Wagyu

445 Toorak Rd, Toorak 9827 7938

Selection of breads accompanied with three house made dips

Mini wagyu burgers

Crunchy saffron arancini served with aioli

Braised lamb ribs served with sweet sticky sauce

Flash fried baby calamari

Grilled halloumi and chicken marinated in herbs

Thoughts:

Breads and dips – the ‘selection’ of breads comprised of sliced white bread and sliced wholemeal bread. These were cut up into primary school reminiscent triangles that were completely toasted so that they resembled slices of hard crusty croutons. I have never seen a restaurant serve sliced sandwich bread with dips before and found this to be quite bizarre and disappointing. The three dips that accompanied the bread were beetroot and sour cream, hommus and sun dried tomato. The amount of dip provided was certainly not generous and did not taste house made at all = Bad

Mini wagyu burgers – uninspiring wagyu patty served in a tough dry brioche bun messily thrown together with lettuce, tomato, relish, gruyere cheese and quails egg = Not bad

Crunchy saffron arancini – rather than being crunchy, these were stuck in your teeth chewy. I’m not sure how much (or if any) saffron went into these arancini balls but the only thing that I could taste was cheese = Bad

Braised lamb ribs – dry crispy ribs that came with a sparing but sweet sauce = Not bad

Flash fried baby calamari – the calamari was dusted with undistinguishable wasabi and was served with a side salad of pickled carrot and cucumber = Not bad

Grilled halloumi and chicken = reminded me of Nando’s lemon and herb chicken, but with haloumi melted onto the chicken = Not bad

Overall:

What happened Marquee? When I first visited years ago, this elegant restaurant served mouthwateringly delicious food. The menu used to be vast and interesting, and their mini wagyu burgers were unbelievably amazing, (one of the best that I have ever had) but not anymore. The quality of food here has definitely gone downhill and the menu is now limited to tapas. The restaurant itself is divided into two sections: a casual front section that is covered by gorgeous cream drapes that resemble a marquee (hence the name), and a stylish back dining section filled with dark leather seating and black timber furnishings. Although the dining area was fancy and relaxing, the atmosphere was unfortunately ruined by the out of place dance music that they had playing all night. Although the service is fast and friendly, I am sad to say that I don’t think I will ever venture here again.

320 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy 9419 5526

Chilli fries with cheese sauce

Raw slaw

Wagyu beef and black pepper

Superfood dog

Cheesy smoked kransky

Chilli dog

Thoughts:

Fries – fantastically fiery! Will leave your mouth burning afterwards but is totally worth it! The way that the fries are seasoned, they taste almost like wedges. They come with sour cream, house chilli sauce, jalapeños and either spicy ground beef or beans (we decided to get the beef and it was very tasty) = Excellent

Raw slaw – cool crunchy coleslaw that went well with the fries (cool vs hot) = Not bad

Wagyu beef and black pepper – wagyu beef and black pepper sausage with house gravy, raw slaw, shallots and horseradish cream. Good quality sausage, strong horseradish taste = Good

Superfood dog – sweet potato, quinoa and tamarind ‘sausage’ with chilli lime mayo, minted peas, alfalfa, coriander and sour cream. They are generous with the alfalfa and the minted peas, but not so much with the vegetarian sausage = Not bad

Cheesy smoked kransky – cheesy smoked kransky sausage with german potato salad, dill pickles and mild mustard. Delicious cheesy sausage, great mix of flavours = Good

Chilli dog – wagyu beef sausage with spicy ground beef, house chilli sauce, cheese sauce and spring onion. This hot dog tasted like the chilli fries, minus the fries = Good

Overall:

I was absolutely devastated when I found out that their dessert hotdog was no longer on the menu. I had heard that this amazing creation was a donut bun with double chocolate ice cream ‘sausage’, berry coulis, toasted coconut, crushed pistachio nuts and whipped cream. Devastated.

Nevertheless the hot dogs that they do have on their are pretty fantastic, as are their fries (I must go back and try all their other fries). There are 3 choices of hot dog buns on offer: gluten free, wholemeal and seeded. Unfortunately the size of the hotdogs are a bit small, so eating one hot dog alone may not fill you up. That being said, this is absolutely one of the best hot dog places in Melbourne.

DAMMIT JANET I LOVE FOOD

Marquee Restaurant

Phat Brats