With my blog nearing it's 10 year anniversary, Dr L has asked me quite a few times about the way I rate restaurants and why most of them get a score of 7 or 8 out of 10. My answer to him has been consistently the same. If I do my research and I know that a place is going to be a disappointment, why would I go? Keeping that in mind, I've been fairly good at discerning whether or not I would like a place or if it is more hype than substance by reviewing photos and menus. Very rarely have I been caught out with high expectations and a low reality, but my experience at Petite really took me by surprise.
Having previously enjoyed some very good times at Snack Man, Happy Boy and most recently, Mini, I was thrilled with the permanent addition of Petite, along the corner of East Street. I had wanted to go for such a long time, but in the face of cost of living challenges, I thought that it would be irresponsible of me to randomly drop over $200 for a weekly date night dinner with Dr L "just because". So I held out until I had a sufficient reason to go, having survived a particularly challenging period of time at work. We made a reservation for Thursday evening to avoid any weekend crowds.
Having studied the menu meticulously, I liked most of the dishes on the fairly short menu, although I was a little bit confused by their notably unpriced lettuce, bread and fries at the bottom (this will be significant later on). In addition to their a la carte options, they have two tiers of banquets, an $85 one that has two courses and a $115 one with three courses which was essentially a "feed me" option for the chef to decide. Having had a fairly good experience with those kind of banquets before, we ordered the $115 banquet, let the friendly waitress know of a few items we wanted to try and waited to be fed.
Having regard to the fact that they focus on french food and wine, we opted for a rose and orange wine. These were served promptly and were adequately chilled.
Our banquet started off with sourdough bread with two types of butter being garlic honey and sea salt. Both butters were rich and tasty however I was a little surprised at how cool and wet the bread was, making it somewhat unappetising. Even if not toasted, lightly warmed would make it a lot more enjoyable and assist in melting the butter.
Next up we had the oysters with mignonette and scallops with celeriac cream, lemon and chorizo. The oysters were probably quite fresh, but most of their taste was overcome by the vinegar. We both really enjoyed the scallop with its milder creamier, complementary flavours, being cooked through without being overdone (which is fairly easy for oysters).
Next up was the steak tartare which we also largely enjoyed, the beef was fresh and well seasoned without being overwhelmed by the capers and shallots. Always a fan of waffle chips, they were crunchy without being greasy and went with the beef well.
Next to show up was the goat's cheese croquettes with honey and the onion tarte tartin. The goats cheese was fairly decadent and rich, coated with a light breadcrumb, fried and drizzled with honey. They made for an interesting and intense snack. The onion tarte tartin didn't particularly stand out for me. The pastry was flakey but soggy in some parts but the onion was quite caramelised and sweet.
The high point of our evening was undoubtedly the gnocchi which came recommended by all of our friends who had been here before. Although the portion wasn't particularly large (especially to share), it gave us a brief taste of soft chewy potato topped with melty cheese. Essentially comfort food on a plate. We both really liked it.
Having been craving another steak like the one we had at Mini, I was excited to try the steak frites. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a disappointment. There was a long wait for the dish, and sadly, it didn’t live up to expectations. The steak was small but thick, and at first, I assumed we had been served an unreasonably chewy eye fillet. Management later informed me that it was actually a bavette.
I’ve enjoyed bavette at Mini and other places, where it’s usually a thinner but larger cut, sliced at an angle to ensure tenderness. That wasn’t the case here. Even as someone who likes her steak rare, this one was bloody, raw, and overly chewy on the inside. Frankly, the steaks I prepare at home are done to a higher standard, which is disappointing considering the price point.
The chips, at least, were as good as I remembered from Mini. However, the fact that they no longer offer unlimited refills—especially with rising prices—was surprising, though still less disappointing than the steak itself.
The steak was served with a wedge of lettuce, which had intrigued me since I’d seen it online. Sadly, it looked much better than it tasted. The vinaigrette was unbelievably sour, to the point of being nearly inedible. If it had been any more sour, I would’ve had to send it back, which is something I almost never do.
At the end of our meal of steak frites, our waitress asked if we were full. Despite having a fair number of smaller dishes, we still had room for more, especially since we only shared one large dish between us. I sensed she was surprised that I wasn’t full, and after a considerable wait, we were reluctantly served an extra dish—a single wedge of soft cheese with biscuits, berries, and nuts. The cheese was fine but unremarkable, and I was more surprised by the fact that we weren't given more food, especially considering we had ordered the higher-value banquet.
After the cheese, we concluded the meal with one crème brûlée, shared between the two of us. This was disappointing, as we had hoped for at least a second dessert given there were two of us. The dessert itself was served chilled, with a light, crispy caramelized sugar shell. It was reasonably creamy but leaned towards the sweeter side for my taste.
For those of you who know me, I like to keep an eye on the bill. So, if you've been following along, you may be wondering how much the individual items we were served would have cost if we had ordered them separately. The answer is $207 (including the cheese we wouldn’t have received had we not mentioned we could still eat more).
I expressed my dissatisfaction to Dr. L about feeling shortchanged, though I wasn’t inclined to cause a scene. He stepped up and asked the waitress if we could pay for the individual items we had actually eaten rather than the full banquet, since we had received less value than two $115 banquets. She took this to her manager, who returned with a bill totalling $230, adding $13 for bread (two half slices) and $10 for lettuce (one quarter piece), which was surprising since neither had a listed price on the menu. Had we not mentioned that we weren’t entirely full, we likely wouldn’t have been served the cheese, and in that case, we would have received even less food compared to ordering the items à la carte.
Ordinarily, I expect a banquet to offer some value for money, compensating for the lack of choice in favour of the chef’s selections. When I brought this up, the manager simply stayed silent. It was only then, at the end of the evening, that anyone asked how I had enjoyed my meal. When I expressed my disappointment with the bread, lettuce, and steak, she defensively argued that the bread was of high quality and didn’t need to be toasted, even though it was cold and soggy. As for the steak, she claimed that bavette is supposed to be chewy. Ultimately, management dismissed my concerns, which was highly disappointing.
With an unproductive conversation like that, there was little left for me to do but pay the bill and leave. I’m saddened to say that whatever goodwill or hope I had for Petite has now completely evaporated. Unless management takes drastic action, it’s unfortunately been added to my very exclusive blacklist.
Price Range: $125 - $135pp
Taste: 5/10
Value: 3/10
Service: 2/10
Environment: 8/10
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