A girls night out doesn't happen all that often for me. It's always hard to find the time etc. so when a date is in the diary, it has to be a good one! I even dusted off the heels for the occasion so it's a big deal!

It'd been a long time since I caught up with former colleagues and friends, Kim and Penny and we needed a good place to chinwag and let our hair down. Plus Penny is on a post baby diet of clean eating and other requirements which meant a steakhouse was the best option so this was an ideal opportunity to try upmarket The Cut.

​We're shown to our table by an immaculately presented hostess. We're impressed by the decor - elegant gentlemen's club type place that you'd find in a London or a New York. It is very manly in style and also in clientele but we soon settle in and make it comfortable for us!

The grilled calamari is less successful as there's not enough grill action so it it's a bit slimy not helped by the mussels. The nduja is pretty fiery and the chilli heat is overpowering. It's a shame as in my mind the nduja would be a great seasoning against the seafood but it's just not quite well balanced enough.

After much distress on our part, our champagne arrives accompanied by a warm apology and a goodwill gesture of taking it off the bill. We feel a little more appeased by this and we drink enthusiastically!

• Wet roasted Dorper lamb, parmesan and brioche crust (served with two side dishes)
• John Dee MB 3+ 150 day grain fed, QLD scotch fillet 300gm 
• Buttermilk onion rings
• Charred beans, soppressata, almond 

Penny and I opt for steak and Kim has the lamb and we share the side dishes. We're advised the lamb actually serves two but we decide to go ahead anyway.

The steak is delicious and cooked the way I like it. The lamb is attractively presented and very rich in pure meat flavour. I find the crust more powder and bit sawdust like and dry in the mouth but the quality of the lamb speaks volumes. I don't think it's big enough for two but it's definitely more than for one. It's cooked on the bone and I was surprised how much bone there was in the pan.

We enjoy our main courses and the night gets better. We skip dessert but carry on drinking with multiple rounds of post dinner drinks. It's a girls night after all! As the restaurant empties, the staff are far more attentive and finally we feel well looked after. We're the last ones standing and we're not made to feel that we have outstayed our welcome. In fact we are encouraged to continue to enjoy our time and we take the advice of the wait staff on our final round of drinks and try some new stuff...confession...can't really remember what the recommendation was but it went down well enough!

We stumble out close to 1am feeling happy, merry and bright. So a slow and less than auspicious start ended on a good note. When I look back on our time at The Cut, I can say it's a decent steakhouse. Some things seem expensive for what it is such as the buttermilk ricotta but other things like the steak and lamb is better value. It's also nice to visit a place that is a little more formal, that warrants the wearing of heels! It seems so obvious to compare The Cut with other premium steakhouse Rockpool. I have to say the food quality, Rockpool remains unsurpassed but in terms of destination and decor, The Cut has made a deep impression.

On Saturday, Steve, Stef and I ventured to Eastland which is a shopping complex about a 30 minute drive away to meet Ling, Noah and Bunty for dinner. There's been a bit of a refurb at Eastland there's a new "Town Square" area with a number of new eateries such as the now ubiquitous but still so good Jimmy Grants and also a Huxtaburger. 

On this sunny Saturday early evening, it seemed that this Town Square was THE place to be for Eastern suburban families all enjoying dinners sat on terraces with lots of open space for kids to run around.

Hunter and Barrel looks welcoming and also impressive with it's dark slate grey decor and plenty of light wood. We are early but the shops are closed so we decide to see if our table is ready or if there's a bar to have a drink. We're in luck though as the host lets us know our table is empty and proceed to lead us to a private dining room with a big round table. It's all a bit fancy for a shopping centre restaurant with it's antlers lamp shade, cow hide wall hanging and a row of pegs with furs hung up. We can be fancy though and we settle right in.

Once we're altogether, we decide to eat family style and dig in with a shared feast rather than individual dishes. Our waiter recommends we go with the feast for 4 and order an additional dish and he suggested the salmon so ever obedient we take his advice. We also order 2 extra jacket potatoes. Well, Bunty needs to eat too! Technically there are 6 of us even if Bunty is not yet 2!

