feedback Dear Mark, Please excuse this lengthy email, but I thought I needed to write to you about our experience at Marque last night. We love food. Truly. For me and my partner Tanya, there really are few things we prefer to enjoying delicious food paired with fine wines. A degustation menu is something we always look forward to and we have between us been fortunate enough to enjoy some of the best around the world. Some are spectacular and leave you baffled as to how the chef thought to combine flavours or create textures. Some feel as though they are more a combination of well cooked staples and some disappoint. We discuss every course in detail, often we score them, arguing about which we rank higher and how they compared with other experiences. Rarely, we get so disappointed that we resolve, most likely after a good few glasses of wine, to write in with our critique. But never before have we done so. Until today. Last night we dined at Marque, and given you werent there I thought you may be interested to share our experience and thoughts for what they are worth. Booking the table was somewhat spontaneous. We have been very busy lately and really wanted a date night. As I often do, I tried calling Quay, Marque and Tetsuya on the off chance you may have had a cancellation. Neither Tanya or I had ever been to Marque, so I was enormously excited when I was told you had one spare table at 7pm. I kept the location a surprise, but copied the menu from the internet and we studied it together whilst I read out a raft of customer reviews. The reviews on Marque were, unsurprisingly, overwhelmingly positive, although there were a number of contrary views. The menu looked interesting. Many combinations we might not normally choose from an a la carte offering and we were excited. When the doors opened we were greeted by a lady in what can best be described as sparkly training shoes. Not what we expected, but the ambience was smart, formal and chic and we were shown to a beautiful table by the wall at the far left. We enjoyed a vintage champagne and a Hendricks and tonic before embarking on the journey. We asked for iced tap water on the side, but were told you did your own thing there and later noted the additional charge asterisked on the menu at the end. Unnecessary and rather offensive in a restaurant of your calibre in our opinion. Before I start on the food, can I make an overriding comment that we absolutely loved every one of the wines. They were all interesting, perfectly matched and well introduced by the sommelier. He was knowledgeable and on a few occasions when we pressed him for more information about what we were drinking he was articulate and informed. The only negative was the wine serving sizes. I really felt I had to ration myself much more than I prefer. Also our main waiter was engaging and fun. We liked him. The girl who helped was out of her depth, but more of that later! So herewith a few comments on our journey: The appetiser - sea biscuit Tasted like a salty mix of oyster and mussel with no real defining texture or definition. I thought it was OK, Tanya hated it but didnt tell me. We carried on. Charlie scored 3, Tanya 2 The crab ..... Nothing special. Pleasant flavours but rather bland. Charlie 5, Tanya 4 The smoked eel .... A real surprise. Eel is difficult to make special and we both really enjoyed it. Great combination of flavours. Charlie 6, Tanya 7 (I dont think we could ever score eel more than 8, but this was impressive) The Wagyu ..... Oh dear. At this point we really got disappointed. Fatty edges (not in a marbled way, just chewy fat). Cold vinegary mushrooms. Luke warm beef. Actually the highlight was the ice plant. We gave honest feedback to the waitress and were offered an extra course, which we gladly accepted. Charlie 3, Tanya 3 The Moreton Bay bug ..... The lowlight of the night. When it was introduced we were excited. We both love our shellfish and this course wasnt on the internet sample menu. But bugs have a delicate flavour and this one was destroyed by a dirty nondescript dust cover and an overpowering sauce, I presume with a squid ink base. And here for a little aside: the waitress introduced the course as marine bugs. I asked her to repeat herself and she did. I said do you mean Moreton Bay bugs, as I have never heard of marine bugs. She said she was told the t was silent! She was foreign. The only possible explanation for this in my honest opinion is that the kitchen was playing a joke on her. When I am paying the price at Marque, I can honestly tell you I do not appreciate having my meal demeaned by that type of joke. Next time our waiter came back, I enquired if you were in the kitchen tonight. He told me you were in Melbourne. In a way it explained a lot. I cannot believe you would have sanctioned much of what we went through in your restaurant last night. Horrible. Charlie 0, Tanya 0 The grouper ..... Bland. Nothing to write home about. I accept we were getting a little down on our night by now, and I had largely given up on any taste experiences, but this certainly wasnt one! Charlie 4, Tanya 3 The bonus course - a foie gras granita Yum!!! My favourite course of the night. Very reminiscent of a course they do very well at Gastro Park. Great use of liquid nitrogen. Loved it. Charlie 8, Tanya 8 The quail ..... Another victory. Beautiful honey glazing, perfectly cooked and yet retaining wonderful moisture. Again quail is not something I would go for, but it doesnt get cooked any better. Charlie 7, Tanya 8 The holy goat ..... Served too cold and hence too firm. Holy goat is a premium goats cheese and difficult to get wrong. I have no idea what the combination of wakame was meant to do. Neither the textures nor the flavours added to the cheese. Tanya loooooves goats cheese and left some behind. Charlie 5, Tanya 4 The lemon aspen with cream & whey caramel Nice. Nothing special. Would have preferred it without the lemon aspen. Charlie 6, Tanya 4 The coconut, liquorice and beetroot ..... I was dreading this course and actually rather liked it. Nice combination of flavours. Charlie 6, Tanya 5 The egg surprise ..... Nicely presented, tasty, but needed an accompanying sticky or port. Charlie 6, Tanya 4 To be clear, at this price point and with 3 chefs hats I am expecting to mark most courses between 8 and 10. The bill: $558. I couldnt bring myself to add a $60 tip. I just couldnt justify spending over $600 for that experience. We were so disappointed. I felt bad for the waiter, but I suspect he could see it coming from our feedback. Mark, I honestly feel your restaurant let you down while you were away and hence have spent my morning drafting this rather sad account. I just felt you would prefer to hear it directly as I feel it rather than read it on Tripadvisor. With your stellar reputation I cannot believe it would have been the same if you were there. Kind regards, Charlie & Tania
Posted on: Sun, 01 Dec 2013 00:52:41 +0000
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