Prentice Wine | Pinot Ramato | Pinot Sauvage | Tar & Roses | Chenin Blanc

reviews

		Pick of the Lists Neil Prentice has moved from The Birdcage to establish a new city-located bar and restaurant with a wine list to die for. It's small and manageable, but offers the sort of mix of established limited run classics, interesting new labels and left-of-center wines that add interest to the selection process. Furthermore, Prentice has adopted a generous pricing formula that sees a flat $20 mark-up on all wines plus GST. So there's an added incentive to pursue the list, for not only does it challenge your decision-making ability, but chances are you can afford the experience... Read full article... OnWine Report December 2002 - January 2003

		Birdcage This is one Snake Pit you'll be happy to lounge about in. You can eat fine food, prepared by resident chef Mitsuo Shitanda, drink from a wide selection of wines, cocktails and beers, and be entertained with a great selection of music. Snakepit is open until 2am most nights, so take your time, eat, drink and be very merry. Read full article... MX Escape 2002 - 2003

		Eating Out - Snakepit They say that size matters, but not all the time. Rather than take the risk with one meal, double up with a few dishes. This basement Japanese is under the pounding feet of Queen St suits and is pleasantly reptile free, although Friday nights can be kind of scary. The chef, Mitsuo, is Japanese and trained there as a sushi master. One look at his pearly tiles of raw fish gives that part of his CV away. Try his little bangers made of wagyu beef - (the same cattle that get massages and beer breaks in Japan)... Read full article... Sally Fisher Eating Out

		Quiet den that lies beneath If you're looking for an after-work beer where you don't have to scream over loud music or fight the twentysomething crowds, then slither into Snakepit. Owner Neil Prentice, formerly of the Birdcage, likes to describe his new venture as a restaurant by day and "a bar with food to suit" at night. Drinkers are treated to a gastronomic floorshow as chefs prepare the tapas menu in full view behind the bar... Read full article... Toni Hetherington

		Snakepit Happy hour down in the pit is cheerful indeed with very drinkable $2 bubbles a virtue of being on good terms with a leading Mornington Peninsula winery. Snakepit offers a wine lounge, Japanese grill combo, sporting the talents of Mitsuo, a master sushi chef. In Addition, owner Neil Prentice is a local breeder of the famed wagyu beef, which hints at the calibre of food you can expect and makes it such a popular lunch destination. Meanwhile the intuitive service will keep you planted in the leather banquettes with a glass that fills seemingly through mental telepathy... Read full article... M. Matthews

Bar
If there was one real tragedy about the closure of St Kilda's Birdcage it was the loss of the soybean snacks. Well, they're back. Neil Prentice's new city venture, Snakepit, is bigger, funkier, still wine-focused, and he's brought some great birdcage touches with him, including a fabulous mod-Asian menu and those wonderfully salty, buttery steamed soybeans (the Japanese version of beer nuts). The curvy chocolate-brown booths are also very cool.

Melinda Houston