Garcon is a new Parisian Steakhouse in the city which was formerly ‘Entrecote.’ They are keeping your French faves like escargot, quality wines and the much-loved steak and frites but reviving the restaurant with a French bistro vibe, inspired by Paris in the 80’s.
It has an edgy elegance with big round hanging globes and arty fashion prints and posters on the walls.
We started with the freshly shucked Coffin Bay Pacific oysters which were smooth and creamy with a lovely shallot vinegarette. Went down a treat with a glass of Heidsieck Monopole Champagne.
The spiced beef croquettes had a good crunch with tender braised beef in the middle. We dipped them into the Moutarde provencale which was like a spicy dijon mustard.
Escargots de Bourgogne is a classic but I had never tried snails before so for me this was a first. They were covered in garlic and parsley butter and I found the texture to be similar to eating a cooked mussel. Smooth with a bit of bite. They were tasty and i’ll definitely be trying these again.
The steak tartare had the finely chopped beef with an egg yolk on top. We mixed it all up and put a spoonful of the meat on top of the crispy waffle fries, added a few drops of tabasco sauce and ate it. The meat was soft, the yolk was creamy and the potato added crunch.
The pissaladiere was a savoury tart with sweet caramelised onions, salty anchovy and olives baked on flaky puff pastry. So yummy.
We had the entrees with the 2015 Journon ‘Mathilda’ Marsanne Viognier and 2018 Journon ‘Mathilda’ Rose Grenache from Pyrenees. Both wines were delish.
The nicoise salad looked gorgeous with bright colours like a little garden. It had hot smoked NZ King salmon with tomato, olives, greens, potato and perfectly cooked egg.
For the main event we had quality grass-fed beef. First up was the wagyu rump from Southern QLD which was cooked rare and had a beautiful flavour.
Secondly we had the Angus porterhouse from Southern Victoria which was a lovely cut that melted in your mouth. Both steaks were served with a herby buttery sauce that was all kinds of wonderful.
I couldn’t stop eating the frites which were the French fries. They were super crispy and just the way I like ‘em. I poured some of the herby butter sauce from the steak onto the frites and it was omg good. And the soft leaf salad was tasty too.
The mains were paired with the 2014 Tellurian ‘Tranter’ Single Vineyard Shiraz from Heathcote which complimented the steak perfectly.
We ended the meal on the vanilla crème brulee which had a crisp bruleed sugar top and soft, creamy custard underneath. A beautiful end to our Parisian meal.
I heart Garcon!
Olives x
Garcon
Address: 6 Alfred Pl, Melbourne VIC 3000
Website: http://garconparissteakhouse.com.au
Phone: (03) 9654 8184
Trading Hours: Mon-Fri: 12pm-2.30pm (lunch), 4pm-10pm (dinner, Sat: 4pm-10pm, Sun: closed