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What’s the first thing that you think of when you hear the word Huxtable? The Cosby Show family right? I’m not familiar with anyone else with the name so we have Cosby Show episodes on the mind when we walk into Huxtable on Smith Street in Collingwood after a short pleasant fifteen minute stroll from the Park Hyatt. The space is modern although no, it’s not a replica of the set (although a part of me thinks that that might be fun but perhaps taking the theme a bit too far).
And like Central Casting has placed some extras inside from the couple with the retro glasses-thick rimmed enormous white rims for her and Bill Lumbergh style glasses for him. There are three families in the immediate eye view, all with young children. Apparently naming your place after one of televisions most famous families has families coming in early on a Saturday night. The interior is fitted out using a lot of browns-there are brown vinyl swivel chairs and what looks like dad’s garage tool holder which in this case holds cooking tools. And playing in the background are songs such as Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” and “I Got You Babe” by Sonny and Cher.
Why is it called Huxtable? We ask the waitress. Well it seems that it is called Huxtable as a nod to The Cosby Show. The three guys that head it up are from New Zealand and they thought that it would be a fun name. They are Daniel Wilson in the kitchen (the chef), Dante Ruaime formerly of MoVida (the restaurant manager) and Jeff Wong who owns 19 Squares, a St Kilda cafe (the coffee guy). “And it’s just a coincidence that everyone that works here is from New Zealand” our NZ accented waitress says.
The menu is designed to share. It’s broken up into little bites-and some from bite sized morsels to slightly more substantial entrees, to share plates which are broken up into sea, land and earth.
Huxta bubbles $8
We start with the huxta bubbles which is a sparkling wine made especially for them. We ordered it for the name-who could resist it? Even Mr NQN who doesn’t like sparkling wines quite likes this fizz.
Rice flour crusted oyster po’boy, iceberg, sriracha mayo $6.50
The oyster po’ boy comes a mini crunchy fresh baguette filled with two oysters. The baguette is crunchy, like those Vietnamese baguettes that are earth shatteringly good and give the soft oysters inside an appealing crunch on the outside. There is a shredded iceberg lettuce salad tossed in sriracha mayonnaise, sriracha being that omnipresent Thai hot sauce that you see on tables in large plastic red bottles so there’s a bit of spice along with the creaminess. And I could have eaten lots of these.
Jalapeno & cheddar croquette $3.50 each
The croquettes have a thin, crunchy shell on the outside and a cheese and diced jalapeno chilli interior which makes it spicy but not heart-racingly so. Again another one that if I were being served these at a cocktail party I would have ask the waitstaff to park the tray in front of us.
Steamed crab & corn rice noodle w xo chilli $5.50
This is quality over quantity when this lovely little morsel hits our table. “It’s served on an ash tray” Mr NQN says and I laugh. Didn’t Bill Cosby smoke cigars? In any case this is a fresh steamed rice noodle wrapped around some delectable crab meat, ginger and corn and topped with what has to be one of my favourite sauces, the swooningly good XO chilli sauce.
Veal tartare, soft boiled egg, soldiers $21
The waitress sets down our veal tartare and lets us know that there is a soft boiled egg in the centre. After the necessary photo taking I break into the centre of the orb and break into the gooey gorgeous soft boiled egg. The veal mince is perfectly seasoned with salt and pepper, herbs and baby capers and we enjoy it with the very crunchy batons or “soldiers” which we dip into the soft boiled egg and top with the meat.
Korean bbq pork ribs, spicy slaw, chilli gherkin $19
Now we come to the mains. The Korean bbq pork ribs come slightly blistered on the outside and piping hot. The aroma of chilli wafts straight up our noses and we are excited as we both love spice. The ribs come with a lovely jellied top and are soft and easily fall off the bone. They come three ribs to a serve and our waitress asks if we wanted to upsize to four ribs and therefore two ribs per person. We decide against it and once I’ve finished my one (I gave two to Mr NQN), I regretted it. Thankfully he can’t be bothered with bones and I steal his bone to gnaw on. The spicy slaw is the perfect foil to the spicy, fatty meat as is the pickled cucumber.
