Address: 211 Gertrude St
Fitzroy 3065 VIC
Phone: (03) 9419 0818
Food: Australian
Average price: Entree - $13, Main - $23, Dessert - $12.
Complimentary: nothing.
Entrees: Crispy pig's cheek with garlic sauce, quail's egg and salad of radish & parsley - $15.
Ryan thought this was nice.
Meat plate of pork rillets, pate & terrine of the day - $16.50.
Ryan hated everything he said "I would only eat this if I had been on Survivor."
Mushrooms & truffled egg yolk on toasted brioche - $13.
The mushrooms were lovely, although the enoki mushrooms were quite rubbery and difficult to chew. The egg yolk was laced with gorgeous truffle, however the brioche was a little stale and lacked that sweet butteryness. Overall the entree was nice.
Mains: Onion tart with witlof, walnuts and gorgonzola - $18.
This was horrible, the tart was complete mush, and sweet but not a nice caramelised onion sweet - almost what I would imagine cat food to be like. The witlof was furry, and the gorgonzola was quite hard and much too bitey.
Sides: Fries - $6. These were greasy and came with a side of mustardy aioli for $2.50.
Desserts: Apple tart tatin with vanilla & cinnamon parfait & butterscotch sauce - $12.
The pastry was completely soggy and both the apples and the parfait were drenched in an extremely bitter butterscotch. The parfait was so frozen solid that I had to use two spoons to try and break a bit off. It tasted like cheap cream with a hint of cinnamon.
Cost: $83 for 3 entrees, 1 side, 1 main and 1 dessert.
Service: Barely none. We were standing in the dining room for 5minutes before the waitress appeared. You order your meal at the booth where you pay upfront and also grab your cutlery. If you want a drink you have to go back out to the bar and bring it back with you. We asked for our entrees and mains to be brought out together - we waited 40mins before they arrived.
Atmosphere: The noise level is quite loud as along with the loud punk-ish music they play in the dining room the sound from the pub and bar area travels trough. I felt the red, white and black flower and paisley motif complete with rooster heads was trying to make the pub feel like it was something it clearly isn't. Although the room, if taken on its own merit, is quite comfortable, it is extremely obvious you are not in a restaurant. The velvet booth seats are very stained and the waitress is wearing cargoes with holes. I didn't feel like hanging around and was glad to leave.
Parking: Street parking - a little busy as the majority of street parking is Permit Zoned but it is possible to get a car spot.
Website: None.
Hours: Fri-Sat noon-3pm
Mon-Thu 6pm-10pm
Fri-Sat 6pm-10pm
Sun 2pm-9pm
Would I return: No - would rather a pub feel like a pub and not a wannabe restaurant with self service.
Sounds like it has gone down in quality since I was there a year ago.
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This is the same kind of experience I had there last week! So disappointing. Not so long ago it was a really lovely restaurant with a great menu.
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