Montrachet

Located in the inner city suburb of Paddington is the charming Montrachet. Opulently decorated the restaurant features warm red, brown and gold colours and whisks you away into another reality. Over the years I'd heard only glowing reports about this restaurant so I decided it was time experience this bastion of French cuisine and was joined by the lovely Alex, Kate, Kat and Patrick.

Montrachet has sitting times, so we settled down to business of ordering quickly and I decided on the Carré d’Agneau and the Grand Marnier Souffle. The Carré d’Agneauis comprised of a baked lamb rack resting on cauliflower puree, a petite lamb pie and carrot jus. The lamb was well seasoned and moist and the pastry of the petite lamb pie was just divine. If that pie was my last meal on Earth, I'd be pretty happy and all the dishes were served with fresh bread to allow you fully savour the rich sauces.

The Souffle was the dessert du jour at our table and it was beautifully presented and light. Though it wasn't a bad execution, I felt the example I was presented with at Alchemy was of a higher standard. The evening was full of good company and merriment but sadly the experienced by damaged at the end of the evening by the waitress.

We waited patiently for our change and after an extended period of time decided to enquire. The waitress returned with the change and stiffly commented, "ordinarily that would have been a tip." We were all taken aback by the rudeness and it disappointing to end the evening on that note. Montrachet is beautiful, the food is gorgeous but it obvious that the venue has a skewed perception of profits and dining experience. There is no where for customers to wait with the bar area being utilised for dining and the wait staff must slide the tables out to allow guests to maneuver in and out. Montrachet is still worth a look and would have rated as a lower end 4.5 star experience bar the final exchange.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
Address: 224 Given Terrace, Paddington QLD 4064.
Open: Lunch: Monday - Friday: 12pm. Dinner: Monday - Thursday: Sittings at 6pm and 8:30pm.
Phone: (07) 3367 0030.
Price: Entrees: $12 - $28. Main: $38 - $42. Desserts: $9.60.