and, after a long absence, we thought another visit was due.
Not particularly comfortable chairs, bare tables, bread, after we asked for it, served in unattractive metal bowls with a very small rectangle of butter. The long, narrow venue looking out over the Yarra at Flinders St. Station and the city hasn't changed and, despite the paintings, doesn't have the feel of a place at which you would like to sit and relax over a long meal.
After some explanations from our waiter who perhaps took an instant dislike to us, we placed our orders and were served quite quickly.
French onion soup , gruyere toast & croutons - $19 was better than most served at French restaurants but the bread in it was totally soggy, there was not enough Gruyere and the croutons could not be found, Still the taste was very good, and there was plenty of onion.
Baked lamb koftas ( middle eastern meatballs) with tomato, egg & pinenuts - $21.5 an outstanding dish. We asked the waiter to find out what spices were in it but he forgot to come and tell us. The fine mince is bought, already spiced, from Turkish butchers and WWW add pine nuts a touch of coriander and possibly other things to produce a tasty, texturally varied meat ball, the pine nuts go specially well and the accompanying tomato and egg go together really well
For mains we had curried seafood pie, homemade puff pastry, crushed peas & kaffir lime - $36.5
Not particularly comfortable chairs, bare tables, bread, after we asked for it, served in unattractive metal bowls with a very small rectangle of butter. The long, narrow venue looking out over the Yarra at Flinders St. Station and the city hasn't changed and, despite the paintings, doesn't have the feel of a place at which you would like to sit and relax over a long meal.
After some explanations from our waiter who perhaps took an instant dislike to us, we placed our orders and were served quite quickly.
French onion soup , gruyere toast & croutons - $19 was better than most served at French restaurants but the bread in it was totally soggy, there was not enough Gruyere and the croutons could not be found, Still the taste was very good, and there was plenty of onion.
Baked lamb koftas ( middle eastern meatballs) with tomato, egg & pinenuts - $21.5 an outstanding dish. We asked the waiter to find out what spices were in it but he forgot to come and tell us. The fine mince is bought, already spiced, from Turkish butchers and WWW add pine nuts a touch of coriander and possibly other things to produce a tasty, texturally varied meat ball, the pine nuts go specially well and the accompanying tomato and egg go together really well
For mains we had curried seafood pie, homemade puff pastry, crushed peas & kaffir lime - $36.5
This was well cooked but disappointing more like a light and mild vegetable curry with a little, very little, seafood in a rather soupy mixture. The pastry was very good and the peas with coconut milk infused with the kaffir lime excellent. 
Again our waiter failed, initially stating that the crushed peas were in the pie and later claiming that there were some peas in the pie which there were not. Expecting no accompaniment we ordered a side dish of mash, bacon & brussel sprouts - $13.5 which was very good - I'll make it at home!
Roast chicken with pancetta, mushroom risotto & truffle oil - $37 was a very ordinary chicken breast on a SUPERB risotto.
For dessert we could not go past the raspberry souffle, raspberry sauce with vanilla & coconut ice cream (made to order) - $22 Despite being dominated by the raspberry sauce, and very sweet, it was extremely light and also combined well with the coconut ice cream. 
They offer some very inexpensive meals - $22 for a main course and a glass of wine, which looked like a very good pre theatre deal.
Again our waiter failed, initially stating that the crushed peas were in the pie and later claiming that there were some peas in the pie which there were not. Expecting no accompaniment we ordered a side dish of mash, bacon & brussel sprouts - $13.5 which was very good - I'll make it at home!Roast chicken with pancetta, mushroom risotto & truffle oil - $37 was a very ordinary chicken breast on a SUPERB risotto.
For dessert we could not go past the raspberry souffle, raspberry sauce with vanilla & coconut ice cream (made to order) - $22 Despite being dominated by the raspberry sauce, and very sweet, it was extremely light and also combined well with the coconut ice cream. They offer some very inexpensive meals - $22 for a main course and a glass of wine, which looked like a very good pre theatre deal.Wine: We drank Merlot by the glass. The bottle never came to the table so we don't really know much about it but at $9/glass it was quite presentable. The waiter, most unusually, failed to reappear to offer replenishment so we settled for one glass of wine.
Comments: Had the service been better I would have been much happier but I might go back because all in all the cooking was so good
Score: 13.5/20
Score: 13.5/20
7 comments:
Have to admire your fortitude. Being prepared to go back after inferior FOS and lack of service.
Glad you're out there willing to report without fear or favour.
We did have fun with the waiter -formerly owner of Chez Bob and the main courses were very good
From owner of Chez Bob to a waiter at Walters? Interesting career path.
Do you know if that is their primary job or were there other interests?
No idea Niels. I think he either wanted to earn some money or keep an interest in the area
I'm confused. What does WWW stand for? Walter's Wine ... ??
Anon.
It's a mistake! Why didn't someone tell me sooner. Apart from the fact that I can't type, can hardly spell and have problems with grammar seems my proof reading needs improvement. Strange how you miss the most glaring errors in your own stuff and they stick out like the proverbial in other peoples.
Tx for pointing it out. I'll correct it soon.
No. probs. I wrote a language column in the old Melbourne Herald once decrying the pointless addition of pronouns to verbs -- to meet up with instead of to meet, to sell off instead of to sell and so on. Of course they're not pronouns. They're prepositions.
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