The Euro

I went her with my wife on a Friday evening. It was to be our last hurrah as a childless couple. She is due to have a child very soon, which consequently means we were somewhat limited in food choices. However - we ordered normal items without modification, so I am confident in what I am about to say. Nothing was exceptional. Nothing surprised. Nothing wowed. All of the dishes were competent without being sterling examples of the craft. No boundaries were pushed. No concepts were polished to an immaculate sheen. Given that - why the price? What am I paying for? Food done reasonably well? I can get that for half the price. At these price points ($40s for a main) I expect either something I have never had before, or an elevated dish beyond the skill set of ordinary craftsmen chefs. Alas, alas - no. The pasta wasn’t cooked sufficiently. The lamb was cold and the fat was not properly rendered. The veal tataki was good, but needed better seasoning. The desert was a chocolate cake - so, adequate The service was fine but our primary waiter was very quiet and hard to hear. He topped up our water fairly often, which I guess is desirable. Overall, I was left wanting. We should not be saying to ourselves after a mouthful or two that the dish needs more salt. We should not be wondering whether we should have just stayed home. Ah, well. I guess as a last meal it was something. The company at least was rather lovely.

We really wanted to be upstairs but there was a function on (website not updated and neither was that area cordoned off. I only found out I could not sit there when I sat down). So we sat downstairs overlooking the laneway area. I found the prices quite high and the portions small. Having said that, the food was really tasty. We didn't eat a lot - just had the Confit Duck consomme with potato, and the Potato Gnocchi with mushrooms. The latter had a little too much cream for my liking but it was quite pleasant. The wine was expensive but much the same per glass an any upmarket bar. I think this would be a good place to be if you wanted to splash out and spoil your other half for a romantic meal out.

Had originally booked it’s sister restaurant Urbane for dinner and had to change to lunch with change in travel arrangements. We were not disappointed. The staff are excellent. Really disappointed by degustation last night. Menu was different to what we were told. Suppose to be 3 seafood and 3 meat. Was 2 vegetarian, 2 seafood, 2 meat. A couple of dishes were pretty average.