Giant Steps/Healesville Harvest

Over yonder, Ed asks "What is good service in a restaurant?"

Whatever the answer is, it isn't what I experienced at Giant Steps this afternoon.

I've been to GS twice before, and found the service efficient - if a little impersonal - and the food palatable. Today I found GS populated by "cannot-be-bothered-I-am-wonderful-what-on-earth-are-you-mere-mortals-doing-here?" types.

We waited for ages after being officiously bustled to a terrible table; requests for somewhere better were refused and then we were ignored. Plus the menu didn't excite me at all - so we left.

We ended up going to Healesville Harvest. My mother had their soup - chicken and spinach, with proper rustic toasted bread with what appeared to be parmesan - and I had a toasted eggplant, ricotta and spinach sandwich, which though a bit oily was pretty good. My macchiato was superb, my mother's cappucino looked excellent, and the flourless quince cake was amazing (the real distinction was that the nuts were quite roughly chopped).

So, Giant Steps - 0, Healesville Harvest - maybe one. (It was good, though not fabulous/)