The Gathering Feast | Serves 4
Sourdough Bread with cultured butter

Hunters Slow Roasted Beef Rib, Coal Roasted Chicken with lemon and rosemary, Crispy Roasted Pork Belly with chilli sauce, Spiced Wagyu Sausage and Aged Cheddar Kransky with your choice of 4 salads / sides

1. Grain Salad with chickpea, freekeh, barley, lemon and rocket
2. Coal Roasted Corn with honey and butter
3. Cast Iron Butter Mushrooms with garlic butter
4. Grilled Cauliflower with garlic sauce & toasted almonds

Salmon skewer with fresh herb sauce 
Jacket Potato with sour cream and chives

We're given a super heavy knife that is placed in the middle of the table along with the first course of bread. We wonder about the knife but it comes in handy later on when the meat arrives! There's not much butter so we ask for more.

Food arrives pretty promptly and it all looks quite appetising. Steve is our knife handler and carves up for us and we pretty much dig in. There's also a small tray of tiny ramekins with mustards, some extra chilli sauce for the pork and then about 5 strands of onion which I assume is the onion chutney for the beef but it works out literally one sliver each!

So what do we think to the food? It's good enough for a shopping centre restaurant. It's not destination dining but there's not much for families out in the suburbs so I can see how and why this is appealing.

Our general thoughts are:

• The mushrooms are pretty tasty but it's simple to cook mushrooms in butter right? Not that garlicky though so more garlic would be better
• The corn is yummy and I like the honey and butter on it
• Grilled cauliflower is a certainly grilled with plenty of caramelisation but it's soggy so it's like it's been blanched and then fried off and I'd have prefered it to be crunchier.
• The garlic sauce is more mustardy than garlicky - not bad but not what it says on the tin!
• Pork belly was pretty fatty and greasy in the mouth
• Salmon was super oily. Yes I know it's an oily fish but this was really oily to the point it made Stef and I feel a little bit uncomfortable.
• Baked potato with sour cream was decent. Ling would have liked butter.
• I liked the roasted chicken as it was juicy and flavoursome.
• The rib of beef was decent too.
• Sausages were good enough - not earthshatteringly amazing but a decent banger

The private dining room is great for us with little Bunty as she can wander round quite safely and there's nothing better than a round table for communal feasting. In spite of being removed from the thick of things, service is attentive enough and our waiter pops in at regular intervals to check in on us.

The other comment is that Stef and I ordered the "homemade lemonade" expecting a glass of non sparkling, cloudy traditional lemonade and what we got was a glass of Sprite. It's the same price as a glass of Sprite so no loss there. Maybe it's there version of home made or maybe they got it wrong. Ling ordered a mocktail that was pretty but just tasted like fruit juice. Bunty enjoyed using the martini glass though!

So in summary, it's a good place for families or groups that live locally and the price point is ok. I wouldn't travel especially to come here but I enjoyed the environment and it worked for us. It's less about the food which is acceptable but more about practicality and accessability. The Molton Brown hand soap and lotion in the bathroom was pretty nice too!

TGIF! And I'd been looking forward to a good Friday feast all day and to seeing the A team plus other halves. Stef booked the table for 6:30pm and I caught the lift to the second floor with some bright, young, hipster girls with midriffs showing, high heels ready for a night out.

Feeling distinctly dowdy, I was shown to our table and Stef and Kerem had also just arrived. The boothed seating is lovely and roomy for 6. The overall decor is pretty swish and very P'Diddy / NYC. The waitstaff are all attractive and impeccably groomed too. Charlie commented to one of the waiters that when he was here last, he was wearing his Jordans with a suit and the waiter retorted; "what Jordans? They're Prada!" So I guess that short exchange demonstrated how well we didn't fit in! I mean Charlie likes to think he's gangsta and the boss, but we also knows he helps his mum and dad out every Saturday with the family business so he's a far cry from Al Capone.

