Melbourne isn’t short on shopfront wine bars, but Bar Thyme is an outlier on a strip of mostly low-key eateries.

Nor is the city lacking in anchovy toasts, but this one’s a little different. A salty fillet is draped over crispbread, with whipped ricotta piped along its left flank and sweet leeks on its right. It creates a neatly striped snack that flies the flag for upwardly mobile Footscray.

Perch by the record player at the bar for a well-made cocktail, or occupy a four-top for table service. Owner Howard Stamp works the room, pouring wines from a natural leaning list and delivering chickpea panisse with fried sage, brittle-skinned barramundi on herbed risotto, and rare lamb rump lifted by red-currant jus. Crustless frangipane tart is akin to the venue itself: a warm, golden delight.

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.