Sometimes it’s the simple combinations that excite us the most. Fish and chips, fried chicken and beer, eggs on toast, ham and cheese, the list goes on. Hiding in the quiet streets of Footscray lies Fox on the Corn, with a combination which will probably surprise you that there isn’t more of it.
Pasta and beer.
Two pastas, nine sauces and the beer is taken to the extreme with eight on tap and a few hundred bottles.
The interior is as simple as the menu with a lightly stained timber furnishings, white walls and black ceiling and floor. The bar, counter and kitchen in one corner of the space, a series of booths wrapping around the front edges, a large group table in the middle and the takeaway beer shelving in the other corner. Adjoining the rear of the kitchen is a small courtyard-style bar named Honeycomb Hideout with a beer selection and pizzas, entrance is via the rear of the building from Dennis Street.
Food offerings starts with the choice of fettuccine or ravioli pasta, with the further choice of a spinach and ricotta or beef and vegetable filling. Sauces include classics such as creamy carbonara and napoli and some more hearty options such as slow cooked beef ragu, smoked salmon and pancetta with leek.
The pasta is even made by the owners’ other venture, a pasta factory, although this has temporarily changed due to a fire at the factory.
Olives, jamon, a charcuterie board and some side salads are also available.
The fettuccine with slow cooked beef ragu was ordered on this visit. It’s difficult to fully describe what good pasta tastes and feels like, but you just know. The beef ragu was rich and flavoursome and fell apart in your mouth.
Dessert options include cannoli, cakes from Sweet by Nature and ice cream from Gundowering.
Fox in the Corn is also open for weekend lunches with coffee from Monk Bodhi Drama, hot chocolate from Monsieur Truffle and a range of leaf tea available.
Now for the beer. The eight taps constantly rotate with a general selection of a lager, pale ale, IPA, dark ale, sour, fruit sour, wild and cider. Over 200 bottles are also available to dine in or takeaway and organised by genre in the extensive menu. Owner Josh knows his beer and knows it well, and provided advice on choices and a mini sampling journey. His home brew and shrubs also make appearances from time to time.
Fox in the Corn leads the way for quality and extensive beer selections in a restaurant environment, where wine usually reigns, and it is hoped more follow suit. In the mean time, the venture out into the westerns suburbs will certainly not disappoint.
Fox in the Corn
4 Droop Street, Footscray
03 9362 7858
http://www.foxinthecorn.com.au