I decided to give Libertine in North Melbourne a try, for a
number of reasons, but mainly because I’m making it a personal goal to try out more
local places (we often overlook that which is in front of us!) – this restaurant is only a couple of km from
my house, and it had caught my eye a couple of times when I’d walked into the
city.
I suggested it for a girl’s night out, and Tic Tac and Dee
agreed to give it a shot; it was our last dinner before Tic Tac left for a 2
month stint on Christmas Island for work, and for some odd reason we were all
hankering for a nice fish dish. Our first choice was actually dinner at the
Duchess of Spotswood – alas, I was devastated to hear that they no longer do
dinners. Hence we found ourselves at this French dining room in North
Melbourne.
We arrived to a fancier setting than expected – however, we
relaxed when we realized the table next to us had 2 kids, and one even had his
feet on the seat!
The decor – what can I say? Very French. The seating was a
bit too stiff for my liking – Tic Tac and I managed to snag ourselves the booth
seats, which were cushioned, but still very uncomfortable. I was eyeing Dee’s
wooden chair enviously throughout the night, until she told me at the end that
her butt cheek was numb, and had been for quite awhile.
The seasonal ala carte menu is split into entrees ($19),
mains ($36), sides ($8.5), cheese ($9.5), and desserts ($15.5), followed by
liquid desserts.
We were offered a small cup of carrot soup to start. Quite
tasty.
We decided to share an entree – the special of the day:
Pork belly, walnut and
blue cheese salad
The presentation was beautiful, as you can see; taste wise,
I’m actually not a fan of blue cheese (don’t like the smell). The pork belly
was not crispy, a little too fatty and oily for my taste. Best part of the dish
was the walnuts, which says something about that pork belly...
Although Tic Tac and Dee were both eyeing the duck, we
decided to try a different main each, with a side of Pommes Frites to share:
Steamed whiting &
seared scallop, scallion cake, beurre d’épices
Roasted Daylesford
duck breast, leg crépinette & sour cherries
Grilled Gippsland eye
fillet, bone marrow & sauce persillée
I liked the whiting the best, although the scallops were a
tad chewy; the scallion cake was nothing special. Ditto for the duck, which was
a disappointment (tasted quite plain – maybe I’ve been spoilt with delicious
crispy Asian roast duck). The eye fillet was tender, and the round potato
gratin was well presented – perfect little round circles, thinly cut. The sauce
was not amazing.
We did not order dessert. Now, anyone who knows me at all
would know exactly how wrong (or unusual) that is. It wasn’t because I was too
full – I was not.
Service was exceptionally slow that night – it appeared that
there were only 3 waiters working there that (Saturday) night! But from what I
could see – although there is an upstairs – there weren’t that many tables.
Apart from our group of 3, there was a family of 8, 3 couples, and another
group of 3.
Our menus took about 20 minutes to arrive at the table. It
took another 30 minutes to place an order – the head waiter came and announced
the specials for the day, saying he’ll give us a few more minutes to decide –
and didn’t come back for what seemed like yonks.
When we had finished eating our mains, the 2 waitresses on
duty passed our table numerous times, without clearing our plates...which were
left to fester for at least 40 minutes after we were done. When the waiter
finally offered dessert almost an hour later, we decided to skip – we might be
there for another 2 hours otherwise! And with the quality of the food being
quite mediocre to that point, I didn’t think it was worth the wait.
Overall, it was a disappointing venture. I would be hesitant
to return.
Food – 5/ 10
Service – 4/ 10
Value
for money
– 5 / 10
OVERALL CONSENSUS: 2 bags (out of 5)
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