In the 80's, Rosati on Flinders Lane, was a pioneer in the Melbourne Restaurant scene. With its sprawling warehouse look, intricate mosaic tiled floors captured the era’s essence so well it served as the backdrop for Kylie Minogue’s Got to be Certain video clip. It certainly was the place to be and I've since learnt it set the record for the most Moet served in Australia.
The 2000's wasn't kind to Rosati and in the mids 2000's it closed its doors and has laid dormant with rumours doing the rounds of what it's next incarnation will be.
Well the wait is over and the Sand Hill Group have breathed life into the the old girl and opened the 5million dollar Garden State Hotel. This is a big venue both in size and offering, with a restaurant complete with a raw bar, a public bar and even a basement cocktail bar, it has something to offer most people.
Whilst I'm a big fan of the industrial look, one has to ask when are we going to move on from this over done design and create a new look and feel for the restaurant and bar scene in Australia, but with saying that they have done a bloody good job.
We had an opportunity to visit on a cold wet Wednesday night and I was impressed with the amount of people enjoying an after work drink and bite to eat. We attempted to grab a table in the restaurant but was told there was at least an hour wait. So we put our name on the wait list and proceeded to the public bar for a beer. Whilst they had a good range of beers on tap it was disappointing that it was one of the 2 big Australian breweries, which to be honest is a bit of a sellout and I'm not a fan of but understand the business needs when making these types of selections.
After a while, and our table still a bit away we ventured down to the cocktail bar. Now this is where you can see a better use of creativity and the ability to offer character into their beverage offering. The cocktail list was impressive and we opted for four different cocktails that the list presented. Whilst they took a tad longer to make the flavours certainly made up for it.
By this time the hunger pains started to kick in and with our table not presenting itself in the near future we decided to order a counter meal and it was ribs and burgers all around. The ribs, one word, sensational, full of flavour and the meat just melted in your mouth. The burgers, whilst simple also packed a punch of flavour, with a well seasoned beef patty and fresh bun and salad.
I have to say the service is a little disjointed, with some staff shinning and others lacking the level you would expect from a venue of this size, but look it's a early days and it is a new venue and I wouldn't expect all to go smoothly, but first instincts tells me that this will be a place to go with top notch service and product and who knows Kylie might decide to film her next video at Garden State.
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