Stratus 233

STRATUS 233

233 Union Road

Ascot Vale, Vic.

 My mum is visiting so my dear Husband and I took a rare chance of a babysitter to go out for a meal together.  I didn't really want to go too far from home and coincidently, we had discovered a few places in Ascot Vale that we really wanted to check out.

The short list included Italy528,  Philhellene and Stratus 233.

Because I'm tired and ready for bed by 8pm, we headed out at 5.30pm in the hopes of grabbing an early dinner and being home in time for the childrens bath time.  Both Italy528 and Philhellene are on Mt Alexander Rd and at 5.30pm it is pretty busy with peak hour traffic around there.... and it's a clearway til 6.30pm... so that sucks!

We drove past Italy528 and because it was so early, it was totes empty and didn't look very fun.  PLUS I've kinda promised to go there with another group of friends so we decided to leave it for another day.

Philhellene, on the other hand, looked warm, cozy and inviting.  There even was a parking spot at the front door!! Hazaar!!

We parked, got out and as we were headed towards to door, we noticed that we had in fact parked in the clearway and it was going to be a clearway for another 40 minutes.  Ok, so usually a clearway is pretty obvious but there was another car parked in front of us before we got there and I was more focused on food that street signage.  But we were just heading back to the car when a police car pulled up behind us with lights flashing.  EEEKK!  The cop jumped out of the car and was heading over... he looked kinda pissed off.  Thankfully I had the keys in my hand already and just started telling him that we just noticed the clearway signs and were heading off.  Honestly, in moments like these, being mega preggas helps!  He seemed happy with our response and started over to the car in front of us.

Just as we were pulling away, a young man ran over from across the street to the parked car and was trying to drive off before the cop could talk to him..... but he had no such luck. busted!

We drove around the block a few times and the traffic was insane and the parking was non-existant and I was hungry..... so we decided to leave Philhellene for another day.

At the time, the easy parking of Union Rd was just going to be another reason to try Stratus233.

We did find parking super easily, and again right at the door.  Gotta Love Union Rd!

We walked in and as it was only just after 6pm, we were the second table seated.  It gave me a chance to take a pic of the interior.

Stratus233

As you can see, the mood lighting makes the place look cozy and romantic, but doesn't do much for my already pretty pissweak photography skills.

The decor is rather pleasing.  Clean, neat.... plus I have a thing for wallpaper and theirs is kinda pretty.  The opposite wall (not in photo) is all horizontal wooden batons with fairy lights threaded through them.  I thought it looked really cute.  The space is not big and I'm guessing that is why they chose to have a bench seat running along the entire length of the room (the side with the wooden batons and fairy lights).  It allows for more tables, but the bench seat was really uncomfortable. It wasn't very wide, and I felt like I was in a half stand, half seated position.  Made my legs hurt.  poor me :(  

The staff were friendly and attentive and we were seated quickly and given menus and the specials of the day.

There seemed to be a descent wine list, but as I'm not really boozing it up these days, I didn't pay much notice to the details.  I did notice that they had a few shots listed though.

The food at Stratus233 is described as Modern Australian.
The actual food menu was not extensive,  maybe 12 entrees, about 18 mains options and about 6 desserts.  It seemed to have a bit of everything.  A few steaks, a few pasta/Italian dishes and a few Asian inspired dishes (Some Vietnamese, Thai, Balinese and Chinese style dishes).

We chose two entree (saganaki and pork spare ribs) and two main dishes (Balinese duck and Squid ink linguine with prawns).

Because we had missed out on Greek food at Philhellene, we decided to get the Grilled saganaki, black olive tapenade, lemon oil, parsley, red onion salad for entree.

It was... ok.... ish.

 

The cheese was over-cooked for my liking.  It had a rather thick and had a very crispy crust on both the top and bottom of the slice of cheese.  This would have been ok if the cheese in the middle was still soft and stringy, but it wasn't.  It was tough and chewy.  So once you sawed through the crust, it was like eating a salty eraser.  The olive didn't really do much for the dish either.  It would have been better with some actual whole olives, but the parsley worked well and was the redeeming feature of the dish.

The second entree was Twice cooked pork ribs, sticky soy and palm sugar glaze, fried shallots, Thai basil, bean shoots. 

It would have been a great dish but for a few things. The pork was tender and falling off the bone but it was a dry and in desperate need of a bit more of a sauce, even if it was just a bit more of the sticky soy.  Overall the flavours in the dish were good.  I found the Thai basil flavour to be a bit unexpected, but it was a pleasant surprise.  The main fail of the dish was the bloody bean shoots.  If you had a bite with a bean shoot, all you could taste was bean shoot.  It totally overpowered the whole dish.  They did provide an element of crunch and texture to the dish, but for me, the bean shoots were just a bit diabolical.  

I have to say that the service was really quite good and there was not much of a wait before the main dishes arrived.

Da huzband ordered the Squid ink linguini with tiger prawns, roasted cherry tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, white wine and parsley.

I only had a few bites of this dish and found the flavours to be very subtle.  Just a very gentle garlic and tomato flavour.  I couldn't taste any of the squid ink, which is disappointing because I actually really love squid ink.   I didn't have a prawn, but apparently they were well cooked, juicy and delicious.

I ordered the Balinese style slow roasted duck with wild rice, herb salad and pineapple pickle.  I was really looking forward to eating duck.  I LOVE duck!!!   I was intrigued by this 'Balinese style' duck and was excited to taste it.  It sounded really tasty and I was imagining it would have some amazing Indonesian spices and flavours..... but it didn't!  In fact it was rather awful.  The duck meat was overcooked, dry and tough. Even though the dish was slow cooked, I was hoping that the skin would have a bit of crispness to it, but it didn't.  I'm not sure what made it Balinese, because it really had not flavour profile at all.  It was bland.  Really bland.  The only elements on the dish that had any flavour at all were the Vietnamese mint, those bloody bean shoots and the pineapple pickle.  The mint was refreshing, though I'm not sure it added anything to the dish. It definitely wasn't enough to lift the flavours or redeem the dish. The bean shoots were just awful on the dish...again another dish ruined by the diabolical bean shoots!  The pineapple pickle was actually not too bad, but in order to make the rest of the dish palatable, I was going to need a lot more than they gave me.
Even the wild rice had no flavour!  In fact it wasn't til i checked the menu again that I even remembered it was on the dish. 
I only could manage a few bites of the dish. It really was awful and I just couldn't bring myself to eat anymore. 

 

 

We were planning on having dessert, but after my failed duck dish, I was still really hungry and just wanted to leave.  There actaully were a few interesting looking desserts on the menu, so I was a bit bummed to skip dessert, but I was just way too pissed off at how bad the duck was that i just wanted to leave.  I really have no patience for places that ruin food.

By the time we left, just after 7pm, almost all the tables were full.  I recognised a few locals having a meal, but it seemed like most of the room was full of larger groups celebrating things.  We were probably the youngest people eating there at that early hour.  

I'm not sure I will go back to Stratus233, but if I do it will be to try the desserts.  The local word on the street is that it's a win and a local treasure.  I'm not sure I'm buying it.  Shame tho.

I think the worst thing about going out for dinner and having it be a fail is that you still have to find something to eat somewhere else.  Thank goodness for good ol' Pazza Pizza at the other end of Union Rd!  we picked up a pizza on the way home, so at least I got to eat something enjoyable that night.

next time.... I think we will just wait til the clearway is over and try Philhellene!