This new hotel restaurant looks the part, but some shaky service shatters the illusion

On first look, Coupette appears to get the formula just right. But the oversight of the whole, from food to staff training, is entirely wonky. Better to come for a decadent breakfast instead, reviews Besha Rodell.The first time I went to Coupette, the restaurant from Nathan Toleman’s Mulberry Group (Dessous, Hazel, Lilac Wine) in the bottom of the new Hannah St Hotel in Southbank, chaos reigned. The entrance from the street opens into a tiny room that houses the barista station, but at night also looks like a storage area, and not one of the five members of my party entered without asking a distracted worker if they were in the wrong place.When I made it up the stairs, the host stand was manned by a chef who was grappling with a blanket of spreadsheets, so frustrated he was swearing at his paperwork; he did not acknowledge the presence of customers.In the dining room, behind the bar, servers appeared to be assembling entrees, possibly for an event happening in another part of the hotel. The disarray came to a point that felt almost comical when, midway through our meal, a server smashed a coupe on the table. No one thought to replace our water glasses that were in the firing range of shattered shards.Steak frites.Simon SchluterTo say I was left confused is an understatement, particularly because the food told a completely different story. My sister, a steak obsessive, declared the $55 porterhouse one of the best hunks of meat she’d had in recent memory, and a bargain for the size and quality. I was annoyed that the whipped white beans with chilli and lemon, at $22, didn’t come with bread or any other vehicle, necessitating an order of $10 focaccia and making it a $32 snack … but not with the quality of the sproingy bread or creamy dip. Broccolini with lemon and capers and ricotta salata hit all the right pleasure points.Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox.Sign upThere seemed to be a major disconnect between the operation of the place – the customer experience – and the skill of the kitchen. It could be an off night, I guessed. I’d give it some time, come back.Coupette is a good example of the contradictions inherent in managing a hotel restaurant. On the one hand, Mulberry Group has wide experience in the Melbourne market, and typically excels at exactly the type of personality-driven, quality venues that help define the city.On the other, this is a place without an obvious audience, save for the vaguely captive one staying at the hotel. The location isn’t really a draw for foot traffic. It’s not particularly convenient to anything but the casino and the convention centre, unless you happen to live or work in the area. How to go about crafting an offering that might draw people to this corner of town, while satisfying the needs of a diverse array of hotel guests, isn’t as easy as it might seem.On first look, Coupette would appear to get the formula just right. Quality and comfort are emphasised, in a room that looks like a swank diner, with a bar at its centre and a curved wall of windows that look out onto … a highway underpass. It’s gritty! It’s urban! It looks like a Hollywood set for a 1950s movie about gangs in the Bronx!Ocean trout royale: hash brown topped with poached eggs, ocean trout and prosecco hollandaise.Simon SchluterInside, breakfast and brunch run all day long, and it was here I found Coupette at its most impressive. Service was still a bit shaky, but there were no swearing chefs or shattered glasses. There’s a list of specialty drinks that might help to convince any tourist that our city’s coffee reputation is deserved (I’m still dreaming about an iced coffee with salted cream situation that cost almost $10 and felt almost worth that price).The breakfast dishes are Melbourne cafe food at its best: an English muffin comes piled with sage-heavy breakfast sausage, egg, cheese and bacon; a thick, crispy hash brown is topped with poached eggs, silky hunks of ocean trout and prosecco hollandaise. If I were anywhere near this part of town before noon with a hangover or a hankering for breakfast decadence, I’d go out of my way to get to Coupette.But dinner remains shaky. It’s slow, or has been when I’ve visited, and customers are easily forgotten. There are dishes on the dinner menu that don’t rise to the occasion: a duck liver parfait cannoli that shatters in your hands and is full of too salty, too loose, almost gritty liver goo; smoked anchovies draped across charred jalapenos that obliterate the fish with their spiciness.Crab salad draped with sliced turnip.Simon SchluterSmart cooks have influenced this kitchen, as evidenced by breakfast, the steak and a lovely, cooling crab salad draped with whisper-thin slices of turnip. But the oversight of the whole, from food to staff training, is entirely wonky. (One night, when I asked if we might take our leftover pasta with us, the waiter came back with a coffee cup in lieu of a takeaway box. Points for creativity!)The ingredients for a successful hotel restaurant can be slightly at odds with the formula for a standalone business. Where creativity, buzz and a certain dash of soulfulness are the things that often matter for a regular restaurant, the hotel venue must cater primarily to guests, a customer base that’s looking for comfort and convenience rather than excitement.In some ways, Coupette juggles this conundrum well. They serve a good burger! Not the best burger, but something I’d be happy to order for room service, or as a dinner on the go. But in other ways – some of the more important ways – eating here feels like testing a learning curve that’s a smidge too steep.The low-down Atmosphere: Sunny modern diner meets Melbourne cafe Go-to dishes: Steak frites ($55); crab salad ($28); ocean trout royale ($34, breakfast menu) Drinks: Smart, creative cocktails; a wine list for every taste and budget; great specialty coffee drinks during the day Cost: About $130 for two, excluding drinks at dinner; about $50 at breakfast Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.From our partners