Longhorn Saloon

Brothers Will and Mick Balleau created a little bit of magic last year with their flawless revamp of the old Glasshouse Hotel, rechristened Le Bon Ton. They breathed new life into the old Collingwood pub, giving it a woozy N'awlins makeover and nailing a greatest-hits menu of pit-smoked meats, drippy burgers and calorific sides. Longhorn is the inevitable sequel: bigger, more ambitious, hungry to satisfy a larger audience. But will it strike the same box-office gold?

It still seems to be finding its feet after opening in March, and has tweaked the formula substantially after losing high-profile head chef Nick Stanton to the south-side Sweetwater Inn just two months into the role. Pierre Khodja, ex-Terminus at the Flinders Hotel, has stepped up to run the kitchen, stripping back the  menu to a single-page document split into three sections: snacks, the grill and sides.

During the day, the place is called 5 Points Deli and serves sandwiches as thick as romance novels until 4.30pm. At night the lights go down and it morphs into a slinky steakhouse, Longhorn Saloon, with an upstairs dining room open on Friday and Saturday nights, unless it's busy, which it isn't on the two nights I visit.

They've done a ripper job with the fit-out – low sepia bulbs, chesterfield couches, varnished brick, elaborate copper panelling, and a blazing wood-fired grill emitting a pungent campfire aroma that comes home with you on your clothes.

Cocktails are a big thing here, mostly boozy standards with an American twang. Big Trouble/Little China (*Kurt Russell not included) is a tart, limey breakfast martini that disappears in four sips. There's a solid range of local wines, American beers, whiskies, you name it. It's a compelling list.

Food-wise, the snacks deliver the goods. There are oysters, burgers, a taco and several deep-fried things, including the heartstopping poutine; a nacho-ish mound of over-seasoned fries tossed with chunks of smoked pastrami piled over rich onion gravy and covered in melted mozzarella. I could go face down in these and call it a night.

The signature Reuben is a thing of beauty, inspired by the monster sandwiches of New York City. Two slabs of toasted dark rye bread barely hold a bonanza of flaky corned brisket, stretchy Swiss, balanced sauerkraut and piquant Russian dressing, with a generous handful of translucent barbecue chips and a juicy pickle on the side. I'm still thinking about it.

Black-eyed pea salad with discs of fried green tomatoes, dabs of jalapeno cream, shreds of parsley, cucumber and cherry tomato offers a welcome burst of freshness.

Over on the grill, the classic New York strip steak ticks all the boxes. Grain-fed, cross-hatched angus beef is cut into thick, blushing segments served with al dente broccolini stems and smooth, just-warm mashed potato and plenty of gutsy jus. It's a well executed dish that would stack up at any high-end steakhouse around town.

Other main dishes are thin on the ground. The Chingon Chicken is  some nicely barbecued  Hazeldene's chook with a sloppy "Spanish rice" reminiscent of Old El Paso, sprinkled with curls of corn chips – it's something you might find on pay day in a Northcote share house.

Dessert is a brief list, including a pie of the day (maybe a deep-dish apple number), a cake of the day (lemon cake with lemon curd on both visits) and an ever-reliable warm chocolate brownie sundae with everything. It's a puddle of butterscotch chocolate syrup with a slab of nutty cake topped with an oozing scoop of vanilla ice-cream and a flutter of toasted coconut. What's not to like?

Indeed, there's not much to dislike about Longhorn, but I'm left feeling as if the place is trying a bit hard to please everyone. It's like a hipster version of TGI Fridays, which isn't necessarily a bad thing if you're looking to cover all the bases.

While there are some stellar breakout performances, as sequels go, it's not quite as good as the original.

THE LOWDOWN
Pro tip The epic Reuben sandwich can be shared between two.
Go-to-dish 300g New York strip steak with jus, broccolini and mashed potato, $35.
Like this? Entrecote is serving fancy steak, burgers and oysters with a side of Euro glitz at 131-133 Domain Road, 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