Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Cellaroom, South Morang

I had heard mixed reviews about this new-ish restaurant in South Morang, but the menu sounded wonderful so we decided to head there for my partner's sister's birthday on a Sunday night.

My first impression of Cellaroom was that no expense had been spared on the furnishing. Huge glass windows, automatic sliding doors (is that tacky? I can't decide), catchy green paintings, a foyer, a huge function room complete with a wall to wall wine cellar, as well as the bistro area.

Cellaroom was far from fine dining. It is very much a 'family' restaurant that has been funked up with some cool decor. However, what I did like about it was that the meals were very homestyle. All of the dishes reminded me of something cooked in a homestyle kitchen. It was a cold night, so the dishes we ordered were all very wintery also. All of us had just recovered from a horrible bout of gastro the week before (thanks to my gorgeous but contagious nephew) we all seemed to be craving heavy, rich food to make up for all of the blandness we had encountered the week before during our recovery. I am not sure how my stomach coped with this- I was feeling a bit blah the next day after the heavy food, but still enjoyed the feed all the same.

I did something out of character and copied Craig in ordering the Dijon and Parmesen-crusted Lamb Cutlets. I am not usually a lamb cutlet kind of person but I think it was the cold weather that made me do it.


I really dislike inconsistancy. For example, the boy and I both ordered the same dish. Yet I had capsicum and pumpkin as my vegetables, whilst he had carrot and zucchini. Which is really annoying as I would have much rathered his vegetables. I thought it was a bit silly to send out the same dish with different elements to the same table. Another thing that really frustrates me is when a dish is served with mashed potato and vegetables, and most of the vegetables given are potato. Why!? Is the chef intentionally causing us to carbo-load? This dish was crying out for some green vegetables, and I would have much preferred some nice beans or broccoli rather than the roasted potatoes AS WELL as the mash. The mash was very enjoyable though, as were the huge lamb cutlets. I was sceptical when I saw how thin the cutlets were- how could you not overcook such a thin piece of lamb. But, I was pleasantly surprised as they were cooked perfectly.


Craig's Mum loved her stuffed chicken breast. She commented on how moist it was. Once again though- why the potatoes when there was already a massive pile of arborio rice!? She was lucky enough to get some green in her meal too. Visually though, this was very 'homestyle'... and dished up a little sloppily.


Craig's Dad was also impressed with his huge serving of Lamb Shanks. We all watched enviously as the meat just fell off the bone.


There was also a parma and a lasagne up the other end of the table but I didn't get a picture. They both seemed to enjoy their meals though.

So would I go back? Probably not. I was put off by the unneccessary heaviness of the meals, for example the potato and potato. Little things like that are so easy to remedy, and it just seems a little sloppy to me. An enjoyable evening, but probably a once off for me. Good venue for family gatherings though and mixed tastes as the menu offers a lot of variety.



Cellaroom on Urbanspoon

1 comment:

  1. I had dinner at this restaurant about two weeks with 7 other people. The food was nice. They brought the main meal out,,probably 5mins after we had just finished the entrees. It was way to quick. The service like a few other people had said was disgusting. We waited and waited for a drinks to be brought out to the table. We had at least three different waitresses looking after our table, and when they went to check on the drinks order, they never came back either. They all congregate behind the bar, but take forever to even pour the drinks. The manager even took our drinks order , and he took forever to bring them out. Our table were getting quiet frustrated, as our bill at the end of the night was quiet high. They need to wear some sort of uniform. I don't like being served food in a restaurant, by a waitress wearing a tank top. At one stage she even brought out two beers and two glasses, with one finger in the glass and the other one under her arm pit. I was really put off by that. This restaurant could do a lot better, if the staff were more professional in their ways. One waitress even looked like she was angry with the world. I would not go back to this place in a hurry.

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