I decided to give into Fun Friday and started off with an espresso martini as a little pick me up. It was an ok espresso martini but for $20 I've had far better.

We all ordered mains and sides and Steve and I share the Bovine Tasting Plate which were 3 different steaks each 150g: 

• Robbins Island Wagyu Flat Iron 
• Tasmanian Vintage 
• Eye Fillet Rangers Valley Rump

Most of us had some form of moo but Kerem went with the Half roast Saskia Beer chicken, gnocchi alla Romana & field mushrooms.
 
Across the table we also shared:

• Beef fat potatoes, garlic aioli 
  
• Brussel sprouts, maple glazed & crispy bacon
  
• Baked chipotle green beans
  

The food did take a while to come out and it wasn't exceptionally busy but it's a pleasant dining area to sit at. I did notice a table have to use their torch function on their phones to read the menus. And the music is a little loud but that's hipster for you. 

So our bovine tasting plate came with a little copper pot of gravy and some potato gratin. Stef was given the wrong steak and there was much confusion and halfway through the meal a salad and a new steak came out but we couldn't hear what the waiter was trying to tell us. And he wasn't very smiley. A bit pouty! Anyway after he dropped off the salad, took the new steak away and then brought it back, we finally understood it was complimentary to make up for the mistake. Gesture was appreciated.

Poor Stef though as the comedy of errors continued. As we were tight on free surface space on the table we'd moved our water glasses and Stef's drink to the ledge behind us and when we wanted them, they'd gone! And Stef's drink was half full. So they replaced that too.

Anyway back to the food. The steak was cooked beautifully and Steve and I enjoyed that. Sarah's steak seemed very tough and so was Stef's mistake steak but the replacement was far better. Charlie seemed to enjoy his and Kerem's chicken was ok but under seasoned and there was no salt and pepper on the table.

It had been so hard to get wait staff attention throughout our meal so it became too difficult to ask for anything that wasn't essential! I'd ordered bearnaise sauce and that didn't come and I really wanted something as the little pot of gravy was only just enough for the Yorkshire pudding which was an ok Yorkshire pudding. I can make better ones! Not the worst I've had but not the best. Poor little Manchester waiter mustn't have had many good ones to think these ones are amazing. Deprived child. I did actually manage to get some bearnaise and it was tasty. Smooth and creamy with the right tang of vinegar and tarragon.

The side dishes were also just ok. The Brussel sprouts were undercooked and I didn't like the maple syrup pooling at the bottom of the dish. If it had been a maple glaze and the sprouts chargrilled, I think that'd be much better. The chipotle baked green beans tasted like they'd been boiled and then sprinked with some paprika and chilli powder. I thought they'd be baked or braised and I had expectations that it would be smokey and tasty but this was just meh. Beef fat potatoes were bland.

I think that's what the meal was; "meh". I wouldn't rush back if it all. It's all a bit shiny shoes and no underwear for me. The service is inattentive and all about appearances. The Manchester waiter had more personality but we only saw him once. The steak is good but there are many good places for steak. The decor is impressive but shiny newness does not a sustainable restaurant make. Perhaps we were just not glamorous enough clientele for them to be treated well.

There's been a bit of a Rockpool renaissance in my life of late. It's been a few years and Spice Temple has a very fixed and special place in my heart and tastebuds especially for a yum cha lunch so Rockpool has gone off the radar. But it's been brought to my attention by a couple of people in quick succession (Stef went for lunch recently, Steve did too and others) that old FOMO (fear of missing out) set in and I was pretty determined to pay a visit before our UK trip to sample this Rockpool resurgence myself.

Those that know me or regular readers will know I've coined the hash tag #auditwidow as Steve's workload has been intense in the last 6 months and included 8 hour days every day over Easter as well as pretty much every weekend in between. The average working month is 165 hours but in April Steve did that plus an additional 140 hours! Lucky for him, he found the work interesting and challenging. Less lucky for me! But it did mean we could enjoy a meal out as recompense for his commitment and hard work and I guess for my loss of a husband for that time! What better place than Rockpool - lamd of the corporate lunch and corporate Amex!