Lebanese cauliflower, harissa yoghurt, dukkah $14
Our cauliflower comes out last along with the ribs and is a whole Lebanese cauliflower dusted with dukkah and sitting on a bed of spicy harissa yoghurt. The cauliflower is soft and the blanket of dukkah gives it a punch of flavour and the yogurt a creaminess without letting it ever get too dry. And I find myself wondering where dukkah coated cauliflower has been all my life…
Stilton and quince Oreo $3
We’re both burstingly full but I can’t forget the last homage to American tv-the Oreo. Or more specifically the stilton and quince oreo. It is about the size of a 50 cent piece and features a thin, crisp oatcake biscuit, a round of stilton cheese and a round of quince paste. Just what I needed to end off our meal.
So tell me Dear Reader, what was your favourite sitcom growing up? I liked Family Ties, Cheers, The Golden Girls and Designing Women!
Huxtable
131 Smith Street Fitzroy, VIC 3065
Tel: +61 (03) 9419 5101
Open Daily 12pm-12am
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52 Comments | Add your own
What a delicious looking meal, and quirky restaurant.
I loved the thought of the cheese and jalapeno croquettes, I might have to try those myself.
The Korean BBQ Pork has me salivating!
You can’t go wrong with a po’ boy!
Some nice food ideas there. Love the sound of that Oreo and the crab and corn rice noodle! Yum
huxtable is closer to the city than i thought! just a 15 minute stroll.
I used to love Full House!!!! haha gotta love the 80s / early 90s!
The little oreo, quince/stilton looks amazing, i’d love a plate of those thanks
Oh i loved the Cosby Show!!! Dr Huxtable was an awesome father!!! I also loved watching Happy Days, and the Love Boat.
Lorraine… I love places like this. SO many great ideas in the food. First… who knew you could tartare veal?? What a great take on scotch eggs. There was so much in this post that caught my eye… like the dukah cauliflower!!!! I’m making that this weekend.
Great looking place. You know, I must tell you, to the untrained American ear, Australian and NZ voices sound VERY similar.
Yay! I have wanted to try Huxtable for ages – still trying to get some friends to come with. The food looks devine – the stilton and quince Oreo has my heart. I loved Family Ties (Michael J Fox used to be my ideal man!), Happy Days and anything British (Man About the House, George and Mildred, Love Thy Neighbour, Are You Being Served, On the Buses etc etc).
Anything called oreo captures my attention! The biscuit looks great!!!!
Wow – interesting mix of food! More po boys in Sydney please!
Can’t wait to visit Huxtable and try that cauliflower. Sounds fabulous. I seem to have a problem receiving your daily emails as I have not received onefor the past 3 days. Have never had a problem before – any thoughts.
oh. my. god.
my mouth is watering like mad!!
i loved watching a country practice, family ties, and full house, yes. oh, and young talent time and alf. hehee, pretty funny looking back on it now.
Hi Carol- Sorry about that! I wonder why that is? Did the emails go into the spam folder? That sometimes happens randomly? Perhaps if you don’t mind unsubscribing and then resubscribing? Thank you for letting me know!
I’m having the same trouble with my emails too. I tried re-subscribing but it said I was still subscribed.
I love how the dishes seem to stand on their own with their flavours all being so different, and strong. The pork looks awesome, yumm…
HI Rebecca-Oh no! I’ll ask hubby about it! That’s no good at all! Thanks for letting me know too!
‘Business’ first – I have not received your emails for three days either and thought I had been put in the ‘naughty corner’
! Shall follow the advice you gave Carol. Though have never watched The Cosby Show or any sitcoms for that matter [yup, odd me 
!], love the look of these small plates, especially the veal tartare and the cauliflower with dukkah. Find the latter so moreish, am learning to make my own variations. Have a wonderful Long Weekend 
)
Help – have just tried to resubscribe and got the same result as InTolerantChef!
Great place. We’re going there again with some friends next week.
Oh dear! What is happening with the emails. That is no good at all! I shall ask Mr NQN to look into it asap tonight. I was wondering why the stories were so quiet! Thanks for letting us know Eha!
NQN I was getting worried something had happened to you! I’m so glad to see your posts are still happening, I’m just not getting the emails! I LOVE the sound of this place ( and was a former fan of the Cosby’s ) I think I’ll try this place this weekend!
Hi Emma-I’m so sorry I promise I’m looking into it!
There is definitely something wrong if I don’t put a post! 
What lovely comfort food!
I loved family matters, full house, the cosby show and golden girls! Family matters was probably y my favourite out of the lot.
P.S Another subscriber having problems with the emails.
Lorraine dearHeart – I DO hope Mr NQN does figure it out, BUT, I do hope you realize how much we care for you/your blog if we have all googled to get to the site!! Much love!
