The Sydney Morning Herald logo
Advertisement

Deja Vue

Gemima Cody
Gemima Cody

Deja Vue is an all-day operation.
Deja Vue is an all-day operation.Simon Schluter

13/20

French$$$

Rare is the person who fails to complain about being stationed for work on St Kilda Road. The leafy artery is a people-rich, fun-poor mystery. I can't rightly promise that the arrival of Deja Vue will change that – even if it does boast the potent pulling power of esteemed chef Philippe Mouchel. But I can say this: few city workers can currently boast the same calibre of roast chicken roll competition. 

At number 403 you'll find the latest branch of Earl Canteen and its fat, soft rolls rammed with roasted chicken and hummus. Here, on the old Cafe Vue site, which Mouchel has claimed on a seven-month lease and left as pink and white as ever, the Normandy-born chef is answering with the rotisserie chicken for which Melbourne went five shades of crazy at PM24 (RIP). 

It's here in all its burnished glory, with skin-on potatoes, roasted garlic and subcutaneous flavour layer of parsley butter intact. As part of the bistro menu, it arrives in soft and juicy sections napped in jus, kicking back over a bitey swipe of celeriac dijonnaise. Come for lunch and you can also get it twixt bread to go. 

Advertisement
Rotisserie chicken with celeriac dijonnaise, roast potatoes and garlic.
Rotisserie chicken with celeriac dijonnaise, roast potatoes and garlic.Simon Schluter

Were the good times to start and end with that bird you'd come, eat and die happy. Idiosyncratic venues are the future, and just imagine how great a focused offering by the talented chef could be.

I say this because if you worship Mouchel – and you should – you'll want to love Deja Vue. But as a complicated all-day outfit serving everything from breakfast to cocktails to takeaway salads and bronuts (fried brioche smothered in Nutella), in a space not wholly its own, led by a very talented chef who's been out of the game for a while, you'll appreciate they don't get it all right every time.  

There's no faulting some of the classics. A butternut veloute is textbook, its 'berg of cream melting into a satiny, balanced soup. Word is, the classic cheese souffle with broad beans is a far lighter version than our dense jerusalem artichoke number, marred by a thin parsnip puree, though compensated for by thick shavings of black truffle. 

Flaming creme brulee.
Flaming creme brulee.Simon Schluter
Advertisement

Charcuterie boards are an easy win, laden with salty pork rillettes and chicken liver parfait in pretty little pots. If you want to lunch large on St Kilda Road, you might order a half bottle of Krug Reims for $165 from a French-leaning list. 

Overzealous refrigeration is an issue, sucking some life from a trio of tartare (carrot and caraway, classic beef topped with celeriac, and a diced salmon number with a slightly curried cream). Radishes arrive planted in chocolate soil with a fishy compound butter speckled with tiny roe that's a bit of a battle of flavours in the first instance, and too hard to scoop in the second.

Is it enough to hop the tram across town for? Maybe, if you're a card-carrying Mouchel fan. The man is here and doing tours of the floor. And perhaps his presence on this side of the pass, guiding dishes out rather than manning the pans, offers explanation as to why our perfectly cooked hanger steak (served with buttery mash as part of a $35 lunch deal with an entree and side) is intensely salty from a shallot dressing and a reduction overdone.

It's definitely not all a loss when service is astute and the creme brulee arrives on fire, just like a sizzling platter at your local Chinese in the '80s. And between it all is that chicken. Perhaps tighter focus could improve Deja Vue, but you could always just tighten your own. Beam in on the bird. Eat and leave happy. Be glad to be back in the hall of the poultry king. 

THE LOWDOWN
Pro tip The lunch deal gets you two courses and a side for $35
Go-to dish The rotisserie chicken, with celeriac dijonnaise, roast potatoes and garlic ($35) 
Like this? Bistro Gitan does bistro classics with a Spanish kick and is right around the corner. 52 Toorak Road West, South Yarra

How we score
Of 20 points, 10 are awarded for food, five for service, three for ambience, two for wow factor.  
12 Reasonable 13 Solid and satisfactory 14 Good 15 Very good 16 Seriously good 17 Great 18 Excellent 19 Outstanding 20 The best of the best

Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox.

Sign up
Gemima CodyGemima Cody is former chief restaurant critic for The Age and Good Food.

From our partners

Advertisement
Advertisement