Two patties,sticky plastic cheese,bacon and the"coup de glaze"– a bordelaise peppered with jewels of roasted beef marrow turning the whole thing into an outlandishly unctuous beast that could calorifically power you across the Antarctic.
How to eat it? Not alone,that's for sure. Sharing between four,we adopt a tactic of interspersing bites with slugs from our three-sip martinis in the same way you might nip kirsch to neuter fondue. Too much? It sure is,and it's about time Melbourne joined that party.
For the past three years,restaurants have been countering philosophically minded or wellness-oriented cooking with opulent luxury. See:the Grill in New York,which returned the likes of rib-eyes carved tableside and flaming peach melbas to glory. Sydney'sRestaurant Hubert,with its grand aiolis,and oeufs en gelee has been trolling Melbourne since 2016.
Melbourne has tried New York nostalgia.The Mayfair supper club (RIP) andNatural History Bar and Grillboth arrived dolled up to the nines. But neither quite managed to set the scene.
But the Madrusans? They do theatre. Their cocktail bar the Everleigh is a direct porthole to golden era drinking,and if you've been to their rock diveHeartbreaker and not emerged shoeless,congratulations. Here at Margaux,with chef Daniel Southern in their corner,they've made the leap across the fated bar baron-restaurateur ditch with relative success.
Bar Margaux isn't as aspirational as Hubert. Southern isn't trying to say something with his steak,his duck frites,or the escargot drowning in so much butter the dish is essentially DIY (dunk it yourself) garlic bread with bonus protein. It's a menu designed to be impressive,yet bulletproof enough for a large chunk of it to be cooked by a graveyard shift.