My partner Rob and I intended dining at the new Blackheath Bar and BIstro last Saturday night, but it was a bit busy. Instead, we had a drink to wish the owners well, then walked along to the Victory Café. It was pretty early, so no problem getting in, although soon every table was taken. That was a surprise, considering it wasn’t school holidays and the Bistro was providing such strong competition.
We are only two course people these days and after a quick glance at the menu we decided to forego dessert in favour of a starter.
I did have a slight concern with scallop singular rather than plural, but I needn’t have worried. There were three and they were huge. The addition of popped corn appealed to my whimsical nature.
Perfect
Rob loved his prawns with a mango salad. Unusually, we were both enjoying our own choice too much to share. Personally I’d always go for scallops when they are on the menu, unless they have been interred in a pie or deep fried in batter.
Salt and pepper prawns.
I don’t often order steak when dining out, but decided to try a medium rare sirloin with a red wine jus. Oh my word, it made me remember why I am not a vegetarian. It was just utterly succulent, with the outside caramelized perfectly.
Oh my, this was delicious.
I rated my meal 10/10. Yes…perfect! I can’t remember declaring a meal perfect since I had Lobster Thermidore and Bombe Alaska in Tasmania many moons ago. Thanks chef David. Rob rated his two dishes 8/10, which isn’t bad coming from him. His main course was barramundi.
It’s a bit noisy in the Victory when it’s full. Also, if you need to use the loo you have to pop outside and use the funky public ones.
Front view of the jazzy loo.
Oh, and it’s BYO, but there’s a bottle shop across the street.
We decided we would return the following week, so that Rob could try the sirloin steak and the seared scallops. I intended to order them again myself!
HEARTBREAK!
On Monday I was in the village and called at the café to check something for this review. To my horror, they told me that the reason the place had been so busy was that it was the final night of opening for dinner. Noooo…how could this happen?!
Mind you, all is not lost. Chef David told me they will continue to have a ‘pop-up’ restaurant on occasions. I still nearly burst into tears though. I left my phone number as he told me he would text me when the next pop-up is being organized. I can only hope ‘popcorn’ scallops and sirloin steak feature on the menu.
I do go to the Victory regularly for coffee or a working lunch.
OK, I know it’s not exactly health food, but you can buy a bowl of the most delicious chips for $5. As you can see from the photo below, it’s big enough for two people. Of course they do have ‘proper meals’.
Oh yes…enough for two.
The only danger visiting the café during the day is that the glories of the double storey Antiques Centre beckon.
I’m a lower mountaineer & visit the Victory for lunch regularly. I love the place. I actually had no idea they did dinner until reading your review!
Well, I think this was the problem, Donna…not enough people knew about it. My review has created a lot of interest so I’m still hoping the weekend dining might be revived.
Oh how your descriptions and photographs made me drool. In my neck of the woods in Texas they do not seem to understand the concept of elegant cuisine
Everything here is well cooked BBQ eith mushy canned green beans. Ugh.
Oh, well I do think of bar-b-que when someone mentions Texas, Susan. Our main problem with seafood in the US was that it was usually deep fried in batter and we couldn’t really taste it properly. No doubt things have changed since then though.
What a shame, especially as they produce such amazing food.
Yes, there was a huge response to my review, but they are still only going to open periodically for the time being. Sigh.