Max Bar and Restaurant

Location: 54-58 Hardware Lane, Melbourne
Link: www.maxbarrestaurant.com.au
Cuisine: Modern Australian

13 people for a birthday dinner and Max was my choice. Having been there quite a few times (including a work Christmas function), I knew that they were capable of handling large groups. I also knew that there was a pretty extensive menu meaning that everyone would be able to find something to eat.

So here was all the food we ordered...

Crumbed Calamari - lightly crumbed lemon and pepper calamari served on a bed of salad and tartare sauce

Thai Beef Salad - marinated beef with hokkien noodles, crunchy Asian salad and a Thai chilli dressing

Max Classic Caesar Salad - grilled chicken fillets, bacon, crispy cos lettuce, poached egg, croutons, parmesan and anchovy dressing

Special: Chicken and Chorizo Paella

Linguini Pescatore - seafood flamed in olive oil, garlic and herbs and napoli sauce

BBQ Chicken Pizza - marinated chicken pieces, baby spinach, pineapple, mozzarella cheese and garlic yoghurt

Chicken Max - char grilled chicken breast filled with roast capsicum and macadamia nuts, served on a potato rosti and drizzled with a light dijon cream sauce

Veal Scallopini - pan cooked baby veal in a white wine sauce with garlic mash and seasonal vegetables

Main sized crumbed calamari

Prawn & Scallop Risotto - tossed with fresh tomato, garlic, chilli, white wine and fresh herbs

Salmon Fettuccini - smoked salmon, onion, capers, tomato and spinach in a white wine cream sauce

This was beautiful. The salmon was cooked but only slightly, so that the smokey flavours still remained and the meat was nice and soft. The sauce was smooth and creamy, perhaps a little on the rich side, but the tomatoes, spinach and a squeeze of lemon juice tamed it a little. The serving size was a lot bigger than it seems to be in the picture.

T-bone Steak - grain fed T-bone with a jacket potato, seasonal vegetables and a mushroom jus

Pumpkin risotto

Italian Style Lamb Shanks - oven roasted with a red wine jus and served with garlic mash and seasonal vegetables

Gelato

The serving was as large as I had last time - when I ate it by myself. I always find the chocolate gelati doesn't quite fit in with the strawberry and what I think is either lemon or pineapple, but on its own tastes smooth and creamy.

Warm chocolate pudding with vanilla ice-cream

By all means, the dish of the night. The pudding was thin and wafery on the outside, and oozing with chocolately goodness on the inside. The chocolate sauce on the outside was rich and just sweet enough, and surprisingly did not cause a chocolate overkill with the chocolate goo inside. The ice-cream was just ice-cream, but necessary to balance out the richness of the rest of the plate.

Sticky date pudding with vanilla ice-cream

The food was pretty good value for money, especially the $27 two course meal deal. We were very disappointed with the waitress who served our table though - she was particularly rude and abrupt about how the deal worked. Generally the male waiters at Max are a lot more polite and friendly. She destroyed the restaurant's reputation for good service.

Overall Impression: 7.5/10