Patty and I first saw Chef Steven Walker-Duncan at the World Feast stage at Folkfest this year. We'd never heard of his restaurant, but he seemed like a likeable a guy, so we decided to check it out.

Tucked away in Centennial Square, SEC's on the Square (an acronym for Simply Elegant Cuisine), serves a tapas menu for lunch and dinner. Operated by the chef and his wife Lorinda the atmosphere is casual and friendly. With as many patio seats as interior seats, the decor is simple, but pleasant. However the purple tabletops do nothing to enhance the appearance of the food. Ryan was delighted to use the high quality and uber-absorptive napkins, which are apparently also highly recyclable. "Whoever makes the decisions here, makes good decisions," Ryan said with regard to the napkins. We later learnt that decision was the woman of the house, Lorinda. She also remarked, SEC's is of the few restaurants in Victoria who compost their food waste.

Now to business - the food was great! The chef clearly knows his stuff. His highly creative and well executed dishes impressed all three of us. I had the Beef Bourguignon from the daily special menu ($7.95). It arrived steaming hot, in a ceramic terrine topped with still crunchy green beans. Instead of the usual potato accompaniment, the bottom of the terrine was lined with cabbage. A nice change, especially for lunch, when I'm rarely looking for a starchy meal.

Patty, ordering from the regular menu, had the braised lamb patties ($3.95). They were as delicious as they were ingenious. The closest thing I can compare them to is a extremely tender tamale, stuffed with beautifully cooked lamb shoulder. He also had the oyster mushroom, goat cheese and roast garlic ravioli ($3.95). Not an overwhelming dish, but it had nice flavour and texture. The mushrooms in particular came through well, shredded but maintaining their mushroomy integrity.

Ryan took advantage of two of the daily specials, ordering a beet, heirloom tomato and fried goat cheese salad, as well as a bouillabaisse. The salad, although more common fare than the rest of the menu, was delicious and presented attractively. All the ingredients were fresh and how can you go wrong with deep fried goat cheese.  He really enjoyed his bouillabaisse, however, I thought it was nice, but strayed too far from the classic recipe for my taste.

For dessert we had a "mookie." With a name like that, we had to try it. Described as a hybrid of a muffin and a cookie it was nice without being too sweet. Ryan's chocolate brownie on the other hand, was as Lorinda suggested, "pure evil." That said, it was delicious.

We'll certainly be back to SEC's on the square to try out their dinner menu.

Also of note: SEC's does a strong catering business, with a selection of fairly high end buffet, full service and canapés options. 

Value of Food: 8/10

Quality of Food: 8/10

Service: 8/10

Ambiance: 6/10 (SEC's is more about the food at the moment)

Wine List: 5/10 (I know they have better in them)

  Reviewed: August 23, 2005