As expected service was friendly, accomplished and slick. Our waiter helped us with our menu choices which he then kindly gave us credit for. It's always nice to be commended on making the right decisions in an eatery! And he split our dishes so we could share easily. Our two entree choices were:

• Pine Mushrooms and Scampi with Sage, Burnt Butter and Soft White Polenta
  
• Wood Fire Grilled Quail with Smoked Tomatoes and Black Olives

The seafood was soft, gentle, sweet and the burnt butter, fragrant and nutty. With the right amount of seasoning this delicate dish really showcased the autumnal pine mushrooms and sweet seafood - so comforting and so delicious.

The quail was just as much of a high point but completely different on the flavour notes to the scampi and mushrooms. Actually we pretty much stayed on the high notes for the remainder of the meal. The quail was tangy with vinegar, salty with the olives and a hint of smoke from the tomatoes. So easily could this have become over seasoned and over flavoured but it just erred on the right side and was a hit with the tastebuds. 

Two Italian style dishes but so very different - one mellow and gentle and the other vibrant and challenging. A perfect combination really.

Onto the the main courses. We decided to share two different steaks and had the classic Rockpool offering of the 36 month old aged fillet and a rump which had the appropriate moniker of Minderoo. How could I not eat my namesake?

Part of the joy at Rockpool is selecting side dishes and that's a menu unto itself. Coupled with that joy is the creeping cost as the desire to have more and more sets in! But with the help of our waiter we chose 3 side dishes (far far in excess of what we needed but we like choice) to accompany the steaks so our main course journey looked like this:

• Minderoo Yearling Iron Grass Fed Rump - 500g
  
• Cape Grim Dry Aged 36 month old Grass Fed Fillet - 250g
  
• Mac and Cheese
  
• House Chopped Salad Dressed Table Side
  
• Sauteed Brussel Sprouts with Speck and Chestnuts
  

I recall the mac and cheese as being mustardy and therefore not my thing, from previous visits but Steve assured me the last time he came it wasn't at all. And it's definitely not mustardy and is intensely cheesy but not overly creamy. More salty and piquant which is good so it's less heavy but it is mac and cheese so it has to be justifiably rich and dense. I found the cheese sauce to be grainy which was unexpected like the roux had split and would have preferred a smooth sauce but the flavours made up for it.

The sprouts were delicious with that iron charred bitterness and slightly crisp outer leaves and then with the odd spike of salty speck and sweet chestnut. And the chopped salad was a beautifully coloured array of julienne vegetables with slivers of chorizo and cheese that was presented to us as a mise en place before being tossed together expertly by a waiter.

And these side dishes lifted up  the star of the show - the steak. The Minderoo was so flavourful with a bitingly dense texture whereas the fillet was cleaner and leaner in terms of flavour. The fillet is certainly classically pleasing but the Minderoo outshone with its stronger personality and bite.

And we even had room for dessert! How could we resist?

• Madagascan Vanilla Slice with Tonka
  
• Warm Fruit Crumble with Vanilla Sauce and Icecream

Steve loves the fruit crumble as it blends some seasonal fruit with a generous toasty and crunchy topping and the accompaniment of both custard and ice cream is just too generous. Not being a stewed fruit girl, even I enjoyed the mouthful he shared, mainly because of the buttery, crunchiness of that irresistible topping

The vanilla slice was effectively a millefeuille construction of pastry layers and heavily scented vanilla cream with a snowfall of icing sugar. Classic and pure I would have loved some berries or a light fruit garnish just to cut through some of the sweetness but delicious all the same.

We were there for well over 3 hours but not one moment was lacklustre. My general opinion is that for good steak there are more budget friendly options if it's just good steak you want - the Station Hotel in Footscray comes to mind. Rockpool hasn't become any more accessible; it's still an occasion restaurant and I envy the lifestyle of those that can casually call in for lunch in the main restaurant. But given special occasions need the right amount of pomp and circumstance, Rockpool really is the ticket and is worth that premium.

