Bay Street

Excellent pepper steak with great crispy chips at Montmartre Cafe

After spending the first half of September in Queensland, mostly pigging out on steaks…

AMAZING rainbow and mint chic chip ice creams with sprinkle cones at Sea World

ice creams…

My favourite kebabs EVER in the whole world at Sahara – we went back more times than I’d like to admit…

kebabs…

We’d heard that BBQ Baron was supposed to be a pretty decent burger joint but this experience was very average.

and burgers…

French Vanilla Pancakes – stack of 3 pancakes with butter and maple syrup ($10, fruit and ice cream extra)

….I got back into the (only slightly) healthier meals once I returned home to Geelong and back to reality. This month there were some great breakfasts, starting with Biagio’s – a relaxed yet professional Italian dining room in Niddrie. Jono’s pancakes were pretty much flawless, fluffy and hot served with real maple syrup and generous portions of fruit and ice cream.

Eggs Florentine – 2 softly poached eggs with spinach and hollandaise sauce on a toasted English muffin ($10).

My eggs florentine brekky was great too, and the hollandaise – although not the best I’ve had – was laced with wholegrain mustard, making for a nice twist to the famous sauce.

Lemon meringue pie ($13)

Armageddon Cake is a cute little dessert bar that opened in late 2011 and, despite hearing rave reviews, I only managed to get myself down there a few weeks ago. We should have visited sooner – the venue is more ‘lounge’ than ‘bar’; in fact, it’s just like being in a friend’s lounge room. Jono loved it as he got to sink into one of the big, old, comfy chairs in the front corner and relax with a hot chocolate and a massive piece of cake. As well as the pie, we had an excellent sticky date pudding, and the coffees and peach nectar were delicious too. Armageddon Cake’s friendly staff serve up an ever-changing menu Thursday to Saturday from 8pm-11pm. It’s a much needed nightspot for Geelong – I love that they don’t even open until many of Geelong’s restaurants are closing their kitchens.

63 big brekky with scrambled eggs, bacon, tomato, mushrooms, spinach, hash brown & kransky sausage on zeally bay sourdough toast w side of 63 baked beans ($21).

and

Sweet potato & bacon hash cakes with roasted beetroot relish, rosemary & feta scrambled egg with chive hollandaise ($16.5)

You can’t really go wrong when it comes to breakfast and brunch at 63 Degrees. Generally, both the Highton and Pakington Street stores get it right and I couldn’t help but revisit an old favourite, the sweet potato and bacon hash cakes. I love this meal; the hash cakes are beautiful little balls of carbs that go perfecctly with the fresh beetroot relish, the scrambled eggs are always creamy and the hollandaise sauce at 63 is probably my favourite in Geelong. Jono was equally happy with his big, man sized breakfast.

Two scrambled eggs on sourdough with smoked salmon and hollandaise ($15.50)

The new Winter’s spring menu is fantastic – it has some really interesting breakfast choices that you wouldn’t find anywhere else in Geelong, like an open crab omelette with fresh papaya salad, or vodka cured salmon gravlax on charred rye with sauce vierge, cottage cheese and micro herbs. On this occasion, however, I was craving a simple breakfast of eggs and smoked salmon, again with my old favourite, hollandaise – I reckon Winter’s takes second place in the unofficial “ravenous melbourne’s Best Hollandaise in Geelong” competition.

Jono and I took a trip to my old neighbourhood, Port Melbourne, for lunch before catching the VFL semi final. I’ve only been up that way a handful of times since moving back to Geelong two years ago, and it was interesting to see how many of the local cafes are no longer there or have changed hands. Port Melbourne can be a really funny place for dining out and it took us a while to settle on a venue. Creme was nothing spectacular, but it did the job – we ordered a big, carb-y lunch of pasta, Turkish bread and arancini balls. The portions were big and good value, and while this place won’t have you raving, it’s a quick, reliable option with lots of menu choice.

And it wouldn’t be a round up without a few dishes from my work at The Shed @ Terindah Estate – this month for staff lunches we’ve been treated to some really beautiful eye fillet served simply as is, or in a fresh salad accompanied by organic chicken, confit garlic bread and Andy Pye’s famous Russian potato salad.

It was a good sign, the two French diners who were enthusiastically tucking into their meals as we sat down at the table next to them. This, I hoped, was an indication that tonight’s dinner at C’est Bon would be hearty, authentic, comforting French food. We certainly were not disappointed by the food served up by chef and owner of C’est Bon Port Melbourne, Amelie Bonnet, the cute, young daughter of chef Michele Bonnet, whose picture is plastered across the C’est Bon website. She, the restaurant states, is “The new face of old-fashioned French”.

Gnocchi au potiron – home made pumpkin and sage gnocchi with a mushroom sauce, topped with blue vein cheese ($15.90)

Soft pillows of pumpkin matched perfectly with the earthy, creamy mushroom sauce. The blue vein provided a strong, bitey kick to a dish that was moreish and left us scraping the plate to get every last drop of that sauce.

Filet de boeuf sauce poivre – eye fillet of beef, topped with a green peppercorn sauce, kipfler potatoes and crunchy onion rings ($32.90)

My steak was cooked perfectly, medium rare as I asked. There was plenty of the rich, peppery sauce, onion rings that were not particularly crunchy but still delicious, and simple but well-paired winter vegetables.

Bf asked for his steak to be cooked the same as mine and yet it was completely different. My piece of meat was tender and juicy and easy to cut into; Bf’s still tasted great, but it wasn’t until he hit the centre of the steak that his meal began to resemble mine.

As readers of this blog may be aware, I’m not particularly into sweet foods, but just about everything on the dessert menu at C’est Bon sounds fantastic so we decided to finish off with creme brulee – despite being absolutely stuffed from our first and second courses.

Traditional vanilla creme brulee ($15.90)

A crispy, crunchy topping cracked open deliciously to reveal a rich, creamy vanilla base. It was perfect, and one of the best I’ve had by far. I finished my dinner with the feeling of a satisfying, well rounded dining experience and that a third course was a good decision.

This is a cosy, comfortable, inviting restaurant where the emphasis on family and relaxed yet professional service seems to make the meals taste even better. The food and the space itself are comforting, meals are rich and hearty and the focus on old-school French fare means your dining experience will leave you with fond memories. The C’est Bon souvenir key ring they give you as you leave is cute, too.

396 Bay Street

Port Melbourne

VIC 3207

Ph: 9646 2296

http://www.cestbon.com.au