Cellardor.com.au talks hospitality at Longrain
Posted by Danae Goldsmith on May 17th, 2008 filed in Restaurant ReviewsHi I’m, back,
You can’t knock a good girl down, and I need to apologise for my tardiness of late. You see we have changed websites, so please log on to www.Cellardor.com.au, and give Cellars.com.au the boot! So if you were wondering what I have been up to, here goes…
…Does anyone know what Hospitality means?
Longrain Restaurant
44 Little Bourke Street Melbourne, Victoria.
I was just too excited when a very divine couple who really enjoy the finer things in life invited us to Longrain one Saturday night not too long ago.
Always priding ourselves on our punctuality, we wagged through the door like puppies to a bone, towards the hostess at 2 minutes to 8pm. We were greeted with an abrupt “Well your other guests haven’t arrived yet!” in a manner that made us stop short and wonder whether the fact that we were 2 minutes early meant we had to step outside again?
So we stood there missing the point and a little deflated that our greeting was rather, well how should I put it…cold??
She must have realized she had confused us, as we were looking at each other stupidly, and directed us to a small cocktail table by the bar to wait for our fine friends. The cocktail waitress swiftly came to take our order and explained that she needed our credit card. We attempted to explain that we were actually here for dinner and were waiting to be seated, with which she replied “well, I need it in case you do a runner”!!! I tugged at Sash’s jacket sleeve whilst sinking into the plush bonquette, “do we look like criminals tonight, I obviously got my outfit all wrong? He didn’t hear me though as he was too busy scanning the crowd for hidden cameras to suggest that our treatment must have been someone’s idea of a joke.
On the plus side, and mind-you the plusses are huge, Longrain has so much atmosphere and vibe that you can’t help but get sucked in. There was a huge healthy fish tank with the nights fish specials swimming around, blind to their fate, and an open kitchen revealing an army of chefs with their heads down like they were taking on the Iron Chef in his one and only Australian appearance. No intimacy here though, big shared tables line the wall with others sporadically placed around the floor. Lots of Noise, LOTS OF NOISE, which I’m fast learning is the trade-off if you want atmosphere in this town.
Of course the obligatory DJ spinning vinyl with his head cocked to one side with his headphone balanced under one ear, completed the picture that we had landed in groovy-street. Curiously however, although I could see the DJ spinning some records I couldn’t actually hear any music, and as I looked around it seemed that no-one could. Maybe the DJ was actually the latest art installation, who knows? So really this place looks and smells sooooooo good. When there is so much noise though you can’t really appreciate the aesthetics as the need to sharpen your lip-reading skills is all that seems to matter.
The staff at Longrain are very efficient, actually a little too efficient. Thank goodness our main waitress Bec had some of those old-fashioned hospitality skills that certainly weren’t present in any of the other staff that served us, you know those little things like a smile, a joke, and the ability to listen, and the courtesy to say thank you for coming. Unfortunately our fabulous dinner was tainted with some comments from other staff that we felt were well deserving of an attitude adjustment. Maybe the sweet and savoury flavours of all that tamarind in the staff meals had curbed their personalities?
Not to harp on the issue, but a woman who appeared like a duty manager (as she wore a different coloured shirt to assert her authority) was so rude that she placed the bill down and said to us that the table was being waited for. We did not ask for the bill, and we were half-way through our delicious moscato - Two Hands Brilliant Moscato don’t you know? Such a shame. When we questioned our lovely Bec and queried whether our night was already over without even finishing our drinks, Bec ripped up the bill and had to apologise on behalf of the other lady. I felt sorry for Bec, having to deal with the bad taste the authoritarian woman had left us with, as if she wasn’t busy enough focusing on her own duties.
Anywho, the food was DELICIOUS, so I don’t want to be too harsh. The portions were a great size, so the bill was reasonably well-deserved when you stack it up against the other great restaurants around Melbourne at the moment. Plus if you add a few tenners for the Seinfeld-esque attitude you cop, well a great night was had by all!
What We Ate?
Braised Duck Salad – twice cooked to crispy perfection with a mountain of coriander and chilli.
Soft Shell Crab – recommended from the nice gentleman who shared our side of the table, not everyone’s cup of tea as it has well and truly had the bejesus fried out of it, but ever-so tasty.
Wagyu Beef Red Curry – what’s that tender object that slices like butter floating around in that tantalizing curry, oh, it’s the beef, my goodness, sooooo tender.
Dessert – I hope you don’t get a nasty rash from coconut, because desserts are slim pickings if you do. Every dessert seems to contain it. We tried the Coconut Sorbet – two mountainous scoops of velvety smooth luxury, and also the Steamed Rice Pudding with – you guessed it- coconut! I LOVE coconut so no problems for me.
What We Drank?
I am already craving another meal at Longrain, the whole experience curiously was like a drug, you know the staff aspect was bad for my digestion, but that food is so decadently yummy that I’ll be back for another hit.
Til next adventure, Chardanae on location 
May 25th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
I love Chardanae’s reviews! Not sure about Longrain’s service though…