St Katherine's

7.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  8     

Quoting from two of MoMo & Coco’s favourite authors, all happy families resemble one another, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. It is therefore a truth universally acknowledged that everyone has relations who are difficult to please. If the CBD is too far, immediate local is lacklustre, fine dining is too expensive because there is no special occasion, casual is not adequately classy and often too noisy, where does one go?

As one of a handful of new restaurants awakening in nearby, sleepy inner-city suburban surroundings, St Katherine’s ticked MoMo & Coco’s initial reconnaissance criteria. Located at the intersection of busy tram routes, behind a somewhat inconspicuous Mediterranean-inspired white-washed frontage, through heavy doors, a babble of hearty greetings welcomes you. Melding the energy of a popular dining spot with a certain degree of the understated refinement characteristic of Melbourne’s well-heeled eastern suburbs, it is decked out in warm caramel honey tones, glossy white tiles, and exposed industrial lighting.

Towards the back of the venue, there’s a huge communal table for inter-generational family gatherings, while a semi-open kitchen provides views of a hefty rotisserie and wood-fire oven.

In this day and age, the papers are dotted with the many ways in which ill-managed subsidiaries and related entities can become the downfall of the parent company. Two restaurants in the same corporate family — the seductive harem den of Maha and the polished Little Press – have provided some very memorable dining experiences, and are two of MoMo & Coco’s long-standing, consistently reliable favourites.

We now add St Katherine’s to our list, a less rowdy, less rustic version of Hellenic Republic, but just as soulful, with an extra dash of class. Possessing the broad palate appeal of Mediterranean cuisine, the food isn’t memorable in the same way as at Maha or Little Press. It’s uncomplicated, unfussy. Generational bridge-mending and family-friendly in the other, just-as-important aspects of a dining-out experience — price, service, atmosphere, locality. A heaven-sent dining gem to appease difficult relations.

See further: http://momoandcoco.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/st-katherines/

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Mar 02, 2012 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

The 3 course sharing lunch option makes it all quick and easy, at $40 a head with a nice bottle of Kooyung Chardonnay on top and we are set for catch up and conversations!

Mini lamb koftas with humous, seeds and cucumber ribbons is delish! BBQ charring flavours and light fresh cucumber with a grounding of chickpea and tahini is a great start, other dishes arrive including a great cabbage and cauliflower salad dyed pick with a beetroot vinegar ( I think!).

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Dec 17, 2011 

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  7     

This is my new favourite place! Have been here twice, and both times enjoyed myself immensely. So often in recent times I find that I walk out of a restaurant saying that the food was nice, but the service was lacking. But here, I walk out with that satisfied feeling that comes with an all-round good experience. I'm working my way through the menu, and I haven't struck a bad note. I'd agree with Momo&Coco that the KFC is perhaps a little on the dry side, but the tastiness more than makes up for it. My personal favourite has to be the lamb dumplings - they are little morsels of artery-hardening goodness.

The staff are great; after the icy, no-you're-not-cool-enough-for-this-place modus operandi adopted by most Gen Y wait staff that work at a lot of these "now" restaurants, it's so refreshing to be greeted with a friendly smile and attitude that persists right through the dining experience. At the beginning of the meal, our waiter enquired as to any dietary requirements. When you do have these, it is nice to be asked, and it indicates the staff and chefs are very clued in about their food and understand its origins. One blip - much to his horror, our waiter managed to upend a carafe of water on my dining companion. He was very apologetic, and when he delivered our coffees and the desert menu, informed us any desert we chose was on the house. Big tick! Already planning my next visit.

Nov 15, 2011 

6.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  6     

We were excited to try this new restaurant. The food, as we have come to expect from George's restaurants, was delicious. The chicken from the rotisserie was divine as was the pilaf and pomegranate salad. The daily bread served in a brown paper bag was beautiful. However, the staff are another story.

I think we were served by a total of 8 different wait staff throughout the evening, and as one left our table, the next one appeared asking if we needed anything. Whilst good customer service is an asset, this was just plain annoying. If we need anything, we will ask...until then, let us just eat!

Jul 03, 2011 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  8     

I celebrated my birthday on Sunday the 12th, June 2011. The food was delicious from the dips, pide, lamb, rice, zucchini and salad. The baklava with halva icecream was the dessert and greek coffee to end the meal. I also, got to meet George. Wow! The service was great. Very courteous, efficient and helpful. We also purchased a voucher.

