In a word? Patchy. Beyond patchy really, but I'm not sure what a good stronger word would be.
So, yes, we were obviously taking a risk choosing a restaurant in a motel for an evening meal, but in my defence, it has been recently renovated and looks very nice as I ride past on my way to work each day, it is on the waterfront, and frankly, we hadn't been there before and we had a discount voucher - do I need any more excuse than that?
Where: Black Salt Restaurant, Chifley Motel, 13-15 The Esplanade, Geelong
Meal: Dinner
Day: Wednesday
Drinks: Licensed
Our arrival was relatively smooth, and a very enthusiastic and somewhat flamboyant waiter showed us to our table and insisted that we have some mulled wine "before you have water"... also before we were allowed to have menus as it turned out, but it was a nice enough touch on a cold and drizzly June evening.
The menu was, frankly, overpriced for what we got, but interesting enough, and certainly a lot of interesting and winter-appropriate dishes on offer. The wine list was especially pricey (and especially for Geelong), which was a real disappointment. It also lacked variety and interest - well over half of the reds were Shiraz, for example.
Rack of lamb with baked polenta, baby beets, sautéed mushrooms and harissa was patchiness on a plate. The lamb was lovely quality and well cooked, the polenta fine, but could have been more seasoned. The mushrooms were a slimy disappointment, the beets little more than a garnish and the harissa? A spicy SLAP in the face. Totally out of character with the rest of the dish, it may have worked better cooked or blended with one of the other elements of the dish, but as it sat, cool in temperature and blasting in chilli heat, it was bizarre. A beef and Guinness pie was hearty and meaty, flavoursome and suitable for a winter's evening. The accompanying vegetables, however, were a bit sad - especially a couple of very unhappy looking potatoes. Really below standard for the prices (the lamb was $34, the pie $33).
The crowd I should have expected, but somehow didn't. Nearly all men, dining alone or in twos and threes, all dressed in jeans, collared checked shirts with a jumper over the top, and mostly wearing work boots. The joys of work travel eh? This crowd may have some answering to do for the high prices.
The service veered wildly from over-enthusiastic to slapstick incompetent via mediocre. A highlight of the night for me was overhearing a conversation when a waitress brought mulled wine to a lone male diner at a nearby table:
"What is it?"
"Mulled wine"
"But what is mulled wine"
"Um, I don't know really... Um, actually... do you know chai tea? It's like chai tea.. but it's wine..."
Brilliant. Should be an effective strategy for increasing interest and possible purchases of the winter specialty.
A little later confusion reigned as orders for two (or possibly three) tables' orders were confused, and the waiting staff returned up to three times to each table to reconfirm what had been ordered. By this stage we had finished our meals and sat with our dirty plates for an unreasonably long time while the staff tried to regain composure. One error as a result of the disarray, however, was a side order bowl of very nice green beans which arrived at our table uninvited and unexplained. Goodness only knows who missed out on their beans.
And the name? Black Salt? Well, yes, the eponymous item was on our table in a little dish and it tasted... salty? When we approached the counter to pay (a slightly odd system for a restaurant at this end of the price spectrum, but I guess most are booking up to their rooms?), we were given a lengthy explanation of the provenance and supposed advantages of the black salt. Sorry dear readers, the details now escape me. Especially odd to explain the salt after we had finished our meals and were on our way out.
Not for those with high blood pressure.
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