Week 4- Society

It was Pete's choice this week and after much deliberation and google map checking he decided we would try Society. It is an Italian restaurant at 23 Bourke St, Melbourne. Once again, very easy to get to, just hop on the tram across from my work and get dropped off literally across the road from the restaurant.
First impression was that it was nice and cosy. Soft lighting and Michael Buble playing in the background made it nice and relaxing. A waitress with a case of the hiccoughs showed us to a table near the window and gave us a wine list. We sat there for a while, a bit surprised that we hadn't got a menu. Eventually Pete got her attention and asked if they do in fact take orders for meals and could we have a menu. She seemed a bit put out, grabbed the wine list and the glasses! When she came back with our menus, we thanked her and said we would like to order wine as well, but we didnt know what type to get until we knew what we were eating.
Anyway, we decided what we'd like and thought we would just order separate meals this time, an entree, main and dessert, rather then a tasting menu and run the risk of missing the last train of the night and having to walk home!
She mentioned what the specials were and I settled on the pasta with prawns, scallops and broccollini and Pete had twice cooked duck in flaky pastry layers with dill orange coulis and poached celeriac. For our mains I chose, Pan seared pork rib-eye with apricot and pistachio glaze and apple cider jelly, while Pete opted for Blue eye-fillet (black angus and wagyu cross) (well-done) which had been grain fed for 400 days, porcini mash, glazed prunes and dolcetto jus. The waitress said the rib-eye didn't come with anything else and thought we might like to order a side dish, so we had a bowl of hand cut chips.
We were given a plate with some bread annd oil for dipping. I dont like just plain oil and so I was trying to get the balsamic vinegar that was at the bottom of the dish. I now think it wasnt vinegar at all, but the bowl had a black bottom. Needless to say I just had plain bread. Oh and there were olives too..very nice. At least I didn't get black drips on the tablecloth this time. You can take me anywhere!
We also chose a bottle of Chianti as we love to drink that when we can..and when in an Italian restaurant..drink italian!
Our poor waitress still had the hiccoughs, and after the initial hiccough (the service not the ones coming from her) we relaxed and had a lovely evening. The servings of the entrees were just right, they were both delicious and we thoroughly enjoyed them. I was more then happy with my prawns and scallops and the pasta was al-dente. Pete said his duck was very well cooked and even though it was plated up to look like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, without the leaning bit, it was all delicious.
We had waiters hovering around, ready to top up our wine and water glasses. I swear I only had one glass, although Pete reckons I drank 60% of the bottle..just because they kept filling it before I had a chance to actually finish it.
The mains were wonderful. Pete's steak was cooked to his liking, even slightly charred on the outside and the mash and everything else on the plate went down a treat. My rib-eye was basically two pork chops on a plate with apple sauce, but they were sooo yummy, although I did miss the crackle. The chips on the side hit the spot and we both finished them off easily.
After this we asked for the dessert menu and I chose the Chilled white chocolate cream served with peppered strawberries & a mint syrup. Pete saw that there was a Chef's daily assortment platter so he picked that.
Now, all the food was very quick coming out and we weren't waiting too long in between courses, in fact it was just the right length of time.
The desserts came and I found the strawberries really a bit peppery, but when i had them with a spoonful of the cream, they were delicious. Pete had quite a selection of desserts, which I tried most of them out, and the chocolate icecream with some kind of nut in it would have been my favorite. There was also some sorbet and even a strawberry dipped in white chocolate. Some pears, one that was poached in cranberry jus and also a piece of hazelnut almond nougat.

We were finished eating by just after 7pm. As the tram stop was right across the road, we didnt have to walk far and the tram was coming just as we were leaving. We made it to the station in time for the 7.25 train home and we were home by around 8.15pm

We really enjoyed the food, the service was very good and the atmosphere of this small restaurant was very relaxing. I would recommend it to anyone. One thing though, you might like to take a night light or torch with you as the lighting is that dim it was very hard for people arriving later to actually read the menus. The waiter had to hold a candle up so the people on the table next to us could see what they were ordering!

Total cost, including the bottle of chianti was $219