Bentley Restaurant & Bar (Sydney)

We visited the 1-hat Bentley Restaurant & Bar on a quiet Thursday night for the special $70, 5-course dinner menu as part of the Appetite Sydney promotion.

The dishes were presented like beautiful pictures and the pace of the service made the meal a pleasure experience. I specifically enjoyed the cured kingfish with shaved beetroot and buttermilk – the texture of the fish worked very well with the sweetness of the beetroot and the smoothness of the buttermilk. And while the portion size was small, as suggested by the price tag, you will feel satisfied after the beef cheek main course.

Details:
Bentley Restaurant & Bar
320 Crown Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
http://www.thebentley.com.au

Cotton Duck ... one more time (Sydney)

We visited Cotton Duck for the last time, a week before its closing. The service was still polite and attentive. We enjoyed the corn polenta entrée and shared the boer goat. My favourite of the night was the freshly made plum pie – a great way to end a cold and rainy night.

Sad to hear that it is closing down, thanks for the memories.

Details:
Cotton Duck
50 Holt Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
http://www.danksstreetdepot.com.au

Foveaux Restaurant and Bar (Sydney)

We visited Foveaux Restaurant in Surry Hills with the $60 (2 entrées and 2 main courses) discounted voucher (can’t resist a bargain). We arrived early to have a drink at The Red Door bar downstairs.

The entrée with smoked duck and confit spring roll gave us 2 interesting texture and was our favourite dish of the night. The brisket main course was slightly dry but the sirloin on the side was perfectly cooked and well complimented by the subtle wasabi cream.

A good experience with discounted voucher pretty much guarantee us coming back for the tasting menu later this year.

Details: 
Foveaux Restaurant and Bar 
65-67 Foveaux St 
Surry Hills NSW 2010 
http://www.foveaux.com.au 

District Dining (Sydney)

We visited District Dining with a group of 6 for a work Christmas dinner party. Heading into the festive season, the modern dining room was buzzing despite being a mid-week service. There was a good variety of mojito’s and cocktails to start the evening, along with some crispy pigs ears which were very tasty.

The dishes overall were robust. Seared scallops were perfectly cooked and roasted spatchcock extremely moist. The wagyu beef brisket went well with the miso glaze, and was nice and tender at the top – however it was rather dry at the bottom.

Details:
District Dining
17 Randle St
Surry Hills NSW 2010
http://www.districtdining.com.au/

Cafe Ish (Sydney)

A tiny café with fewer than 20 seats, Café Ish combines the modern Japanese cuisine with a casual mainstream Australian café setting and service. The menu, with a decent amount of grammatical mistakes, provides diners with a creative twist to the usual café fare. French fries with wasabi mayonnaise and raw cabbage with miso dip certainly gave an interesting start to the meal.

Onto the reputed soft shell crab karaage omelette, the deep fried crustacean compliments well with the mushy avocado; and the layer of egg outside lightly touched by sweet chilli sauce. Note: the creativity will cost you more.

Details:
Cafe Ish
Shop 1, 82 Campbell St 
Surry Hills NSW 2010
http://www.cafeish.com.au/