Debutant — Restaurant in Wollongong City Council

We arrived about 15min early for our booking and were greeted by very friendly staff who were apologetic that our table wouldn’t be ready until our allocated time. There is no bar to have a drink at while you wait but we were happy to hang out near the meat ageing locker and “stalk our prey” so to speak.

Right on time we were shown to our table. The decor is crisp and modern with marble table tops, white cloth napkins and high quality tableware. The ambiance is relaxed and very pleasant. There isn’t really a view anywhere in the restaurant other than onto Keira Street but it’s the steak and service that make this place not the view. A special mention needs to be given to the seating; super comfortable as many people have mentioned in their reviews.

We were served by a lovely member of the wait staff who explained the specials and a little about the establishment. She looked after us throughout the evening which was nice.

We started with a the charcuterie board to share. Everything was fresh and of exceptional quality. For five people it was just enough to wet our appetite and we were provided with a few more bread rolls to help with finishing off the delicious duck liver pâté.

We didn’t want to fill up too much before the main event so we shared a few entrees. The cheese soufflé was creamy and packed with flavour, this is a filling dish that we were glad was shared between two. Just myself and one other at the table indulged in the Sydney rock oysters which were freshly shucked and hit the spot with that amazing taste of the ocean. The mignonette is quite strong so if you like to savour the taste of the oyster go light on adding this condiment.

The mains arrived shortly after entrees and were accompanied with a beautifully dressed green salad and frites which we all shared. We were also presented with a wooden box the likes of which muster thoughts of a cigar box in a gentleman’s club, however we were not to select cigars but our fighting gear for the meal ahead... steak knives for each person. A nice touch that added a little theatre to the evening.

Three of our group had the steak and frites which is a piece of sirloin cooked to order. They recommend medium rare and I encourage you to take this advice because it will leave you with the best cooked piece of steak with a lovely rich sauce.

One of our group chose the beef cheek and it really was a dish that delivered on every level. Perfectly cooked fall apart beef cheeks with silky mash potatoes, a few carrots to give some balance and a rich sweet port jus, this dish was a stand out!

You cannot go to a steak house and not review their signature fare so I went with some of their dry aged beef. Their pasture feed rib eye is dry aged for 40+ days and with the 500g portion setting you back $85 expectations were high. The steak comes out sliced and removed from the bone topped with café de Paris sauce. This could quite easily be the best steak I have ever eaten. The meat was cooked to perfection, tender and with some beautiful marbling that melted in your mouth. The sauce was excellent; light and fresh, enough to compliment the steak but not take over.

We shared a bottle of their GSM wine. A blended red from the Barossa Valley. A beautiful drop which went perfectly with our red meat fare.

We finished the evening with some coffee and deserts. The crème caramels were stand outs and delicious. We also ordered the tart of the day which was a custard and a lemon tart. Both were house made and fresh but the custard a little too eggy and the lemon a little too tart to the palette. These weren’t bad or not tasty just slightly less refined than the rest of the dishes we had tried. The coffee was perfect and a great closer to a wonderful dining experience.

Debutant is not inexpensive and paying $85 for a steak is not something I would do regularly. But for a nice treat and to experience amazing steak it is worth a visit. All up we spent less than $100 per head which is good for this level of service and food.

Update: just had the new Grand Banquet!! Amazing!...

My wife and I went on Saturday night to try something new. We were looking forward to the French cuisine on offer. The service was quick but lacked a little professionalism, however, given the restaurant had only opened three day prior we could understand. The atmosphere was great, as well the decor. When we sat down and glanced over the menu's we were excited, such wonderful sounding food on offer. However we were left disappointed. We both order the twice cooked Gruyere cheese souffle for entree and unfortunately only the dead centre of it was enjoyable, the rest was not that soft cloud like texture you are expecting, however, there was still nice flavour. The mains were next, my wife ordering the confit di canard (duck leg) which was a little dry and lacking in sauce and I ordered the sweet potato agnolloti which i have to say was excellent and would highly recommend. We also ordered a side of the charcoal roasted brocolloni which to say was underwhelming in size but did have some nice flavour. The final course of desert, I ordered the duck fat chocolate tart which had good flavour but definitely needed the vanilla bean ice cream and strawberry to cut through the heaviness (though more strawberries would have been nice). My wife ordered the strawberry mille feuille, unfortunately, this was the biggest let down of the night as the presentation was lacking (I understand it would be a hard dish to present but having it on it's own on a massive plain white plate with no accompaniments does not help) and for the price of $14 was essentially a waste of money as it looked like something you'd fined in the local bakery for $4 and could cooked ourselves for even less, not even the taste saved it as there was nothing special about it (would highly recommend not ordering this for desert). Whilst obviously neither of us ordered the steak (one of their marketed highlights) we were both left disappointed with the size and flavour of most of our meals. Neither of us had been particularly hungry (hence why we didn't order any steak) but we were both left feeling hungry and actually ended up elsewhere needing to satisfy our hunger, which I was disappointed at as I have never left a restaurant after having three meals hungry. There is potential for this restaurant to be great as the flavours of the meals were showing but with such small portions for such high prices and the failure to wow us with the dishes means we won't be returning. Such a shame that the night was a disappointment as we had been looking forward to a new restaurant that offered...

My partner and I dined here on a Saturday evening, debutant has been on my “must try” list for a while now and after receiving a gift card we decided to finally bite the bullet.

Food was beautiful, my partner isn’t a big meat eater so he was unsure before we arrived but the menu had some great options for someone that isn’t keen on a chuck of meat on a plate.

We ordered several items being a special occasion and definitely over ordered.

3 Coffin Bay Oysters, 3 Sydney rock. Aged Blackmores 9MBS striploin Ratatouille Greuyre Soufflé Frites French salad Dutch carrots and the profiteroles for dessert.

Everything was Devine but the standout was definitely the steak, it was the most beautiful, melt in your mouth steak with a rich, slightly smokey flavour. For $135 for 220g it is one of their most expensive streaks however it was worth every penny, the bordelaise sauce was not needed with this steak but was a great accompaniment. I would recommend sharing this steak as it is very rich due to the fat running through the meat however I still enjoyed every bite.

My partner loved the Ratatouille, it was well portioned to be eaten as a main and the Dutch carrots and frites were a great accompaniment.

The greuyre soufflé was cooked perfectly however I found it quite heavy on the stomach- perhaps skip this if you’re ordering a few items or indulging a steak for one.

The waiter and waitresses were attentive and accommodating, the cocktails were lovely and we both left very full and satisfied.

I’ll definitely come back here for a special occasion and would love to try out their well...