The Entrecôte restaurant in Melbourne is a good, simple and very typical French restaurant that tastefully recaptures all the clichés of the genre, much to the delight of antipodean customers.
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The concept
Entrecote is a French cuisine restaurant offering traditional and typical French dishes.
Be careful not to confuse it with the famous l’Entrecôte restaurant in France: it offers a full menu, but was probably inspired by its French namesake, since the famous entrecôte with its secret sauce is on the menu, but under the name of “steak frites”.
The setting
The terrace is already in the style of a Parisian bistro…
As for the interior, I think they’ve tried to capture all the clichés of traditional Parisian restaurants, or rather what foreigners imagine them to be.
The end result is something rather cluttered and kitschy, but I liked it.
And as you can see, the waiters are also wearing the traditional black vest and white apron.
You might think they’ve gone a little too far, even if it means falling into caricature, but that’s the case with many French restaurants abroad, which abuse the cliché for an international clientele that loves it and has sometimes never set foot in Paris.
The menu
Caviar, oysters and hors d’oeuvres.
Desserts
The Menu
And I’ll end with the menu’s cover page simply for the quote it mentions…
The meal
I arrive on time for my reservation, am immediately taken care of and seated at my table.
The menu and wine list are brought to me. The 3-course menu at 59 euros is a pleasant surprise… The wine list is thick and overpriced for a solo dinner, but I’ll settle for a wine by the glass.
The waiter takes a little time to chat with me – he’s French, by the way.
As an aperitif, I’ll start with my usual Negroni, which turns out to be just fine.
I chose the Scallops with spicy citrus butter, lemon and coriander for starters.
The flesh will lack a little firmness, but the combination of lemon and coriander will work wonders. I won’t leave a single drop of sauce.
Then, of course, I couldn’t resist ordering the entrecôte, or to use the name on the menu: Entrecôte Signature Steak Frites, 270-day-old Rangers Valley Black Market grain-fed Angus beef, fries, our secret herb butter sauce.
I’m curious to see how successfully they managed to copy the original dish, especially the sauce.
The fries are decent but not as crisp as in the original version.
The meat is of high quality and perhaps even better than the original, perfectly cooked but cut much coarser.
As for the sauce, it’s far from the original. Very good when you’ve only known this version, but not as fine as the other. I note a predominance of herbs and a very, too strong and less subtle taste. As for the quantity, there is barely enough to accompany the meat and therefore not enough to go with the fries. All in all, a slightly less elaborate copy than its model.
Overall, a good dish, and I was happy to eat this entrecôte even if it wasn’t up to the standard of the original, but it had that Madeleine de Proust touch that makes you so happy when you’re at the other end of the world.
For dessert I’ll have the Mango and Coconut: Tropical Bomb Alaska – mango and white rum parfait, coconut sorbet, meringue brûlée.
Really very good.
I’ll have a coffee and a chartreuse to finish.
Always pleasant, but the amount of chartreuse is rather stingy.
At the end, a very nice meal at a very decent price that makes you feel a bit at home. Not great gastronomy, but fair food.
The service
Really good, with pleasant, efficient staff.
The atmosphere
If the setting is very (too?) French, the atmosphere is Anglo-Saxon. This means lively and extremely noisy, with customers all trying to speak louder than each other. But at least, unlike my recent stays in the USA, if it is loud it’s not yelling.
Otherwise, the background music is piano, rather pleasant.
Bottom line
A very pleasant and enjoyable meal. I liked the French touch, even if it was overplayed, and the entrecôte steak alone, which I love so much, was enough to put me in a good mood, even if it wasn’t up to the standard of the original.
A bit of a cliché for the French, but it’s reminiscent of home and understandably popular with the locals.
The articles about this trip to Australia
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