Ford Street Enoteca (formerly Ox and Hound Bistro) — Restaurant in Northern Victoria Region

Lovely food, restaurant overhyped, menu oddly paired, waiting staff rude

The meal was nice, mismatched with odd incohesive vegetables. Sauces solid 6/10

The wait staff upon entry will look at you as if aren't welcome, like they are expecting you to say "sorry we don't have a booking". The following surprise is an almost genuine condescending smile.

Our table waiter did his best to talk us onto the most expensive wine after we told him tonight we opted for the more affordable ( still $50 - $70 ) options. He was clearly unimpressed with our low budget chianti ( Which, I still thought was delightful) Very professional table service, cutlery, napkins, pronunciations, wine tasting/ pouring. Even tried to be personable, engaging in small talk. Unfortunately he spoke over the top of me every time I tried to engage.

Meals were delicious and moist - we each had differing meat mains, but as mentioned, pairing was questionable. Maybe chef is trying to punch above his creative weight?

We weren't rude whatsoever - we make a point of always being polite, keeping our opinions to ourselves and not causing a scene.

After which the waiter kindly brought us both a single trial of the local $96 wine he was pushing. Yes lovely gesture. Incredible Pinot. From my heart I appreciate the offer, however, was a "frick you, look what you missed".

While my boyfriend went to the toilet I took the chance, I sneakily went up to go pay, to get him back for never letting me contribute to fancy dinners.

At EFTPOS time, as the machine is thrust under my face, ready to tap away, the staff member was like "oh no you need to push the button please" Read the screen... PLEASE ENTER TIP AMOUNT IF $0.00 PRESS ENTER... Pressed enter (Reasons for not tipping: #1 in Australia no tip, #2 food was good, not GREAT, #3 the staff are grating) Do u want a receipt darl? -oh no thank you.

The second the host and out table waiter exchanged quiet words, then oh boy did his attitude change to worse. It went from just "taking over" to "talking over, talking down, look of disgust, instant lack of interest, customer service off mode"

The food here is good but not good enough to save the high attitudes of the staff which seem to have an over inflated...

I wanted to badly but missed the chance to thank the chef personally for our meal, hence my speaking here.

I don’t write reviews, I think it’s a bit pointless since visiting a bistro is a tumultuous blend of unreachable subjectivity, the personal limit of one’s own capacity for heightened experience, ones own history, one’s own palate, one’s own capacity for curiousity, pleasure, love, enjoyment, one’s choice in table mate etc… it’s all too personal to prescribe a visit, though I highly recommend it…

Every dish I tried at the ox and hound were all gorgeous, razor sharp, balanced, the height of divine simplicity (simple here bears no weight to “common”, simple is highly unattainable to the infrequent or heartless cook)

The FOH with the blonde ish hair had more panache and life and vision than most, truly gripped the guts of what hospitality should be, honest, full of character… she really elevated the entire experience with her knowledge, direction, and her gregariousness in catering to our experience.

Paradoxically, I feel dizzy recalling the so very grounding balance achieved over and over again in every dish… we paired the goats cheese soufflé (pleasure incarnate), the saffron Milanese risotto (golden grains of purity) and the chicken (wonderful) with local genius Mark Walpole’s fighting gully road Chardonnay (21)

I will forever dream of the wild rabbit chestnut fettucini, it gave me access to some ancient memory that I couldn’t possess prior to it… nestled warmly into my soul kindly for the barolo… that liquid world contained in a mouthful (Cascani Dardi 2007 bussia reserva)… gently encouraging the arms of the toothsome pinkish strands to coil in a hug from the motherland to which I’ve never touched… real Disney’s Pixar Ratatouille flashback moment.

All delight, from the damper-recalling bread with its house churned savoury frosting to the honey pudding that hummed lo to the reaches of the heart… singing the song of beechworth, is what I heard…

Order all three sides, and order as much as you can carry.

Much love from Brisbane, will think of that Wednesday evening often until I can...

We were excited to visit Th Ox and Hound in Beechworth and were not disappointed. After much deliberating I chose the Mushroom and Creme Fraiche Vol au vent and my other half chose the Gnocchi with Gorgonzola. Both dishes were perfect, the puff pastry case was so flaky and gorgeous and the variety of chunky mushrooms was delicious. The Gnocchi was pillowy and light. We both opted for the Eye Fillet, we asked for med/rare, the steak was seasoned and cooked to perfection and served with a cauliflower dauphinoise (so good) finished with a red wine Jus. We chose all the sides, creamy mash potato, Broccoli and a salad. Every side was perfectly presented and the creamy mash was exactly that. If you don't like butter don't bother. For me it is an essential ingredient and the mash and Broccoli had the perfect amount. Finally we went with the honey Pannacotta served with honeycomb, natural honey and honey ice cream. The pannacotta was perfection and made with all cream, delectable. We never wanted our lunch to end. The Giaconda Cab Sav was the perfect wine to pair with it all. Thanks guys...