Brita’s — big steaks and five-egg omelettes

Press, Issue 33842, 14 May 1975, Page 15

Brita’s — big steaks and five-egg omelettes

Brita’s steak and omelette bar in Gloucester Arcade, near the State Theatre, has earned a reputation for serving generous, tasty meals at reasonable prices. Although Brita's specialises in steak and omelettes, fish, curry and chicken are available, and the pancakes offered for desert are particularly popular.

The atmosphere in the restaurant is very pleasant. The walls are lined with wooden panels and each table will seat four. The tables are set in booths, with curtains separating them which makes it intimate but not oppressive. Prints of old masters add to the atmosphere.

Steak dishes are served with jacket or chipped potatoes on a cast-iron plate set on a wooden base, which is attractive and keeps the food pleasingly hot. Most diners choose to have a side salad with their meals. The salad — there are always 10 vegetables to choose from —is arranged in elegant wooden bowls at the counter, and the diner serves himself. It costs 50c extra, but vegetarians may have a salad on its own at 90c. The range of vegetables in the salad includes potato salad, cole slaw, lettuce, curried beans, mixed beans, beetroot, tomatoes, eggs, and cheese.

Soup of the day is available, and the entrees, which serve more than adequately as light meals, are deep fried sole fillet, mushrooms on toast, beef curry and rice, prawn cocktail, and crayfish when it is available. Prices range from 95c to $1.30.

The steaks, which are cooked on a gasfired "Charglow” grill and taste as if they have been barbecued, are always the best available foi* the price and cost from $1.95 for a ribeye to $2.95 for filet mignon. Pork chops and ham steak Hawaiian are also offered. If fish is preferred there is deep fried fillet of sole served with lemon wedges, chipped potatoes and tartare sauce. The omelettes are deservedly popular — and very filling. Five eggs are used in each omelette and the fillings include cheese, mushroom, tomato, asparagus, chicken, ham, ham and pineapple, and prawns. The prices range from $1.70 to $2.10.

One of the most popular dishes on the menu is Indian beef curry served with rice for $l.BO. Only the best quality fillet steak is used and the seiwings are very generous. Other main course dishes include deep fried chicken in a basket ($2.25), ham salad ($1.85), salmon salad ($1.95), and prawn or crayfish ($2.30).

Mr lan Stephenson, the owner and chef, says that although Brita’s seats only 54, he serves about 250 meals every Friday night. Sometimes there is a queue out the door and down the arcade, which shows how popular the restaurant is.

In spite of the intense pressure on the kitchen at this time, Mr Stephenson refuses to compromise the quality of the cooking. He has been forced to drop pancakes and entrees from the menu on Friday evenings between 6 and 9, but apart from this, diners are assured of a good choice of attractively presented and very tasty food. Brita’s serves many lunches — it is open from 9 a.m. Monday to Friday — and sandwiches and cakes are available to eat there or take away from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.. The restaurant closes at 9 p.m. from Monday to Thursday, 11 p.m. on Friday, and is open on Saturdays from 4.30 to 11 p.m. and Sundays from 4.30 to 8.30 p.m.

The full menu is available from 11 a.m. until closing time on weekdays, which suits business people and tourists who sometimes need a full meal at odd hours during the afternoon or evening.

There is no cover charge and coffee, tea and very good iced chocolate are available, often after 11p.m. on Friday and Saturday evenings.

The pancakes served at Brita’s are generously sized and offered with maple syrup, pineapple, chocolate, lemon, banana or strawberry fillings, at 80c or 90c. lan Stephenson used to own the Attic coffee bar on the corner of Cashel and Colombo Streets, has worked in hotels and catering, and at one point owned a fishing boat. Now he and Terry Shaw, the other chef, spend a lot of time in the kitchen at Brita’s, but he is still enthusiastic about food and determined to keep the standard of Brita’s as high as it is now.