Southgate Moveable Feasts: Pure South, Waterfront, The Deck

The Deck

Disclosure: Alastair and I attended courtesy of Southgate and Fuller PR.

It was a cold, wet, winter’s night… that could be the beginning to a really bad novel, but it also perfectly describes Melbourne right now. And it was a cold, wet, winter’s night when Alastair and I headed down to Southgate recently for one of their Moveable Feasts.

Southgate Moveable Feasts is basically a progressive dinner/lunch, where diners have three courses at three different eateries in Southgate. The program is available for Sunday lunch and Monday dinner until early August, for $65 or $85, and a glass of wine accompanies the entree and main courses, and coffee/tea with dessert.

There’s 13 or so participating restaurants for the Moveable Feasts, and the ones that Alastair and I visited were Pure South, Waterfront and The Deck.


Pure South

We started the evening at Pure South for entree. This restaurant is dedicated to showcasing the best of Tasmania, and our entree consisted of four dishes utilising Tasmanian produce.

Uni

Hand-dived sea urchin, Jerusalem artichoke royale, native saltbush

Trout

House-smoked Petuna ocean trout, beetroot, Thorpe Farm horseradish, foraged herbs

Truffle doughnut

Tasmanian black truffle donuts, Red Cow Dairy triple cream brie

Meat

Springfield Farm free-range venison ‘teriyaki”, pickled mushrooms, daikon

I was pretty impressed by the food we were served at Pure South – to the point where I can’t pick a favourite out of the four dishes.

I think the sea urchin was a brave choice to put on a set menu – it’s certainly not something that everyone likes. In addition it was presented in a way that highlighted it rather than tried to hide its flavour (which was – according to Alastair – like accidentally sucking in a mouthful of water through a scuba regulator – yes, he wasn’t a fan).

As you can see, everything was beautifully presented – it was a good start to the evening.

Pure South
Southgate Precinct, 2/3 Southgate Ave
Southbank VIC 3006
Phone: 03 8657 8578
Web: puresouth.com.au

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The Waterfront

After that, we had a very short walk back inside the complex to The Waterfront for mains. They have an outdoor seating area that overlooks the river and right across Flinders Street Station. It was a pretty cold night, so my heart did sink when we were lead through the restaurant and outside, but fortunately the heaters above us did pump out a fair amount of heat and kept us from being too cold.

Beef cheek

I went for the braised beef cheek, which had been slow cooked until it was super tender. It came with mashed potato and carrots. While it was a fairly simple dish it was very pleasing on such a cold winter’s night.

Kingfish

Alastair’s main was the kingfish and mussels. I didn’t try any but it looked good – particularly that crispy skin on the fish.

I probably should’ve had fish for my main too, considering The Waterfront specialises in seafood, but who can pass up beef cheek? Not me.

Waterfront Seafood Restaurant
Southgate Precinct, 20/3 Southgate Avenue
Southbank VIC 3006
Phone: 03 9686 9766
Web: waterfrontsouthgate.com.au

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The Deck

We then moved on to The Deck for dessert. I’ve only ever had a drink at The Deck, so it was a good opportunity to try some of their food.

To finish off we could choose from several sweet items or three different cheeses.

Quince

I went for sweet – going for the quince mille feuille. This had layers of crispy pastry, cream, and slices of poached quince. It was a nice way to end the night, not being too heavy or sweet.

Cheese

Alastair had cheese, receiving a large wedge that came presented on a wooden board with jam and several different types of crackers/bread. There was actually quite a lot of cheese and crackers for one person.

The Deck
Southgate Precinct, U1/2 Southgate Ave
Southbank VIC, 3006
Phone: 03 9629 1350
Web: thedeckrestaurant.com.au

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Cheese

We had a good night out at Southgate and I enjoyed trying out the three different places. If you’re interested in finding out more, the full schedule is available on the Southgate website.

Southgate Moveable Feasts
From: Sunday 14 June 2015 – Monday 3 August 2015
Price: $65.00 / $85.00 (3 courses, a glass of wine and tea/coffee)
Where: Southgate Restaurant and Shopping Precinct, Melbourne
Web: southgatemelbourne.com.au