Counting House in Mornington serves up stunning steaks

A beloved Mornington landmark has been given a new lease on life and if there’s one thing you can count on here, it’s a bang for your buck steak.

Fall from the bone lamb ribs are perfect with a $10.50 pint of Furphy

Down on the Mornington Peninsula and fancy a steak dinner?

Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Go directly to Counting House.

This one time State Savings Bank of Victoria was, many moons ago, a very good French restaurant that evolved into a more easy-beachy-breezy offering but for the past couple of years housed a stream of seasonal city pop ups.

Just off Mornington’s Main St drag, it enjoys a lovely vista of palm-fronded sunsets and it just needed a good eye and some TLC to bring it back to life.

That love has come from seasoned hospitality veteran, Lino Scidone of La Camera, who’s teamed with long-time employees Jana Lipold out front and Arbel El Sharafy in the kitchen to deliver a similar kind of people-pleasing offering — though the menu here is less Italian and more peripatetic pub.

It’s a knockout: the scotch fillet with pepper sauce on side is as good as a steak dinner gets Connolly

Five months of hands-on renos delivered two handsomely kitted-out dining rooms, a covered deck area and additional outside seating that was coveted upon opening in late summer but will still make the rugged-up most of winter’s sun.

Inside, bright and white is offset by comfortable soft leather banquettes and wooden chairs in various shades of distressed stain upholstered in denim-style linen. A bit of greenery, a few artful twigs hanging from the ceiling and a couple of historic posters on the wall and you have a space for both lazy lunch and family friendly feed.

A selection of small plates or “tapas” quickly gets things rolling, and while it’s nothing you haven’t seen before it’s perfectly pleasant, pleasing stuff.

The lobster roll with a side of chips

Cut curls of cuttlefish are nicely done, dusted in semolina and quickly fried tender. A terrific little aioli with a burst of fresh mint is on dunking duties ($14.50), while miso-marinated lamb ribs are as fall-from-the-bone as you’d hope, the more-ish, umami-amped meat tender with a touch of chew. Our waiter warned they were fatty upon ordering — as is the nature of that cut — which is a deft way to cut complainers off at the pass, obviously born from experience ($16).

Spicy Jamaican wings deliver as promised, leaving a good tickle of chilli on the lips long after the meat has been sucked from the bone and as far as beer food goes, they’re pretty good ($13.50). In somewhat of a missed opportunity, only two locals are offered, with the rest made up of Lion big hitters — James Squire, Boag’s, Heineken — but I guess no one’s complaining about $10.50 pints of Furphy.

The small wine list is a better proponent of a shop local ethos, with nicely chosen examples — Montalto pinot; Crittenden chardonnay; Yabby Lake syrah — rounded out an equally keen selection from further afield at fairly fair mark ups.

Guilty as charged: the spicy chicken wings

While the lobster roll will likely be a dish that jumps out at many as a must-order, ours needed more crustacean to properly warrant the title. Nothing wrong with the other bit — a long buttermilk bun lightly toasted and buttered was pretty good on its own — and the rest of mayo mix with capers for bite and radishes for crunch works well ($18.50).

Bigger plates include a pot of Flinders mussels that are very good but not the best down here — for that head to Sorrento for the version at Morgan’s. The picante Provencale here is spicy number that comes with half a toasted garlic bread baguette and is also offered in a blue cheese version, should you be that way inclined ($28).

The handsome dining room post five months of renos. Pictures: Nicki Connolly

There’s a parma on offer and a handful of burgers headlined by the ”monster” that had a perfect patty-to-bun ratio — the former a nicely seasoned pink-cooked puck teamed with melted plastic cheese, lettuce and tomato; the latter a proper old-school sesame-flecked number ($17.90).

While a couple of sausages ($6.90 each) from the grill had spent too long on it and were on the dry side of disappointing — and also highlight the kitchen’s overuse of a “bed of rocket” on which most proteins seem to come — no such issues with the knockout roasted cauliflower, drizzled with tahini and finished with tarragon ($12.50).

The deck area for drinks in the sun at Counting House.

And those steaks? Sourced from the Strathbogie Ranges and dry-aged for 28 days, there’s a black angus porterhouse ($39) and eye fillet ($45) on offer, but the scotch we tried was, quite simply, flawless.

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With a perfect, salt-flecked caramelised crust that gave way to a blushing pink inner, the slightly sweet meat with its iron tang countered by a line of rich, rendered fat was as good as I’ve eaten in ages.

It didn’t need the slightly bitter pepper sauce it came served with, but the few skin-on chips next to it were fine ($42).

With sunny staff, a well-pitched soundtrack and that steak, yep, I reckon you can bank on a good time here.

Counting House

787 Esplanade, Mornington

countinghousemornington.com.au

Ph: 5975 2055

Open: Tues from 5pm; Wed-Sun from noon

Go-to dish: Scotch fillet steak

Score: 13/20