I have to apologise for the lack of photos...got carried away with eating and chatting and drinking wine!

We met up with Rachel and Tim for dinner at Squire's Loft on Saturday evening. We'd never been in spite of hearing good things from various people and we were looking forward to a good feed. Having said that, I'd already had a good feed at lunch so I was a little worried as to whether I could handle this but I proved my mettle and all was good!

Steve chose the baked mushrooms & fetta with herb butter to start and I went with two lamb chops with mint jelly. Both starters were hearty and tasty.

The boys went with 300 gram Porterhouse steaks and Rachel and I enjoyed the Beef and Reef  which is a  200g eye fillet served with a tiger prawn kebab. We also shared fries and fried onions on the table.

Wowee! Really tender and tasty steaks. Loved the creamy mushroom sauce and the Squire's baste / marinade on the prawns. Steve doesn't usually go for prawns but he tried mine and really enjoyed them.

The baked potato was a really tasty version...we all agreed the potato flesh was creamy and buttery and wonderful but we'd love it more with a crispy skin!

It's quite an American style steakhouse and portions are generous. We found the service effective and friendly enough and the food delivered as a good steakhouse should. Pricewise probably on a par if not more expensive than the Station Hotel but quality is definitely there too. Ambience and decor is more functional than anything else and really doesn't get much of a write up but it delivers on food.

I'd always heard good things about La Luna right from the time we arrived in Melbourne 2 and half years ago until now. I guess we were always distracted by eateries closer to home or with a stronger profile and draw.

Anyway Saturday night date night meant we headed to North Carlton to see what La Luna offered. It's a buzzy trattoria style restaurant and we were shown to our table on the ground floor. The waitstaff were all very friendly and we found service efficient and brisk during our time there. Brisk in a good way.

I really enjoyed my berry and vodka aperitif and it was just what I needed to help us decide what to eat. After much chit chat we decided to go with the Chef's Menu and leave the decisionmaking to La Luna.

Proceedings started with a smoked salmon salad (titled Staff Salad / Adrian's lunch) and a plate of delicious prosciutto.

The salad was zingy and fresh with salty capers and pickled onions and chive cutting through the oily fish. I loved that the salmon was diced rather than the traditional slices of smoked salmon as this cubes provided more texture against the crunchy leaves and herbs,

The prosciutto was soft and meltingly delicious and the saltiness sweetened by pickled onion rings.

A lovely fresh start to our meal. We went with a carafe of the house wine which changes regularly and really enjoyed the robust Heathcote Shiraz we were offered.

Double baked cheese souffle with dipping croutons came next. Not overly cheesy it was more a doughy, dense souffle than the light cloud like French style. More a dumpling in my book but ribstickingly good. We also enjoyed some Crystal Bay prawns one in a garlic and chilli butter which was also great to dip bread in.

Our main dishes were the crackling wrapped roll of roast pork with cabbage, walnuts and smoked tomato relish as well as a rump steak with red onion, garlic and thyme. I had wanted waffle fries having seen some go out early but was thankful our accompaniments were salads:  tomato and home made ricotta and beetroot and horseradish.

Strong meat flavours lightened by the fresh salads. Meat cooked well - tender flesh and crispty crackling. Rustic and comforting - it evoked a sense of the Italian countryside as if we were in Tuscany or somewhere similar. Sense of porchetta and bistecca...that kind of feel.

Dessert was a sharing plate - there was a silky smooth creme brulee, a wedge of fudgey chocolate brownie and a Kilner jar ice cream sundae.

We had to guess the flavours of the ice cream. I think the top scoop was strawberry and the bottom scoop definitely chocolate.

We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner date here. Good food, buzzy and friendly ambience, sense of the familiarity. It was like re visiting an old friend and being made to feel at home. La Luna thoroughly deserves it popularity on Urbanspoon and its reputation.

