Sonido!, Fitzroy, Melbourne

It was the lure of hot chocolate and cheese that brought us to Sonido. Hot chocolate and cheese? Say it isn't so!

We'd stumbled along Gertrude Street in Fitzroy, Melbourne, early on a Sunday morning, taking in the eclectic mix of boutique clothing shops, vintage stores, art galleries and quirky cafes. Sonido was tucked away at the far end, barely noticeable but for an assortment of pint-sized chairs and tables on the foothpath, as though a kindergarten class was just about to start.


Sonido


Decor inside Sonido

You know a cafe is cool when there's knitting going on. The cafe is packed with coffee sipping patrons, some of them knitting, others casually whiling away the hours of a lazy weekend. The decor is a cheerful mix of South American records, vintage signs and posters and all the good stuff you find in op shops.


Arepas de queso $8.50

Cheese arepas

We order at the counter and take a seat outside. It doesn't take long for our food to arrive, served on mismatched crockery straight from your grandma's sideboard.


Cheese arepas

Arepas is a flat corn bread commonly eaten throughout the north of South America, particularly Columbia and Venezuela. Our cheese arepas is stuffed with fresco, or fresh cheese that stretches seductively as we pull it apart in the middle.

The corn bread doesn't have a strong corn flavour, and we're encouraged to spread generously with the pat of butter provided. Side dishes of guacamole and salsa add refreshment.


Ropavieja arepa $11.50
'Old clothes' beef arepa

Ropavieja arepa is a traditional dish, made here to a traditional Cuban recipe. The dish translates to 'old clothes' as the beef is cooked to the stage where it literally falls apart, just like old rags or clothes. The beef is amazing, tender and flavoursome, like pulled beef in a spicy sauce.


Aguapanela sugarcane juice with lime $4

Sugarcane juice always reminds me of my grandma, who would boil up stalks of sugarcane which she grew in the backyard. Here the hot sugarcane juice is lightened with a squeeze of fresh lime, and is just as heartwarming.


Chocolate corona con queso $6.50
Traditional Colombian hot chocolate with cheese

It's the traditional Colombian hot chocolate with cheese that we're most excited about.


Traditional Colombian hot chocolate with cheese

Suze stares incredulously at the coffee cup filled with a single slice of queso fresh cheese. The hot chocolate is thick and frothy, and we're shown how to quickly roll the wooden paddle between our palms to aerate the hot chocolate even further.

Pouring the hot chocolate onto the cheese doesn't melt it, but it does make the cheese softer and almost pliable. The chocolate is thick and slightly bitter from the cocoa. The cheese is quite bland in flavour by comparison, but it does make for an interesting meal in a cup.

Cheap, fun and irresistibly laid-back, Sonido! is my kind of hangout.


Inside Sonido! Hello pot plant stand!


View Larger Map

Sonido!

69 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, Melbourne

Tel: +61 (03) 9495 6636

Opening hours:

Tuesday to Friday 8.30am – 4pm

Saturday and Sunday 9am – 4pm

Kitchen closes at 3pm (drinks available until 4pm)

Closed on Mondays

No bookings

Cash only

Related Grab Your Fork posts:

Melbourne - Burch & Purchese and LuxBite, Melbourne
Melbourne - Cumulus Inc, Melbourne
Melbourne - Izakaya Den, Melbourne
Melbourne - Madame Brussels, Melbourne
Melbourne - MoVida Aqui, Melbourne
Melbourne - Naked for Satan, Fitzroy
Melbourne - Roule Galette, Melbourne