I was looking forward to a laid-back lunch at Simon Sandall’s new venture, but to my surprise, the restaurant was pumping, packed with locals delighted to have this restaurant on their doorstep.

Sandall has a fine pedigree: he was the backbone of the Matt Moran restaurant empire for many years. Front of house, the talent is equally storied, in the form of co-owner and hospo veteran Susan Sullivan, wife of Peter Sullivan, former long-time business partner of Matt Moran in their MorSul entity. It’s an enticing partnership.

As for its offerings, Boronia Kitchen serves a solid breakfast menu that hits all the traditional notes, a produce-driven light lunch menu and a little more of a fine-dinning, a la carte vibe at dinner.

We kicked things off with the burrata, roast pumpkin, chilli jam and crisp seed cracker, and the house-smoked salmon, creme fraiche, pickled cucumbers and rye.

The salmon, which I’ve been told, on a smoking day, can be smelled from miles away, gets its flavour from an old Torbreck wine barrel. It is simply outstanding, and served with thin rye bread croutons, lightly soured creme fraiche and slightly pickled baby cucumber, its flavours are to die for.

For mains, we ordered the Special of the Day: grilled swordfish and peperonata, and, sticking to the menu, the roast pork, salad of cauliflower, quinoa, chickpeas and pomegranate.

The swordfish came just cooked and still tender, with that perfect chargrill crisscross. Alongside was a basil-studded chunky peperonata of eggplant, capsicum, tomato, capers and juicy, plump white raisins. Simple but delicious.

Our second main came in the form of two very generous slices of porchetta-style roasted pork belly, stuffed with a tasty filling, and accompanied by crispy crackling and a sticky jus, For me, the only downside was the lack of seasoning and dressing in the cauliflower salad. Perhaps this was not quite the right partner to this tasty roast.

Comfortably stuffed by this point, we were still tempted by the dessert menu, and plumped for a persimmon creme brulee and a treacle tart.

Being French and somewhat old-fashioned about the classics, I’m always cautious about adding anything to creme brulee. But in this case, the smooth, silky, sweet brulee, topped with thinly sliced persimmon and caramelised with a thin pane of sugar, actually worked quite well. The treacle tart, on the other hand, remained classically English: beautiful buttery pastry, sticky and chewy filling, and very sweet of course. The only thing I may have forgotten to order was a nice cup of tea.

The verdict

Every outer city suburb should have a restaurant like Boronia Kitchen. Once more, food doesn’t have to be complicated to be delicious; a bit of care, love and passion and it becomes a recipe for success. I can’t wait to go back for dinner.

Best seat in the house: the corner table by the window is perfect to either gaze out of or to view the kitchen team interacting with one another.

 Best drink: a great little wine list with many choices to complement your menu choices. For that reason, it’s too hard to choose just one.

 Date safe: if you’re a local, this is without a doubt the place to take your date, but make sure to book well in advance as the place gets very busy.

 X-factor: the house-smoked salmon is obligatory!