The General Assembly

Diclosure: I was invited to dine as a guest of the restaurant 

In the past 6 months, my ways have rubbed off on my mum.

She’s into Instagram. 

And it’s totally awesome. Being the great cook she is, she now finds great joy in getting a quick shot of what she’s made in the evening, or taking snaps of our silly dog and ever unruly garden and sharing them with her 10 followers. Her captions are super cute too. 

I love that now when we go out together, we’re both busy taking pictures when our meal arrives, like when I took her with me to the General Assembly in the South Wharf precinct. 

On a gorgeously balmy evening with appropriate drinks in hand, we enjoyed yellow fin tuna ceviche with watermelon, jalapeños and shallots, which was presented a little differently than I expected. Rather than chopped, our tuna was a thick and generous slice; not quite as light and delicate as I had expected but definitely a little more hearty!

For mains we got into the grilled spatchcock, with panzanella salad and basil oil, which was gorgeously juicy and a serve of the 300 gram Black Angus Hanger steak, cooked in the Josper charcoal grill. The Josper charcoal oven is one of a few in Melbourne, combining the functions of a grill and an oven to lock in moisture and get a lovely charcoal flavour to the meet. My piece of steak was cooked beautifully, blushing pink, medium, just how I liked. 

And because my mum is as lush as me when it comes to food (savoury food at least), we just had to order the truffle mac and cheese, dotted generously with truffle through all the macaroni. So creamy, so rich, so good. Clearly love of richness is in the genes.

The big flavours didn’t finish there!

I absolutely couldn’t resist ordering the “S’mores” toasted marshmallow with chocolate biscuit. Although it didn’t look so beautiful, arriving looking a little molten, it was sweet, sticky and decadent. 

We also tried the chocolate and cherry mousse, with what I think was a raspberry sorbet (but don’t quote me on it). I wasn’t in love with the chocolate mousse personally, it was lacking in the rich cocoa flavour I was looking for, but my mum and I both loved the sorbet, which was tangy, bright, full of berry flavour and so refreshing. 

Although not everything was a complete hit, on a whole, The General Assembly served up solid hearty fare, that’s perfect if you’re looking for something relaxed; especially while we might still have some nice weather hanging around! 

The General Assembly 

29 S Wharf Promenade

South Wharf VIC 3006 

 

Entrecôte

Although I’m very fortunate that Brad is a relatively adventurous and open minded eater, he can also be a very simple creature.

As we departed from a dinner at Entrecôte with Rob and Glenn, he pondered why would you go to Entrecôte for a $40 steak, when you could get steak at a pub for a whole lot less?

Oh silly boy, it’s because at Entrecôte you get exceptional quality meat, and on top of that, a darling Parisian experience.

The expectation is set the second you set eyes on it from across the road, in a beautiful Victorian style building, I gush over the adorable astroturf terrace set up out front (very European, tres chic) and the simple elegance of the bar area that I opt to sit in. The dining room was a little dark for me at 5:30pm in the afternoon. I also gush over the aloof but very cute waiters wandering around (but don’t tell Brad that). 

5:30pm may seem early for dinner, but that’s because you must get in for happy hour, from 4pm to 6pm daily, for $2 oysters and French onion gougeres, $12 champagne and $7 glasses of wine. 

The oysters are beautiful, cool to the touch, briny and sweet, and served with lemon and mignonette sauce, but I love mine natural. 

The gougeres though had me completely enraptured, the choux pastry the size of a small fist, and surprisingly heavy to lift up, as it’s completely stuffed with caramelised onions and oozy amounts of cheese. Amazing. 

Should have ordered two!

I love that Entrecôte keeps things simple with the menu, with only one main on offer, the steak frites, Grilled Hopkins River steak, with frites and sauce au beurre here de la maison, as well as a salad of soft leaves, radish, walnuts and a dijon vinaigrette. Why not do one thing, but do it well after all?

I request my steak medium rare, and it comes out perfectly blushing, and is sumptuously tender and juicy. I don’t go out for steak that often, but Entrecôte is definitely worth it. What really got my attention though, was the herb sauce that is lavishly poured over, so rich and aromatic…although the fries and salad are unlimited, what I really wanted was unlimited sauce!

The fries are crisp, and generously salted, as they should be, and the salad makes for a nice bit of relief from the overall richness. 

Although the fries are unlimited, honestly, by the time you finish the steak and the first lot of fries on your plate…I don’t really think you can fit in that much more potato! But feel free to prove me wrong…

Whilst choosing mains is a pretty easy affair, the desserts make it a little harder…fortunately with four of us present, it meant we could sample a healthy cross selection!

Whilst the profiteroles filled with vanilla ice-cream and topped with hot chocolate sauce promised many good things and looked a treat, we found that it was good, but not mind-blowingly so. I however did very much love the chocolate, which was dark and rich, the quality absolutely coming through.

The creme brûlée was perfect, cracking perfectly on top, to reveal a smooth, surprisingly light, but rich in vanilla custard. 

However, my surprise favourite dessert for the evening was the lemon tart with creme fraiche. Although I like a lemon tart, it’s not usually my go to dessert, but this particular night, I was completely won over by the zingy citrus flavours and again light texture, that just melted into the mouth. And that pastry? So short, no concerns about breaking the plate trying to get through the crust at the bottom here!

Although the desserts are beautiful, they are priced on the slightly high end, but for the creme brûlée and lemon tart, the quality completely comes through and are worth every dollar. I’ve also heard the chocolate mouse is very good, but my request was vetoed by the boys. Hmph!

Overall, I very much enjoyed my meal at Entrecôte. It wouldn’t be a regular for me, as mentioned earlier, I don’t really go out for steaks that often, but for a treat every now and again? Definitely. In fact, I would happily visit regularly at 5pm, gobble down oysters, fill up on gougeres and finish up with a lemon tart…that’ll totally count as dinner won’t it? 

Entrecôte

131-133 Domain Road

South Yarra