Emilia reviews a modern French restaurant on Glenferrie Road
Click PLAY to hear Emilia’s full review on 3AW Breakfast.
Whilst you guys are in France I thought us Melbournians stuck here in the cold needed our own slice of Paris. The new kid on the block that kept coming up when talking about French restaurants in Melbourne was St Germain Wine Bar in Hawthorn. It sits on the corner of Glenferrie Rd and Churchill Grove with recognisable black and white striped shades setting the scene of a European bistro, floor to ceiling windows providing the perfect people watching. The corner location was a top priority for owner Aurelien Bagou, who also owns 5-year-old French bistro, Chez Bagou in Albert Park.
The transportation continues inside with round cafe style tables with close neighbours and the essence of the 6th arrondissement of Paris, Saint Germain which is clean, classy and elegant. Their carefully curated wine list has both French and Australian options.
It boasts a menu of modern French whilst still including the classics like escargot, beef bourguignon, French onion soup. It seats around 30 and on the Wednesday night I went was virtually full, even bar stools being occupied throughout the night which could cause some side steps for some to get out of seats or to the bathroom.
Where there were things I would change about our overall experience, like the volume of music (considering the location and slightly older clientele) and the wait time between courses, one thing I couldn’t knock was the food. The dishes were all expertly buttery, as all good French food intrinsically should be. We started with one traditional dish and one more modern; escargot and sweet potato ravioli. The escargot were cooked sans shell in a ceramic baking dish that had divots for each serving allowing them to bathe in the garlic and parsley butter. These were actually much better than any snails I’d had in France which can be rubbery, these were anything but. Instead, they were creamy and surprisingly moreish. Perhaps the stand out dish of the night for me came in the form of the sweet potato ravioli also bathing in a butter laden mushroom sauce (no need to worry about this kind of mushrooms, no Patterson type here), truffle oil and pinenuts. I could just about drink the leftover mushroom sauce. The richness meant that it could’ve become overpowering as a main but made for a perfect entree leaving you wanting more.
I couldn’t have French without trying their French onion soup. Generous cheese servings throughout and I loved their thick cut croutons throughout that soaked up the soup. It was steaming hot as it should be and served in a traditional lion head bowl.
For mains I tried my fellow diner’s Classic beef bourguignon with French style mashed potato. Paris mash as it gets called is the creamiest kind of mash you can get and happens to be my favourite. Don’t look up how to make it if you’re watching your waistline though because you’ll likely find the ratio of potato to butter is close to 50/50.
We also tried the Beef vol au vent with leek fondue and green pepper sauce, the pastry was good, the structure held up whilst still crumbling and melting in your mouth. I couldn’t resist trying the Duck breast too, they served it with Jerusalem artichoke puree and truffle sauce and they won me on the upsell to have some fresh truffle shaved on top too. Duck can be tricky to get right but they cooked it perfectly, still juicy without being too pink. I forgot to take pictures of the mains because they quickly got eaten as they arrived (one by one I might add, rather than all together to the table) as we’d waited close to 40 mins between entrée and mains at that point.
Arguably the best part of French food is the dessert and there’s one dessert choice you have to make; we tried both the vanilla creme brulee and the chocolate fondant which was really a self sourcing. It’s the latter you have to get, paired with a vanilla bean ice cream. It was worth the wait between mains and dessert where they comped us a chestnut and apple flavoured liqueur for the wait.
Overall, the food stood on its own but considering it is a higher price point with most of the mains were above $40 and starters averaged $25 the wait times let it down. We arrived at 6:30 and didn’t leave until 10pm. We didn’t leave annoyed, the food well and truly quelled our patience. I think their modern interpretation allowed for a lightness where traditional French can sometimes feel stoggy, would absolutely go again.
They’re open Tues-Wed 3pm til late and Thur-Sat 12pm till late, don’t forget to book!
St Germain Wine Bar
838 Glenferrie Rd
Hawthorn