Friday night and Steve had made a 9pm reservation. We arrived on time and the place was buzzing and fairly loud - all quite trendy but not that personal. We were shown to our table and I admired my cow bone cutlery rest. Slightly bemused at the array of knives, forks and chopsticks but I guess all had a purpose.

 When she took our initial drinks order and we tried to order our wine, she said she'd sent the sommelier but he never appeared but she was pretty intent that this should happen and all but refused to let us tell her what we wanted!

I don't doubt it was a busy night but our appetisers didn't arrive until 9:55pm and all we received was a frantic and stressed out "I'm sorry" from our busy waitress and the sommelier had still failed to show. So we ended up just flagging down another waiter and asking for the bottle of wine we wanted.

Appetisers finally arrived:

• Sher Full Blood Wagyu Rump Cap Tataki
• Oysters Gazpacho - Tomato gazpacho/olive oil/coriander/cumin
• Kyoto Style Pickled Oysters - Tobiko/kewpie/konbu dipping sauce
• Oysters Au Naturel - Shallot vinegar

Well the long anticipated wait meant they really had to deliver for us to enjoy our Steer experience. The Wagyu Tataki was small in portion but the slices were thick and meaty. Really delicious and definitely superior quality meat. I just couldn't figure out how they were so busy that it took almost an hour for our entrees to come out.

The oysters looked appealing and I started with the Au Naturel first. I found the vinegar dressing very salty and there was shell in my oyster. Strike 1. Second oyster was the Kyoto Style and all I could taste was salt and an after effect of oil in the mouth from the Kewpie mayo and shell again. Strike 2. Third time lucky? Well I enjoyed the Gazpacho version the most as there was no shell and the balance of flavour was better and I could actually pick out the sweetness of the oyster against the spiced tomato whereas the first two I could only pick out salt with no oyster sweetness.

Maybe this was just me as Steve said he enjoyed the saltiness of the Kyoto style...and maybe I was just unlucky with the shell.

Lucky we didn't have to wait an hour for our main courses and these arrived pretty soon after along with our chose bottle of Heathcote Shiraz. We'd gone for:

• Darling Downs F1 Wagyu 400+ Days Fed Dry Aged Porterhouse FI-7 250g (‘BMS’7)
  

• O’Connor Black Angus / Hereford Premium Hand Select Dry Aged Scotch Fillet FI-6 300g (‘BMS’5)
  

•‘BMS’=Beef Marble Score
•FI=Flavour Intensity

And for our accompaniments a Caesar Salad and a totem pole of onion rings. Before we could tuck in though our waitress came by with a huge tray of mustards and condiments. And it's always typical that when you have one customer who is generally dissatisfied, things go wrong even more...yep, there was a fiasco. She pretty much emptied all the little ramekins (at least 12 of them) in our direction getting mustard on Steve's jeans and onion jam on my legs! I went from being pretty annoyed at the place to feeling incredibly sorry for her as she looked like she was about to burst into tears.

Anyway with the help of her colleagues we moved to another table and were comped some of our drinks and finally we could eat.

The beef was excellent. We both preferred the Darling Downs and felt it had a cleaner and lighter taste to it. Nothing to complain about the O'Connor though. The onion rings were good although the batter could be lighter in my opinion but Steve liked the doughy batter.

The Caesar Salad was adequate - no more better or special than any Melbourne cafe's attempt and no real anchovies. Our coddled egg served separately, although good in principle was no better than a good poached egg. I felt the egg was slightly undercooked as there was some soft jelly egg white clinging onto the leaves which is unappetising. The croutons were good though!

Bone marrow came with the steak and I have to say this was the first time for both of us to try. It was covered in a herby crust. My reaction to bone marrow - urgh! Like a slippery globule of unseasoned meaty fat to me although Steve says he quite enjoyed it! Nice idea and great for those who like bone marrow.

