Lt Nic, Melbourne CBD by Bureaucrat

I quite like Lt Nic.  It's cute.  It's small.  It does great salads and coffee at a really great price.

There's a simplistic cuteness to the place - it's sleek but with warmth.

Given that it's right near the busy Lonsdale/Swanston Street intersection, with the bus stop, Lt Nic is a lovely little spot to escape the hurly burly of city life.

This will be an easy post for me to write, as I had lunch with Ruby Grapefruit, Ms No Meat and Big Fil.  And being the lovely people they are, they provided me with their comments on the food.

 

Both Ruby Grapefruit and Big Fil went for the lunch deals, which they shared with each other.  For $15, you get a roll and side salad (or a roll and a sweet) and a drink (tea, coffee or water).

 

Ruby enjoyed her lunch box.  She got the “My Asian Brother” roll which had nice thick slices of roast pork with a coleslaw type salad.  It must have been really good because both Ruby and Big Fil went silent and had a dopey grin on their faces when they ate the roll.  To go with her roll, Ruby chose the “Green Lantern” which included flaked trout and green beans. The seeded mustard mayo dressing was very good.

Ruby thought that a sweet treat would be included with the lunch box but instead it included a drink. She had a coffee which was a little disappointing and she would have much preferred a piece of cake as other reviewers have raved about them.


Big Fil ordered the “Not so Reuben” which had tender beef with delicious caramelised onion.  He thought the beef was tender and meaty but given it was a "Not so Reuben" roll he thought it might have had a little more acidity to it. 

For the salad, he got "Tabouleh the Great", which had - rosemary roasted beets, cherry toms, crispy chickpea on tabouleh.  He thought it was fresh and had a nice crunchy texture, but was a little light on for flavor. 


For drinks, Big Fil got a chai.


Big Fil couldn't pass up the opportunity to try some of the sweet treats, and as such, got a brownie.  The chocolate brownie moist packing a strong chocolate flavor.


Ms No Meat was disappointed that there was no vegetarian option for a $15 roll and salad combo, so she got a trio of salads which she had mixed feelings about it.  There are about five salad options and three of them are vegetarian.  The beetroot tabouleh was disappointing – bland with very little parsley. 

However, she enjoyed the flavours of both "The Kapitan" (cous cous w feta, caps, sweet potatoes, raisins and rocket) and "The Ronin" (Japanese pumpkin, chickpea, semi dried toms, broccoli, feta and basil).  She also liked the addition of the fried chickpeas added a nice texture. 

I had to be different.  Although I went with the guys for lunch, I didn't order lunch with them (as I had a late breakfast and was still full).  Instead, I got a soy chai, which was lovely and deeply spiced.  After we had left Lt Nic, I went walking for a bit to work up an appetite.  I came back to Lt Nic and got a trio of salads to take away. 

At $8 for three types of salad it's incredibly well priced and very tasty.  I got "The Ronin" which had lots of flaked trout with a lovely creamy mayo-based dressing and crisp green beans.  The "Long Live The King" had spicy glass noodles w prawn, French beans, bean sprouts and coriander, which was also very tasty.  The prawns were small but sweet, and the salad wasn't too spicy even with the chilli in it.  I also got "The Ronin" and I loved the sweet chunks of pumpkin and al dente broccoli.  As with Ms No Meat, I loved them crispy chickpeas that they throw into it.

Verdict

Food – 8

Ambience – 7.5

Service – 7

Price – 7.5

Overall

Fresh, healthy food with a twist of hipster vibe.  Pricewise, I think the trio of salads are a better deal than the lunch combo.  I'll definitely go back for the salads and the coffee.

Address

Lt Nic

262 Lonsdale Street

Melbourne 3000
Telephone: 9044 6985