Entice

Allergies, intolerances and special diets are not going anywhere any time soon, so canny chefs know where gluten, nuts and fructose lurk and accept that gelatin and chicken stock have no place in otherwise vegetarian dishes.

Entice, a modest, welcoming, one-year-old restaurant in the south-eastern suburbs, is one restaurant that has responded to today's phobic diners with an allergy-aware menu. The restaurant is simple but comfortable, with homely touches and a funny little courtyard.

The menu is a safe stroll through contemporary Australian cuisine, with lots of chicken breast, baby spinach and rocket. The flavours are honest and mild. The cooking is competent and done from scratch.

Most dishes are gluten-free or can be tweaked to suit (other dietary preferences are happily accommodated). The service is willing, though on my visit it suffered at times from Quiet Restaurant Syndrome: as custom peters out, service tends to match - a mysterious phenomenon. The wine list is accessible, full of names you've seen in a Dan Murphy's catalogue.

It is easy to share a few starters. Salt and pepper squid was grilled to cheeky curls, served over a neat little mint, watermelon and palm sugar salad. Witlof and asparagus salad was given a lift with mauve pickled quail eggs. Zucchini fritters were fresh and herby but their crisp, coloured shells gave way to a stodgy middle.

Among the larger dishes, paprika chicken was simple and pleasing, with moist slices of breast laid over a baby spinach salad with creamy dressing and retro grilled pineapple and bacon bits - all easy to enjoy. Thick pork loin was rimmed with pistachio crust (deleted for those avoiding gluten) and served with an orange and rocket salad.

Desserts were weak compared with the savoury dishes. The Murrumbeena Mess was a pallid excuse to eat cream, while the ice-cream sandwich tasted flat.

The restaurant has recently opened for lunch and, apparently, the owner's invention of cobbini - a pizza in a halved cob loaf - already has fans, and the steak sanger has the local tradies excited.

The Entice deal is further sweetened with Pasta Tuesday dinners ($16; $8 for kids).

Locals are also encouraged to wander over from the train station after their evening commute for a circuit-breaking glass of wine before heading home. Enticing indeed.

Rating

3 stars out of 5