Bistro Lunching at Must

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it before but next year GG and I are holidaying in Europe. To say I’m a little excited about the six weeks of annual leave I have booked would be a massive understatement. To help with the planning process and for a little further inspiration, we may have also watched the whole season of French Food Safari. Such a wonderful show and as I watched it my “I want to eat this in France” list continued to get longer and longer. On the list, in amongst sampling a lot of cheese, eating French bread and sipping champagne is that I want to dine at a French bistro.

I accept that the holiday isn’t until next April but I fancied getting my bistro on well before that… call me impatient. As if the stars aligned I was emailed by the ever lovely crew from Must to see if GG and I would like to join them to try their new lunch special, a bistro offering where two courses and a glass of wine for two is $80. Exceptional value and offered 7 days a week from now until November. Lock it in! This was my lucky day 🙂

We arrived on a rainy Sunday and it was a delight to enter the doors of Must and be ensconced in the warmth of this cosy restaurant. We were the first to arrive for lunch and so were offered our pick of the tables for two.

We were then brought water by our charming waiter and a basket of some sliced baguette and a dish of butter. Oh the divine deliciousness of fresh bread! I had visions of our stay in Paris and popping out for a fresh baguette and I don’t know maybe some cheese or jam for our breakfast….. the mind just wanders.

As we worked our way through the slices, we turned our attention to the menu. There is a sparkling, white and red wine available on the wine front and then three entree, main and dessert choices. So it’s your call as to whether you go entree and main or main and dessert. While I am a self confessed sweet tooth, I decided to stick with savouries and ordered the Portobello Mushroom Tart, Rocket & Prosciutto, Red Wine Vinaigrette for my entree and the Rotisserie Liberty Free Range Chicken, Vegetable Tagine, Paris Mash, Madeira Jus for mains, while my hot date ordered the Potato and Leek Soup, Brioche Croutons and then the Sirloin Steak, Frites, Salad, Béarnaise Sauce.

It was all very relaxing sitting and sipping on a nice glass of wine ahead of the food arriving and it really didn’t take too long. I liked the presentation of my starter. You could see the abundance of mushrooms as you sliced into it. There was a wonderful richness to the flavour of the tart and then there was the added indulgence of the buttery pastry. I liked how the lightly dressed rocket had been generously piled on top. Gave the dish a really pleasant refreshing finish. Palate cleansing greens.

Now across the table GG was confident from his first mouthful that he had won the battle of the entrees. I could see a smug smile emerging as soon as he tried it. Big call I thought because I had really enjoying my mushroom selection. But then I tried the soup. Granted it could have been that you don’t get much more ideal conditions for soup than a wintery day like it was on Sunday, so it had that going for it but it was the flavour that made this dish so memorable. Silky smooth and so decadently creamy, it was a complete pleasure to eat. So I had to admit, he had won.

But the battle continued on into mains territory. There was an interlude between courses when none other than boss B and his family arrived to celebrate the birthday of his daughter. Always nice to see a familiar face 🙂 So we said our hellos and then it was time for our next course.

Ok yes, GG’s choice did come with frites and I do quite enjoy the occasional frite or two. And I did get to try the steak and it had been cooked a perfect medium rare and that Béarnaise sauce was just so delicious, but I think it was a pretty tight race on this front.

There was an abundance of chook on my plate, with wonderful crispy skin yet still so lovely and moist, clearly rotisserie cooking is the way to go. And I really liked the interesting vegie tagine mix, added some interesting spices to the dish. And then there was the Paris mash. Now I mentioned we’d been watching French Food Safari and there was this wonderful scene in Chef Guillaume Brahimi’s kitchen at Bennalong where the whole kitchen team had stopped to make the mashed potato when they were ready. Everyone helped to peel them all and then they added the butter. And there was a lot of butter. The French aren’t shy with their butter and clearly this is why Paris mash has such an indulgently delicious flavour. Ooo la la! So I actually think I took out the mains,  which meant that we’d won a course each and it was all tied up. But after those two courses I was feeling very comfortable and despite the desserts sounding amazing I was content with two.

I’d suggest booking ahead if you’d like to try out this bistro special because I have no doubt it will be very popular. Seven days a week from now until November – $80 for two courses with a glass of wine for two – if you try it once, I’m sure you’ll find an excuse to head back perhaps a second or third time between now and November.

Thank you to Must for our delicious lunch – I’m all the more excited about my French bistro dining ambitions after my visit to your fair restaurant 🙂