Sorry Lorraine but the same has been happening to me, hope Mr.NQN can sort out this little problem, as we all need a daily fix of NQN.
“Steal his bone to gnaw on”, is exactly what I do as I think it’s the most fun and flavoursome part of ribs! I’d happily sit down to a bucketfull of those Oreos as well!
As for sitcoms, just about all of them because back then there were no Internet blogs, Foxtel multi-channels, I-phones, I-Pads……..hahah
Put your hands up if you’re excited for the SIFF starting tomorrow!!!! Why or why does it have to rain when the Pyrmont Markets are on?
One last appeal to all NQN readers to vote for my ‘Bush Tukka Burger’ on turkeysuperburger.com.au, it’s the last week, pretty please with cherries on top , many thanks.
I walk past Huxtable every. single. day. – I must get in there – the veal tartare looks like something I would be right into. Hope you enjoyed Melbourne!
T xx
This place looks great! Definitely on my list of places I must visit next time I’m in Melbourne. Which will probably be next year, now that I think about it.
I loved the Golden Girls too. I was also a big fan of Full House, Step by Step, Mad About You, Happy Days, Erkle (can’t remember the actual name). Ok I think I watched too much TV. I must have really crammed it in on the weekends cause we weren’t allowed to watch TV on ‘school nights.’
I love the idea of a TV themed restaurant. Maybe we’ll see some more popping up soon.
For all my raw vegan ways, it’s still a goal of mine in life to try tartare one day! Preferably accompanied by pickles, because they are the BEST.
That is a different take on a tartare, having a soft boiled quail egg inside. Love the oozyiness of the yolk.
I’m so glad I stumbled on your blog! This restaurant looks fabulous and I love your photos! Cheers from the US!
That po’boy got me…
Lovely looking place.
Urban yet cozy and wram
Having worked in Smith Street I am so surprised you described the walk from the Park Hyatt (where I got engaged!) to there as pleasant! I could barely handle the walk from my office to my car!
I hope this does not mean you are barracking for Collingwood in the big game tomorrow!!!!
Hi Ellen-What game? I am completely football ignorant!
I like reading your reviews, you’re so funny! Haha… Btw I love veal/beef tartare so def need to order that! And that croquette is like the best of both worlds for me… I often debate with myself whether I like things deep-fried more or with melted cheese… SOLD! =D
The jalapeño and cheddar croquettes looks great, I never deep fry at home so it’s a treat when I go out. There must be some other interesting variations on the Oreo, well worth playing with. Cheers was definitely a favourite for me, what is Designing Women, Sci-fi, fashion? GG
Veal tatare…. OMG! Amazing.
Fav sitcom, hmmmm…. Yeah, prob the Cosby show, and the golden girls. 
Hmmm I can’t recall a sitcom but I lived Faulty Towers!! That was my family’s favourite
wow, had never heard of this place before now!
Heidi
I feel like such a noob… I don’t know what the Cosby Show is! However I wouldn’t mind some of that Huxta bubbles, and you are very brave for eating the veal tartare, I ‘ve yet to try that!
What great variety. That must have been an amazing feast. Would have loved to have been there!
Love how they hid the egg in the tartare!! Would have been a nice little surprise. I swear you’ve been to more restaurants in Melbourne than me even though I live here!
Have a great weekend!
Sorry to spoil the party – that stilton and quince oreo looks really delicate and delicious. However for me Oreo has cocoa.
Stilton and quince oreo?! Amazing…what a fun take on a cheese plate/dessert. Would love to try
That veal tartare and soft boil egg is something that I would love to try at home!
Email back on track now thanks Lorraine, thanks so much!
Oh my…..
I am in Helsinki and had dinner at Juuri last nigt. Yours looks good too.
Oh, I loved the look and sound of every one of these enticing treats! Hmm, I loved the Cosby Show growing up, also Family Ties and the Love Boat. Don’t think they make them like that any more …
Those jalapeño and cheddar croquettes would go down well here in Mexico. And I love the idea of the Stilton and quince Oreos.
As a very young child, I adored “I Love Lucy,” and when older, “M..A.S.H.,” though it might not be considered a sitcom!
That tartare looks great! What a great idea putting the egg on the inside. Pretty much a raw scotch egg. YUM!
How have I never come across this place before!? Perhaps because I am never in Collingwood.. But still, I should’ve heard about it, right? I loved everything you ate here! I must give this place a try
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