Saturday, February 18, 2017

The General Assembly (Melbourne, AUSTRALIA) ★★☆☆☆

After getting our check-in done at Crown Metropol, it was time to head out and explore the city. It's been more than 12 years since I last visited Melbourne and obviously the city has changed a lot the last decade, especially the South Wharf area.



I didn't recall seeing that many apartment buildings around here before.




It was almost 3PM already. Instead of finding a restaurant for a late lunch, I thought we would be better off having a light afternoon snack at a more casual place since we're expecting a really BIG feast at Attica tonight. The General Assembly, a gastropub along the South Wharf, seemed to fit the bill nicely.



This is a beer hall and casual dining restaurant all under the same roof.



We elected to sit outside to enjoy the view since it's not particularly cool today.



Wood roasted calamari (AUD$13) - I was expecting deep fried calamari here so these squid "noodles" caught a little off guard. But this was pretty decent. The squid was cut into long strips and roasted ever so slightly. It was served with what they called a "white gazpacho", endive, pickled grapes and salad.

This reminded me of the cuttlefish noodle at Nara (Bangkok) which was one of my favorite dishes in Bangkok. This one, however, was a bit of a mixed bag. The combination of calamari and grapes was actually pretty clever but the seasoning was definitely off. Way too bland for my liking.



Caesar salad (AUD$20) - I don't normally hand out failing grades for a caesar salad but I will make an exception here. The romaine lettuce was not crisp (probably have been sitting in the fridge for at least a night) and the crispy bacon was chewy. Not looking good.



New England lobster roll (AUD$22) - I'm a big fan of lobster rolls so I was real tempted to try this one out. But other than the egg whites, I failed to locate any lobster.

Any just some salt and vinegar potato chips to go with this? Ouch...


I actually thought the service here was pretty good but what we have sampled from their food menu was quite disastrous.




Food Rating: 3/10
Price: $$$
Address: 29 South Wharf Promenade, South Wharf, Melbourne, Australia
Tel: +61 3-9682-6007
Website: www.thegeneralassembly.com.au



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