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Bowery Lane, Sydney
I have heard so many good things about Bowery Lane, especially about the burger and the lamb ribs. I first came here for lunch with an ex-colleauge, and then back again with my brother for lunch. Bowery Lane can be found on O’Connell Street, and serves diners breakfast, lunch and dinner.
I love the cute 2 seater booth, the open kitchen. The restaurant was a lot bigger than I thought, we walked around and was pleasantly surprised at how big the venue that was! The menu is quite vast, and everything sounded delicious.
I opt for the pork cotoletta with slaw, garlic aioli, lemon and sea salt (AUD27) – it was one of the biggest schnitzel I have ever had, it was bigger than my head! The flavours were great, but I thought this was a little dry, even with the garlic aioli. It was ok but not fantastic, thought my mum’s schnitzel was infinitely better!
My ex colleague had the sherry marinated globe artichokes, ancient grains heirloom carrots, goats curd and beets (AUD25). It was quite a pretty dish and apparently very tasty! However, he expected the artichokes to be clean, so easy to eat, however, he had to peel the skin off himself which he thought was a little troublesome.
We also had the baby cos – peas, beans and mint (AUD14) which was very fresh, light and refreshing.
On my second visit, I came with my bro, F, for lunch. We shared the braised wagyu short rib, horseradish cream and roasted garlic (AUD58) and my goodness, this was superb! the beef was melt-in-you-mouth tender with the right amount of fat! THe horseradish cream was a wonderful complement, and oh my my, even though it was a huge serving, we both managed to finish it! It was seriously tasty!
We also had a serve of fries with chili salt aioli (AUD7) and it was delicious!
Service was great, and food was fantastic! I was a little disappointed with the pork cotoletta but the wagyu beef short rib definitely made up for it! We saw other diners having the burger and it looked fantastic, so will definitely try that next time we are back.
GA’s ratings: 7.5 / 10
Bowery Lane
1 O’Connell Street
Sydney, 2000
Ph: +61 2 9252 8017
Eschalot Restaurant, Berrima, New South Wales
A special guest post today from a dear friend, M, who loves his food as much as I do. His lovely wife A, treated him to a surprise birthday lunch at this hatted regional restaurant in the Souther Highlands.
Situated in an old sandstone cottage, customers can order dishes A La Carte, opt for a $110 tasting menu or choose the “Chef’s Favourites Menu” which apparently includes perennial favourites like Gruyere and Goat’s Cheese soufflé, Thirlmere Duck Confit and Rose Creme Brûlée. We opted for the latter course, but instructed them to hold off on the brûlée, as A was keen to peruse the dessert menu in a bit more detail.
A delightful amuse bouche of tomato consommé and basil oil was presented to us on arrival.
The soufflé was situated on a bed of goat’s curd, surrounded by a veritable moat of Gruyere sauce and topped with some crushed almonds. The sauce had an intense cheese flavour, which complemented the light soufflé well. Wonderful entree!
The supremely delicious Thirlmere duck arrived next on a slab of slate, which gives a nice modern look but may not be entirely necessary. The breast was cooked sous vide and legs slowly roasted. It’s an awesomely rich main course that is best accompanied by an awesomely rich South Australian Shiraz.
Due to the awesome richness of the previous two courses, we avoided some of the heavier dessert options and opted for a deconstructed carrot cake. It was an organised mess of carrot sponge, carrot gel, strips of candied purple carrot and some candied greens. We appreciated the work that went into this, but would have been just as satisfied with a slice of fully-constructed carrot cake.
Apricot meringues and hazelnut truffles accompanied our teapots at the end of the meal.
Bravo Restaurant Eschalot, you fully deserve the accolades you’ve received and we’d gladly return to try more of your offerings.
M’s rating: 8/10
24 Old Hume Highway
Berrima, 2577
Ph: +61 2 4877 1977
Nomad, Surry Hills
I have wanted to try this restaurant for a while and I have to say, I was totally and utterly impressed! Nomad opened its doors sometimes in 2013, and it is a wonderful addition to the Sydney food scene. It has fantastic food and co-owned and operated by Rebecca Littlemore and Al Yazbek and the head chef is Nathan Sasi (previously ex Rockpool, Husk (in South Carolina) and Heston Blumenthal) who is very passionate about local produce.
I love the open space, natural wood, exposed ceiling and the open kitchen. The menu is split into snacks, small plates, from the grill and wood fire, from the garden and dessert. We pretty much skipped the small plates, ordered the fried chickpeas with falafel spice which was Dragon’s favourite. She had it with rice (yes, I bring rice for her as she is truly an Asian baby and eats rice with EVERYTHING!) and absolutely loved it. It was crunchy and addictive!
We dug straight into the food girl and wood fire, starting with the wood roasted bone marrow with parsley and horseradish salad, grilled toast (AUD30). This was to0 die for! But then again, I am such a sucker for bone marrow (!) and 3 bone marrow was not enough for 5 hungry adults, especially when we ALL LOVE bone marrow! It was delicious and the horseradish salad was a wonderful complement.
Next the wood roasted pork with mustard fruit, roasted fruits, roasted pair (AUD38) – the pork was excellent, and the crackle was like music to my ears – crispy and oh so sinfully good! I could probably have eaten the whole thing myself!
The BBQ lamb rump with moroccan eggplant salad and sheep yogurt (AUD38) was a hit amongst the diners! The lamb was cooked beautifully, slightly pink and it was incredibly tender. For someone who doesn’t really like lamb this was surprisingly good!
Dragon enjoyed the BBQ half chicken with cauliflower with goats (AUD38) – it had a lovely seasoning and the chicken meat was tender. Yes, she ate a quarter of this by herself!
Last but not least, the wagyu skirt steak with butter poached radishes and gentleman’s relish (AUD39) was another favourite amongst the diners. Like the lamb, the steak was slightly pink inside was incredibly succulent and tender that one small piece was just not enough!
For dessert, we thought we would share the bunuelos – roase water and cardamon custard (4 for AUD14) and although i was slightly disappointed, as I was expecting some sort of jam lava coming out, it was still very good! and the rose water and cardamon custard was a wonderful complement.
We also ordered the dulce de leche magnum with white chocolate and almonds (AUD7). It was the tiniest magnum I have ever seen, I didn’t have any of this, but was told that it was also excellent.
Service was excellent, and the food amazingly good! I am definitely keen to go back and try other dishes on the menu and potentially order the bone marrow again! If we still lived in Surry Hills, I can envisage coming to this restaurant very often!
GA’s ratings: 8.5 / 10
16 Foster Street
Surry Hills, Sydney, 2010
Ph: +61 2 9280 3395
