Baroque Bistro- The Rocks

Complimentary Macaron

Company Christmas Lunch
Baroque Bistro- The Rocks

I know it isn't fair to judge a restaurant when they are catering to a large group of people at one time, especially a rowdy bunch like us, but I have to say, that aside, Baroque had me wondering why anyone would want to spend their time and money at a restaurant that ultimately left us unsatisfied and b-roke. (See what I did there… the dad jokes will keep on coming).

Here’s my gripe. OK  the meals will take longer to come out, expected, but we entered the venue after being served some drinks – hungry. We sat at our tables finding a small take home gift in the form of a macaron and little pitchers of olive oil and salt (presumably for the bread to keep the wolves at bay) 

Morton bay bug, heirloom tomato, bulb onions, tomato consommé,
purslane, garlic flowers 

Eagerly awaiting some delicious French bread, we amused ourselves with the décor. It was going for this half done, still being worked on, constructed look… interesting to say the least. One waiter was doing the rounds and taking everybody’s orders on his own- flying solo. This took what seemed like an eternity. Some of the tables closer to the kitchen received bread, some didn't  more importantly, mine didn't. Gosh I was hungry; we had already been at the venue for around an hour.

To make matters worse- they began serving table 1- working their way up to table 8. This meant that by the time table 1 were ready for their mains, table 8 still hadn't been served their entrees and the bread was finally handed out as an afterthought. Of course I had already eaten the take home gift out of desperation (it was alright, very soft, not of the Zumbo chewy variety)

Angus onglet, triple cooked potato chips, watercress eschalot,
bearnaise sauce

Moving onto the actual food. The entree was tiny- I ordered the Moreton Bay Bug- I got two little pieces in some broth… it was a little dull flavour wise- fresh, but small. I had to soak up the clear broth with a lot of bread which was now abundant on our table.

When the mains came again the portion size of the meat was tiny- and it was supposed to be medium rare- luckily mine was, but I looked across to my friends and it was almost well done. Also the difference in portion size between my plate and a few plates down was huge. It appears I drew the short straw.

Another table believed that their fillet was actually off and couldn't eat it. The triple cooked potatoes you would expect to be crunchy and fluffy, instead they were soft and left you wanting to gobble down the French fries that was served as a side. The béarnaise sauce was coagulated- reminiscent of something you might get from a jar.

Vanilla creme brulee pistachio icecream

I cannot really fault dessert, it was delicious, crème brulee, can’t go wrong with that. It was a weighty cream and not too sugary. If I was going to be really picky I’d say that the actual ‘crack’ on the top wasn’t the best, the toffee was a bit soft, but that didn't concern me so much.

So to conclude- I wouldn't go back- no way. Baroque was under some pressure and it just couldn’t deliver. I think it is the kind of place that has a lot of hype attached without much substance. Oh well- at least the drinks were on the company!

X Alana