Jun 17, 2011 

6.5 Recommended

Food  6      Ambience  6      Service  8      Value  6     

We went to ST K’s last Saturday night and were on the “butchers” table which comfortably seated 14, where the menu is decided by chef, and we were promised that we would not leave hungry.

We were served a selection of their entree’s (olives, pickled vegies, bread with dip, corn on the cob, KFC (their version of chicken pieces), 4 types of stuffed Turkish bread from the oven, and some great oysters and scallops) and then a whole snapper and a whole suckling pig with habibi rice as mains.

A nice, light dessert of ice cream and watermelon followed. Would have liked to try their chicken and lamb from the spit, which I am sure they would have accommodated, but was too full to ask. Service was excellent, attentive but un-obtrusive, and overall the food was good and tasty in ample proportions.

I tried most of their beers, with the Craft brand beers (Greek) being the best, with the Almaza (Lebanese) and Efes (Turkish) going “flat” too quickly. The “butchers” table is located close to the grill, so we saw first hand how the service worked, which was smooth and efficient and well controlled, and now appreciate how hard the guy’s in the kitchen work.

All in all we had a great night out.

Jun 14, 2011 

3 Below Average

Food  5      Ambience  3      Service  2      Value  2     

Went there for a coffee & dessert experience, found staff attitude instead. Would definitely give it a miss for any other experience!

Jun 12, 2011 

2.5 Not Recommended

Food  4      Ambience  3      Service  1      Value  2     

Terrible! We booked for a table of 10 and found on arrival that the waitress and owner were adamant that we should go for the set menu. We didn’t want all that food, we wanted a dish or two each and some to share. We ended up ordering a la carte and saved ourselves at least $30 a head.

The food (a weird mix of burgers, "KFC" and grilled prawns and Pide?) was filling and the portions were good, but the set menu would have been double that, which we couldn't possibly all eat! The attitude we received from the butch waitress assigned to our table was unacceptable. She even had the cheek to roll her eyes at us as we left.

Is this really what we are to expect from one of 'Melbourne hot new eateries' as we celebrate 3 of our closest friends birthdays? Just because we decided to order what we wanted from the menu instead of what would make it easier for the kitchen? One senior staff came over at one point and also ended up being snippy with us saying "it’s not all about you" to one of our party when she tried to ask his advice about what to order if we didn’t want the set menu... Hmmm Shocking! That’s 10 girls who will not be back!

May 30, 2011 

7 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  6      Value  6     

We decided to have the 4 course sharing menu. This turned out to be a mistake. We were overloaded with plates of "stuff" to begin with. There were 6 of us and we were given 2 plates of fresh ricotta, 2 bowls of pickled vegetables, 3 bags of "daily bread", pides, 2 bowls of bagilla, 2 bowls of olives, 2 containers of prawn crackers with tarama and 2 plates of turkish lamb dumplings.

Both the lamb dumplings and the olives were delicious, however, most of the remainder was only fair and as we discovered later, mainly given to us in order to fill us up early. Next came seafood and salad. 6 pieces of overcooked but well seasoned swordfish and 6 prawns, 1 of which was more like a mini shrimp (unfortunately, the birthday girl landed that one and barely got a taste). The prawns were sensational though and we were left wanting more.

The half full salad bowls were whisked away from us, and rice pilafs were put in their place along with 2 smallish servings of chicken and lamb straight off the rotisserie. The meat was very tasty and well cooked. Dessert of watermelon and pine nut salad and individual mr whippy icecreams followed.

If going to St Katherine's, the 4 course sharing menu is no the way to go. Next time we will select our own dishes so we don't get too much of all the filling entrees that were ordinary compared to the later dishes of prawns and lamb from the rotisserie.

Drinks are expensive, all stubbies are $9 and they don't have any local beers. Nor do they have Mythos which is listed on the website. Only one light beer was available and neither of my friends enjoyed it. We had to go to the local pub afterwards to get an aussie beer.

May 30, 2011 

7 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  7     

It's early days with a few bumps to be ironed out especially with the charging on the final bill, but overall a new approach to dining in the Kew area. It's "tasting" size offerings are reasonably priced, acceptably sized and quite tasty.

Service is short but efficient while wine prices are, as usual, quite high. We were overcharged on our wine bottle, however, this was rectified by the manager when drawn to his attention. Such an oversight shouldn't ever happen with "programmed" billing systems but I guess the restaurant had only been open 5 days and the mistake could be excused. It's a bit "big barn" in size but overall we enjoyed our dinner there.

May 26, 2011