanelled space you may as well be"

Age Epicure Restaurants, John Lethlean, 14-11-06 Score: 15.5/20 "But the European is not Spanish, even if it does have one of the better collections of Spanish wine in Melbourne. Nor is it French, Italian, Austrian or Greek. The European is a hybrid creation that evokes memories (and the occasional bit of longing) for the wine bars and cafes of all those places; and the extent to which the concept resonates with Melburnians can be measured in the place's longevity (it's nine years old)."

Herald Sun Donna Coutts Cafe 4/2/06 "Elegant, old-fashioned, European-style cafe. Breakfast is excellent, and an ideal way to have a European experience."

The Age Good Food Guide 2006 score 15/20 1 Hat "A restaurant that offers only European wines on its lengthy list? It'll never work. So how is it that the patina on the European's bentwood chairs just keeps getting more lustrous? Put it down to the combination of its Euro-focused wine list, savvy waitstaff, and a menu that mines the traditions of rural France, Italy and Spain, and just keeps getting more interesting."

Gourmet Traveller 2006 Australian Restaurant Guide * "it is to the flagship you head when the urge arises for oysters washed down with an appropriate muscadet, a little foie gras with Sauternes, or maybe braised duck with an appley red cabbage and a lesser-known Burgundy."

The Age Good Food Guide 2005 score 15/20 One Hat "THIS Spring Street landmark has always emulated those gorgeous Parisian neighbourhood bistros: all moody lighting, dark panelling and scrawled blackboard specials. But with new chef John Lepp (ex-Jacques Reymond) at the helm, food, prices and Euro charm have all moved up a notch."

Gourmet Traveller 2005 Restaurant Guide * "A breakfast menu is often the sign of a compromised restaurant. At European, it's a reminder of the role the place plays: an essential facility, an adjunct to busy city lives. In recent times, however, European has ramped up its unique bistro appeal, matching its thrown-together chic with better food than ever before."

Age Epicure John Lethlean 13/7/04 score 15/20 "Solid and delightful, European is one of those places that make the city of Melbourne a far better place than might otherwise be the case."

The Age,A2,19/6/04,Matt Preston,'The European has always been known for a great cosy,woody atmosphere,great coffee and an amazing wine list,but now with the arrival of Jacques Reymond's long-term wingman,John Lepp,the food is also performing strongly.'

Herald Sun, Weekend, 12/6/04,Bob Hart,'food manages to remain within the European brief and steers clear of Asian flourishes while still displaying flashes of orginality, technical brilliance and a great, seasonal sensitivity...also is a great breakfast haunt, a terrrific coffee spot,magical for lunch which can be dragged out until it is almost time for a spot of pre-theatre supper'

The Age, Agenda, 2/5/04,John Lethlean,'the mature,sensible wait-staff who get on with it as professionals rather than models waiting for the casting call.It's a club you'd pay to join.But these days,more than ever in fact,European is about the food'

AGFG 2004, score 13/20, excellent wine list, excellent breakfast,excellent bar

The Age, A2, 13/3/04, John Weldon,'This darkened and slightly circuitous restaurant looks as if it's been around forever, when in actual fact it's yet to see in its eighth year...The food has an old world feel...rather of the European variety.'

The Age Good Food Guide 2003. Score 13/20

The Age, Sunday Life, Eat Streets, 28/4/02

The Herald Sun, 04.12.01, Stephen Downes Score: 16 out of 20

The Sunday Age, 09.01.00, John Schauble Score: two stars."

The City Weekly, 21.10.99, Fiona Stack