~ Curious Charlie ~

Sunday Lunch @ Fitzroy Social @ Friday, October 14, 2016

Tuesday 25th September

Sunday lunch, spanning across almost 2.5hrs at Fitzroy Social, from the creators of Father's Office, and The Bank on Collins; the Savvy Retail Group. They also operate Asian Beer Cafe (though that's a different type of place).

Located at the former 'Little Creatures Dining Hall', (a craft beer bar) site located on Brunswick St, Fitzroy (ugh those two suburbs and street names!!) it's out East (right) when looking towards Melb Central from Flinders. Just a short tram ride from Parliament. Parking is $4per hour, though there are side streets.

The menu is the same as Father's Office, and The Bank on Collins; but the atmosphere is different with the restaurant/bar set in a warehouse with high ceilings from which green moss plants hung from. There's also a huge tv screen to watch the footy on.

We were seated in the main dinning area, which was a bit cool so moved to the ideal seat by the window (which was actually a request in our booking notes). With the heater right behind the table it was very warm and wonderful, even if mother's face was melting. XD

The Bar

Hello Happy Hour! $1 bites, and one has pumpkin!

Apricot Vanilla Mocktail $13 - Apricot vanilla syrup, lemon, dark sugar,

Angostura bitters and topped with spicy ginger beer.

The mocktail was sweet and refreshing, and only too sweet if you drank it all without letting the ice melt. I've never had this one before, and quite liked it, veru much.

Dad had beer while the rest of the table had mocktails. There wasn't Budweiser, though he was happy with a substitute. He does not care to talk about, or craft beer.

Dinning with parents is always, err, an interesting experience. Mother, a retired nutritionist gone rouge hates everyone and everything. She hates food, and loves the f word (fat) declaring it to be the worst thing a person can be. Everything to her is too sweet.
She also hates alchol and believes it leads to sin.

Father was not happy to leave the house, preferring home cooked meals (with cable). He's a very casual guy, is the boss but at the level where he doesn't have to wear a suit. He says those are for court days and funerals (much more frequent than weddings in our circles). Note - He strictly eats only American food, and only eats salad if it comes with meat.

250g Eye Fillet $27

250G of Victorian grass-fed MSA certified prime beef cooked medium, pan seared and roasted, topped with onion marmalade. Served with cinnamon sweet potato wedges and your choice of condiment (peppercorn).

He let us order and so we picked the eye fillet, something I have never attempted in the kitchen though do love. He's not a man of many words, especially positive ones, though he finished the dish and was satisfied.

Vegan Stuffed Field Mushroom Burger $14/16

A giant field mushroom roasted...
a - served with ~~oozing melted Brie cheese~~, tomato, cos lettuce and a house made
beetroot chutney in a pumpkin bun.
b - served with baby spinach and a balsamic glaze with ~~shoestring~~ fries and ketchup

On the main menu there are two vegetarian dishes, a salad and burger. But to mother's delight they had a small selection of vegan dishes! We still reckon if you're vegan you're expected to byo food XD oh how things have changed. There's a gluten free and vegan menu you can request.

Mother had a vegan mushroom burger, a hybrid of the other vegtarian burger and mushroom instead of beef/zuchini patty as they were out of those. Thoughts? None, but there were no complaints and so she was satisfied with it. Though she mentioned the fries were very crispy and she really liked those.

Surf 'n' Turf $28

Grass-fed Victorian MSA certified prime beef eye fillet, pan seared and roasted, cooked medium, topped with char-grilled prawns, chorizo and pork belly served with sautéed green beans with almonds and topped with bernaise sauce.

Wanting the eye fillet though not wanting to order the same thing as dad, Andy picked the surf 'n' turf, a combo of seafood and red meat, man food.

"The eye fillet was very juicy and tender, great texture, not chewy or too soft, just right.The char-grilled prawns, tasted like prawns, hahaha. Loved the chorizo (pork sausage) it was very tasty. Thick and meaty, a little spicy, very yum when dipped in the bernaise sauce. The chorizo and eye fillets were the highlights. Regrets for not ordering a salad? None!

Urghh recalling this makes me feel so hungry!" - Andy

Crispy Skin Salmon $26

Pan seared and roasted Tasmanian salmon topped with citrus crème fraîche

and laid on a bed of pistachio, craisin and cherry tomato quinoa salad.

I love the salmon, it's my favourite dish on the menu and so just had to get that. Fresh salmon with a crispy skin and that citrus crème fraîche sauce, the size was larger than usual but perfect as always.

Group shot, nope there's too much stuff to gather in the middle.

Someone's eager. Damn book placement!

Popcorn Chicken $8

We started off with popcorn chicken dipped in a chili mayo, spicy little bite size deep fried treats. It wasn't this spicy last time we had it! But some dishes do vary a lot depending on who's in the kitchen.

Actually in truth all the food arrived at the same time, because, well, they may have forgotten about us, whoops and so half an hour went by before Andy inquired on the progress. Yep they forgot about us, and we had to move the car (2hr parking, came early) but to apologize we were served by the manager and were offered drinks and dessert on the house. So glad I didn't schedule anything other than catching up on filing in between lunch and dance.

Dessert Box $19 ($29 value)

Includes full servings (normal size) of our...

peanut butter cheesecake,
caramel and nutella pie,
salted caramel and popcorn panna cotta,
a scoop of home made vanilla ice cream
and a scoop of chocolate, chilli and cinnamon sorbet

On their own 3 out of 4 of these desserts are $8 each and so as a $20 box it's a great deal if you're dinning as a group of four. Father loved the pb cheesecake, true to the name this time. Last time it was a NY style cheesecake with pb swirls, this time it had the full flavours. Chili chocolate sorbet was something new, it was chocolaty with a slight burn. Not my style, but something Lola would have loved. My favourite dessert in the box? Gosh I like them all, except the ice cream. To me the texture is icy and strange, though it is created in their own homemade style.

We had a good time, it was warm with great lighting. Service was excellent, after forgetting our order and apologizing. But I'm sure it rarely ever happens. It wasn't that busy though...
The food was great and the space was quite unique. The bill in theory would have come to $135, $34 per person for a two course meal (main & shared desserts, but lots) and drink.

Have you been to the Fitzroy Social, Father's Office, or The Bank on Collins?