Restaurant Review: Gold Class Cinema Doncaster (catered by Pearl Restaurant)

Link:http://villagecinemas.com.au/Cinemas/Gold-Class.htm

Overall impression of dining experience: 4/10

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Pearl Cafe

Phone: (03) 9427 1307

Address: 599 Church St, Richmond, 3121

Link :http://www.pearlrestaurant.com.au/

 

The Gold Class cinema experience has been marketed as quite an upmarket product. I have seen ads depicting women in cocktail dresses sipping on champagne and enjoying a fine dining experience in a comfortably large reclining seat alongside exclusive cinema patrons.

I have had my "Gold Class experience" a few times but it is never remotely close to the sensationalist marketing that we see on the telly. Last night, my bosom buddy, G, surprised me by taking me for dinner and Super 8 at Gold Class Village Cinema Doncaster. As I had heard that the catering is now being done by Pearl Restaurant, I was quite excited to see what the menu would be like and how it would fare in the scheme of things. Unfortunately, the food was at best, run of the mill café fare. To be fair, I should be more specific - Decent café standard.

It was unfortunate that it bore no resemblance to the food that I had had at Pearl. No, not even the more casual Pearl café. The prices were however, slightly steeper than the average café.

We started the night off with lobby drinks. I've made my mistake ordering wine/coffee from the cinema before so I decided to order a chai latte and it was very nice.

Soon it was time for the movie!

entree: chorizo arancini $14

risotto balls, chorizo

The arancini balls were perfectly seasoned, crusty without being overly greasy on the outside and chewy in the middle. The only problem was the fact that the chorizo as described was notably absent.

 Main: roast pumpkin pizza $21
roasted butternut pumpkin, feta, spanish onion, mozarella, fresh rocket

main: Chicken ceaser panini $22
poached chicken breast, crisp bacon, caeser dressing, baby cos lettuce
turkish bread, shoestring fries

The chicken breast was pleasantly moist. But the bacon was slightly 'soggy'. I suspect the juices from the poached chicken breast may have caused it so an error in assembling the pannini is probably to blame. The turkish bread tasted slightly parched but was very much in good (as oppose to in mint) condition.

dessert: sticky date pudding: warm rich butterscotch sauce, gippsland dairy double cream $15

The sticky date pudding was a winner for me. Unlike the usually dense and indulgent sticky date puddings, this one was light and fluffy but still very moist. Every morsel was moreish and the butterscotch sauce was applied generously across the plate, making it a very hearty dessert inspite of the lightness of the pudding itself.

dessert: baked cheesecake $15

classic new york style cheesecake , berry coulis, gippsland double cream

And we left the cinema replete, after what turned out to be a large meal for the both of us.

All in all, when it came to the dining experience, it was a disappointing one. Not that the food was unpleasant it just lacked the finesse one would have expected from Pearl. I guess in the same way, the dining experience at one of Neil Perry's restaurants do not translate to the food you get on board a Qantas flight, the dining experience at Pearl does not translate to the food you will be served with at Gold Class.

I do not take offence to cafe-style offerings. It is merely the manner in which the dining experience is held out that I find fault in.

Nevertheless, it was still an enjoyable experience as a whole. And I thought Super 8 was a very enjoyable film, although G and I both agreed that the ending was somewhat ridiculous.

Thanks my bb for a wonderful night out!