Frenchy's Bistro, Glen Waverley

This will be the last post that's related to my birthday I promise. So since I had celebrated with my friends and boyfriend (Yuye), my parents wanted a share of the festivity as well (at my expense of course…doh).

I decided to go to Frenchy's in Glen Waverley because I've been there many times before (so it should be reasonably safe) and they're on the Entertainment Book so it won't be as much strain on my wallet.

The night started out great with the waiter taking us to our table and serving water and menus for everyone. I always thought this place was quite interesting. Their fascinating bookshelf corner (which is full of cook books and the like which I assume you can browse through while you wait for your food), the various "ducks" scattered on the tabletops and other furniture as well as the antique clocks (that actually work) all piece together a comfortable, almost homey feel to the place. They also have an open kitchen which brings fantastic smells into the dining room and patrons can keep a look out for their food coming out.

Then there's the bar and wine cellar. Although not a large range of spirits and beers, they do have a nice collection of wines (which I noticed for the first time during this visit). However, none of us are big alcohol drinkers, only dad ordered a Crown Lager while Jeff (my annoying younger brother) ordered a lemon lime bitters (how original…).

Normally more classy restaurants such as Chez Olivier will give you free bread with butter at the start of the meal, however, this was not the case with Frenchy's - so we ordered our own. There were a few of us (5 to be specific) so two servings of bread was ordered for $6 each. They were laid out nicely and tasted quite nice - crunchy on the outside and really soft inside (signs of fresh bread). However, I still didn't think buying our own bread was customary of good restaurants so a thumbs down from me there.

We ordered 3 entrees (which was about enough to share). First was the Carpaccio with seared scallops, raw beef with a basil sauce ($21). It was actually a very lovely dish. Scallops were juicy and tender and the raw beef totally melted in my mouth. This dish would have passed in a modern Japanese restaurant. Probably my favourite dish of the night.

Next was the bouillabaisse ($17). Jeff liked this dish a lot it seemed, it was full of veggies (like carrot and cabbage) and various seafood pieces. In fact, this dish tasted a bit like a Chinese soup we make at home so it went down well with my parents as well. The pastry on top was a bit soggy when I lifted it, but I guess this was to be expected from the condensation of the hot soup underneath.

The third entree was a special - tempura zucchini flowers stuffed with crab meat ($22). I thought this was nice, the zucchini flowers were coated in a nicely fried and crunchy batter and the crab meat kind of tasted like homemade fish balls (or crab balls). This was the first time I had zucchini flowers so I was slightly apprehensive, although this was unnecessary! It's not a very strongly flavoured dish, but I liked it because it wasn't overpowering. Yuye didn't like it as much though (maybe it was too bland for him?).

This, sadly, was where our fun ended. Although the mains (when we eventually got them) tasted great, they couldn't really make up for the ONE HOUR wait we had to endure after we cleaned the entree plates. I mean ok, they were 'busy', there were many customers (although I think they were only about 2/3 full), but one whole hour (maybe more) wait is just unacceptable. I saw the waiters glance our way many times and one of them even said 'they'll be out in a few minutes' but….unfortunately they just didn't arrive. The open kitchen didn't make it better. We saw other tables' dishes come out one after another but there was no sign of ours. Maybe they lost our order or got it mixed up somehow? I will never find out. I'm so glad my dad didn't do his usual 'temper treatment' because I would have run out the door in shame. Thank goodness. Anyway, when they arrived in the end, we were all so hungry that we devoured them in a matter of minutes. I was in so much hurry that a few dishes ended up blurry (like mum's duck confit - $36 which I didn't post up).

Dad ordered the eye fillet with béarnaise sauce ($38). He asked for rare (it really was rare), it was so rare that he got a bit scared and I had to finish it off for him. I didn't mind because I like my beef raw :D. It was actually quite nice (very tender), although I ran out of béarnaise sauce and had to dip it in my own lamb fillet sauce.

Yuye ordered his usual pepper steak ($38). Yuye thought it wasn't as good as before (less peppery) but it was still a pretty good steak. It also came with a separate salad which was nice and refreshing.

Jeff ordered the ox cheeks ($32) served with baby carrots, beans and mash. This was one of the better mains in my opinion. The meat was very tender and the whole thing was soaked in plenty of flavourful sauce (although it wasn't as big as the other dishes).

I ordered the lamb fillets ($35), sorry the photo is blurry :(. It came with fried eggplants and a polenta cake. I'm not a big fan of polenta (and I thought this one was a bit dry and bland) but I did like the eggplant. Lamb was tender and there was enough sauce to coat all my meat. Although nice, I still preferred one of the steaks though.

Since we were all very tired from the long arduous wait and it was in fact getting quite late, we decided to skip the desserts. I was really looking forward to the desserts though because I fell in love with their chocolate pudding with white and dark chocolate sauce and brandied cherries (it was a special of that season a number of years ago, no longer on the menu) the first time I went to Frenchy's that it kind of set the standard of other desserts I order at restaurants now. It was unfortunate that the pudding is no longer on the menu.

Overall it was a very disappointing experience (especially when I was treating my parents!!). If I had never been to Frenchy's before, I'd have totally disliked it and never go back there again. However, given that I have had good experiences in the past, I am willing to give them another chance. Next time I visit, I hope they can really get their kitchen in order and not have to make customers wait for so long. Other than the wait, the food was great, ambiance was nice and service was all good.

Frenchy's Bistro
Phone: (03) 9887 9399
52 O'Sullivan Rd, Glen Waverley VIC 3150
http://www.frenchysbistro.com.au

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