French Saloon

Friday night and no plans except for a need to decompress from a busy work week. I found myself wandering around Hardware Lane and a quick enquiry at French Saloon resulted in the availability of a table for two in an hour's time.

I idled the time away back downstairs at Kirk's Wine Bar at a street side table as good fortune smiled on me and allowed me to jump in as a departing couple paid their bill and ventured out into the Melbourne weekend vortex.

A restorative gin and tonic and plenty of people watching meant the hour sped by and again, fortuitously my husband arrived just as we approached the time of the reservation and the heavens opened.

We took our table in the buzzy French bistro style dining room upstairs and settled in for the evening. It was busy and we were seated in between two other dating couples. The menu is very French with a wide selection of lighter entry course and the main courses stick to the staples of steaks, roast chicken and the like.

We started off with:

• Spanner crab, avocado, brioche and salmon pearls
• Local mushrooms en papillote with shaved black truffle, confit garlic and hazelnuts (unpictured)

The mushroom dish was a special and delicious it was - perfect for the wet and Autumnal evening outside. The spanner crab was the complete opposite but still delicious; light, bright and crunchy. We found the brioche a little dry and sawdust like but the crab, avocado and salmon roe was delightful.

We shared the:

• 700g Dry Aged Cote de Boeuf

It came with some Dijon mustard and grated horseradish so we added the fries. Surprisingly the fries came with a little ramekin of malt vinegar that took me right back to the chips in the UK - such a happy place.

The steak was cooked well; classic fare really.

The food was tasty enough for us to venture into dessert territory and we share:

• Glazed pear, Armagnac cream, soft chocolate and gingerbread

Again, classically Gallic this was a dessert for grown ups with bitter soft chocolate, spiced gingerbread crumb and a big boozy kick in the Armagnac cream. I really enjoyed it as there was only the natural sweetness of the pear and chocolate rather than being a sugary, sweet concoction.

French Saloon is most definitely French - classic, grounded and disciplined. There are no surprised but on a Friday night, I can live without that excitement when it tastes good!