Its hardly a trip to Melbourne without a fancy Euro style meal. Having already scratched our itch for Italian, I decided that the Parisian Steakhouse and Cafe, Entrecote, situated near the royal botanical gardens would be a nice place to have dinner. Making a reservation beforehand, it was a relaxing stroll through the greenery that really set the mood for dinner.
Seating was as requested, indoors. The chic French setup was wonderful, although tables were a little small.
The drinks menu was long, and the food menu refined. It didn't take long for consensus to be made and we gave our order to the friendly waiter.
Drinks came first, he had the Earl Grey and Rosewater Martini whereas I had the Sidecar. His was very floral and sweet, mine citrusy and crisp. I think I've found my second go to drink ;).
Starting off, we had complimentary baguette, it was served warm with a side of butter. Crusty and wholesome, it went well with a sliver of butter.
We had two entrees to share, first up was the Caviar Blini, a sort of savoury buckwheat pancake, topped with chives, Yarra Valley salmon roe, crème fraîche and sieved egg. The portion came with two delicate little pieces, each bursting with flavour. Adore salmon roe which complemented the fresh cream well, and the puffy little pancakes were a wonderful means of transporting them to my mouth.
Second entree was my favourite, Steak Tartare ‘au couteau’, with fillet, cornichons, egg yolk, sauce épicée and pommes gaufrettes. So apparently au couteau means that it is hand cut with a knife which is always better than a mince machine. Portion size was generous, I loved the seasoning of cornichons and egg yolk, also can never go wrong with waffle chips, which are of course the best chips.
The interlude between entree and main was of course an Espresso Martini. Strong and rich, it rocked my world.
Mains soon came and filled our table. It's lucky we didn't have mains to share, otherwise we would have no room for share plates.
Adam's choice of steak was the Filet de Boeuf Grillé, an O’Connor 250g fillet served with classic Béarnaise sauce and frites. Having it cooked medium rare, he enjoyed the tender fillet and creamy buttery bearnaise.
Of course, I went for the signature Steak Frites, a piece of 250g Cape Grim Angus Porterhouse topped with sauce Maison au beurre et aux herbes and served with a side of frites, and a soft leaves salad. Having been to numerous Parisian steakhouses before, this really hit the nail on the head. My steak was cooked to a perfect rare. The herb sauce was wonderfully rich and flavoursome, whilst the fries soaked up much of the juices. Leaf salad was also soft but crisp, I just wish I had more room to get a refill on those fries.
Value: 7/10
Service: 9/10
Environment: 9/10
No comments:
Post a Comment