We decided to stick around for dessert and went for the Steer’s Donut Custard, Chocolate Cream, Raspberry Jelly which came attractively presented in a Kilner jar.
 It was a pretty light and creamy dessert with all the flavours mentioned in its name. More trifle like than donut as the donut were more like crumbs. There was definitely a donut taste in the mouth but none of the satisfaction of biting into a plump fried piece of sugared dough.

Steer sadly was a bit of a comedy of errors for us and in our opinion not worthy of it's one hat. If friends suggest we go again, I'd gently suggest trying somewhere else for steak. For somewhere tried and tested I'd head to the Station Hotel in Footscray - less trendy but food wise much stronger and better value for money. For the money we spent, I reckon we could have done a pared back version at Rockpool. Or there are other steakhouses we haven't tried. We just feel that there's got to be better out there.

Newly opened on the Southbank strip, this place with its outdoor seating, straightforward and mainstream menu that appeals to everyone (BBQ, rotisserie meat etc) will probably do very well with the office crowds and passing weekend trade.

We enjoyed sitting in the sunshine and shared a mixed meat board and some sides. One of our side dishes (mushrooms) failed to arrive when everything else did and were another 5 minutes or so and we had to remind them so likely forgotten.

As with most places in the areas; definitely not the cheapest and in fairness not value for money when you look at price to quality ratios. But it's close to home for us and was a decent enough feed.

I like the rotisserie chicken and the steak although well done was tender and tasty. Sausages were sausages and neither hugely impressive or disappointing. Same with the chorizo - not the finest available but nothing wrong with it. I did think for the price, there could have been more.

The rocket and beet salad was generous in size and tasty but the beets were underdone and very very hard so we had to leave them. Loved the crunch of the almonds and the tang of the feta.

We also had gem potatoes and mushrooms. The potatoes were lovely like they'd been slow roasted for ages so soft and fluffy on the inside with a crunchy exterior. The mushrooms were a good sized portion and cooked well enough.

Limited beer on tap and the plastic coated menus make the place seem cheap when in reality it's not. In conclusion some hits but not so great that it will win us over as regulars.

The Australian Gourmet Traveller Top 100 restaurants for 2013 was revealed and we're trying to make our way down the Victorian entries. Steve decide no time like the present so propositioned me with a visit to San Telmo on a cold Thursday evening and I was of course, happy to oblige!

We had to wait short time at the bar with a drink before being shown to a little corner in the bar area. Service was super friendly and the menu explained passionately to us.

We started off proceedings with the Provoleta which is fried provolone cheese. Now I really know the differences between saganaki, provolone, halloumi etc but I do like friend cheese with a squeeze of lemon. This was a great version just on the right side of salty.

The Mejilla de Cerdo - braised Berkshire pork jowl ‘cheek’ with crackling was quite fatty and whilst the crackling was great the meat part wasn't as nice to eat. A bit too flabby and gelatinous for me.

The chorizo was a good version and like the cheese just on the right side of flavoursome.

Next came our main grilled items to eat along with the hot salsa and chimichurri we had. We went for the half roast chicken with minced garlic and the dish of the day which was a 300gram Scotch fillet. Interestingly we weren't asked how we'd like this cooked so I guess it's chef's choice.

The chicken was tender and tasty and very enjoyable. The steak came out probably medium. The top piece was more rare and the bottom piece was closed to medium / well done. Whilst the meat had a great deal of flavour the texture was quite dense and tough. But no denying the flavour of the meat along with piquant chimichurri was delicious. A bit more blood or less cooking time may have helped it from being quite so tough. I would have enjoyed it more if it was cooked rare.

Our side dishes were roasted potatoes with peas and garlic which were very enjoyable and a beetroot salad. The beetroot was flavoured with cumin and I think we'd have preferred it au naturel.

San Telmo was a fun place to eat. Service was great and there was a buzzy atmosphere. I'm never sure where rotisserie or grill is the centre piece whether the actual cooking is that technically difficult. The output was definitely tasty and the produce of excellent quality but not sure how hard it is to actually cook the food or what kind of expertise is involved as it seems so simple. Nevertheless, however simple or complicated it is, we did enjoy the food.