Shane Delia – the chef behind top Middle Eastern spots Maha, Maha East, and Jayda – wasn’t sure of his next steps after closing Collingwood’s Maha Bar late last year.
The locals welcomed it into the neighbourhood with open arms in 2019. But, like so many other Melbourne restaurants, Delia says it never really had the chance to flourish after the lockdowns.
“It just didn’t have enough equity with customers,” Delia tells Broadsheet. “[The team] lost a bit of our passion for it as well … it felt like Maha Bar didn’t have a soul.”
Delia didn’t want to leave the neighbourhood, though. After eating more around Collingwood and chatting to customers and locals, he saw an opportunity for the space to evolve. So, it’s just reopened as Maha North: a homey counterpart to south-side wine bar Maha East.
The menu is totally new, and the interior’s been revamped by long-time collaborator Studio Y. Marble benches, brass-edged mirrors and moody lighting have replaced the original cork-topped tables and bright tones. And there’s now a coveted window seat by a beautiful stone ledge, which allows diners to look out onto “all the theatrics” of Smith Street.
Head chef Niko Pasieka – who was recently named on Melbourne Food and Wine Festival’s 30 Best Chefs Under 30 List – and Delia want the food to be familiar.
Similar to Maha and East, the produce-driven menu features interesting takes on Middle Eastern classics. Expect a handful of East’s best dishes, such as king prawns wrapped in crisp, string-like kataifi dough, and crowd-pleasing zucchini flowers stuffed with anchovy and almond tarator. But there are plenty of original North dishes, too.
New meze-style snacks include crispy burek buns filled with duck fesunjun (a classic Persian stew); bite-size tarts layered with olive oil-and-za’atar-poached tomatoes and whipped ricotta; and pickled octopus and sweet muhammara (roasted capsicum dip) wrapped in lettuce. On the larger side, there’s haloumi covered in rosemary and fig molasses and buttered walnuts; and stand-out diamond clams with sujuk cream, mopped up with house-baked simit (a circular, bagel-like bread).
For dessert, there’s refreshing pineapple granita served with panna cotta-like yoghurt crème, Geraldton wax and crumbled namoura (a crunchy Arabic semolina biscuit), or playful, filled handmade chocolates that are reminiscent of the kind your grandmother might serve with tea at the end of a meal.
The 150-strong wine list is made up of new- and old-world bottles, with local producers the primary focus. And, in a first for Maha, you can BYO on Wednesday evenings and all Sunday for boozy long lunches. The cocktail list has also had a touch-up; expect Maha classics, including the signature Pomegranate Sour, and exclusive North cocktails coming soon.
In the background, you’ll hear an eclectic mix of feel-good tunes ranging from Ella Fitzgerald and Roberta Flack to Nas and Snoop Dogg.
“We’ll bring the food, we’ll bring the booze, we’ll bring the atmosphere,” Delia says, “but really, what’s going to make Maha North successful is how people embrace it and make the venue what they want it to be.”
Maha North
86 Smith Street, Collingwood
(03) 9417 3531
Hours
Wed to Sat 5pm–11pm
Sun 12pm–11pm
mahanorth.com.au
@shanedelia
28 Jul 2023
28 Jul 2023
27 Jul 2023
27 Jul 2023