Albert Street Food and Wine, sited in an old bank and with the vault to prove it, is a fairly new addition to Sydney Road's mixed bag of restaurants. The decor is clean-cut and utilitarian, with glimpses of the original steel ceiling joists, and there's a little fine food shop annexed to the main restaurant, which on a Saturday at lunchtime was full to capacity. The food was uniformly excellent: from starters of beautifully grilled, perfectly squeaky halloumi with yellow zucchini pickle and juicy wagyu skewers with plump white anchovies, via main courses of tender pork cutlet accompanied by bittersweet red cabbage and lamb on wonderfully creamy polenta, to cool, trembling, pistachio panna cotta with fresh cherries and blueberries and a Meyer lemon tart which was satisfyingly lemony. The wait staff were on the ball despite the crowds.
