Thursday, June 30, 2011

Review : Ad Lib Bistro (Double Bay) - CLOSED

21 Bay Street
Double Bay

9988 0120
doublebay@adlibbistro.com

Tuesday-Sunday:
Lunch (from Midday) and Dinner (from 5pm)
Saturday/Sunday:
Breakfast from 9am

It is yet another cold, wet & windy Sydney day. We need comfort food, something warming to the body & soul. We have long wanted to dine at Dietmar Sawyere's Ad Lib Bistro and today seemed a better day than most to sample his take on bistro fare.

Ad Lib Double Bay is quite a large space with a classic 'bistro' fitout (think dark, warm woods & classic white tablecloths).

The menu is also classic bistro with entrees that include: Duck Liver parfait, Onion marmalade; Onion Soup Gratinee; Roast Portobello mushrooms, snails & parsley crumbs....all very appealing.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Review : Gotham - CLOSED

35 Oxford St, Darlinghurst NSW

At the Hyde Park end of Oxford St.

Phone: 9283 1891

Email: info@gotham.net.au

Mon - CLOSED

Tue - Sat 5pm to midnight
Sun - CLOSED


As huge fans of Laif Etournaud's (ex-Onde, Bistro Moncur and Berowra Waters) style of cooking (mustard crumbed beef cheeks, anyone?), we are really keen to see what he is bringing to Gotham now that he has signed on as consultant chef.
When you add mixologist extraordinaire, Dane Reid (Jimmy Liks) to the mix....well Gotham becomes a must do destination....doesn't it?

The question proves rhetorical as Squeak and I decide to stop in for one of those midweek early dinners that help shake off the cares of the working week. With the name intrinsically entwined with a New York sensibility Gotham promises much in terms of moodiness and sophistication, so expectations are high as we step over the threshold.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Review : Pitt St Diner

96 Pitt Street Redfern

Breakfast & Lunch
Monday-Sunday

I love Redfern. I have lived in Redfern on & off over the years, before finally settling in the Inner West about 10 years ago.

Talk of Redfern's 'transformation' has been ongoing.... finally though, things seem to be chugging along.

We return to 'the Fern' this Sunday morning for a spot of breakfast at the relatively newly opened Pitt Street Diner.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Review : The Green Room Lounge

156 Enmore Road Enmore
8021 8451


Tues-Thur 5pm-midnight
Fri 5pm-1am  
Sat 2pm-1am
Sun 2pm-10pm

We are wandering down Enmore Rd (prior to Jennifer Coolidge), looking for a bite to eat & perhaps a drink or two.

Thanks to a prior visit we now know that Pickwick's is out.

As we pass the myriad of Thai, Indian & Turkish restaurants we spot a sign that reads 'The Green Room Lounge'.

Intrigued we peer in, looking beyond the Twin Peaks-esque red curtains to spy a very funky, 1950's styled lounge/bar.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Review : Bilson's.....The Revisit - CLOSED

Bilson's Restaurant

Radisson Plaza Hotel Sydney
27 O'Connell Street
Sydney NSW 2000


Phone:  8214 0496

Dinner Tues-Sat
6pm til late

After our recent dining experience at Bilson's, where we felt our expections were well & truly not met, we decide to try again to see if our second experience will bring those long held expectations to fruition.

This time dining on the L'Omnivore Petite menu ($145), we let all thoughts of our last visit go & start afresh.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Review : Pickwick's.... for dinner - CLOSED

129 Enmore Rd
Enmore

9557 2607
pickwicksbistro@gmail.com

Tue 8am-4pm
Wed-Sat 8am-11pm
Sun 8am-5pm

Our plan for the weekend was simple. Catch a movie on Saturday, potter about the house a bit in between, then lunch at the Four in Hand on Sunday. A spanner was thrown into the works when I spotted this comment on Pickwick's facebook page "All-day red wine braised beef cheeks / heirloom carrots / caramelized eschallots / garlic confit mashed potatoes". I am obsessed with beef cheeks, and as we had been meaning to revisit Pickwick's for dinner (after really enjoying their brunch), I convinced Buggles to forgo lunch at the Four in Hand in favour of dinner at Pickwick's.

When we arrive the restaurant is all but empty & we are sat in a dark corner under the stairs. We have forgotten that the restaurant is BYO, so I dash up the road & pick up, what turns out to be, a not so great Cooks Lot Pinot Gris (I really have to stop picking wine just because I like the look of the label).

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Review : Bedlam Bar + Food

University Hall
2-12 Glebe Point Rd
Glebe

02 9660 6999
info@bedlambar.com.au

Open from 5pm 7 days


Munson diner started it all for me. One bite of that double cheeseburger (American cheese of course), bereft of salad and I was hooked. The standard Aussie burger with its lettuce, tomato & beetroot would never really do it for me again.



Buggles and I have had a long obsession with American Diner food. We both used to frequent Arnold’s Diner (yes, modelled on the Happy Days one), at Darling Harbour back in the day. We were regular diners at the Hard Rock Café, which while not technically “American Diner”, was the closest thing we had to it at the time.
 So it will come as no surprise that we are loving the current “dude” food movement and their take on burgers, dogs & fried chicken.


There are, of course, your more traditional diners such as Jazz City Diner. Well, we were beside ourselves when we heard it was coming to town….now if they could just sort out the service end of things, we would be very happy campers indeed.


With all that said, we are huge fans of The Norfolk, so when we started to hear about a little spot in Glebe that was being compared to the Norfolk, we knew we just had to visit.