Review : Danks Street Depot (Dinner) - CLOSED

1/2 Danks Street

Waterloo NSW 2017

Cafe & Bar

Monday - Wednesday 7:30am - 4:00pm
Thursday - Friday 7:30am - 11:00pm
Saturday 8:00am - 11:00pm
Sunday & public holidays 9:00am - 4:00pm





Buggles & Squeak originally had a reservation for the 'Flinders Inn', but after a day of visiting family & playing with puppies, decided that we wanted something a little closer to home & without parking hassles. We therefore cancelled our reservation at the Flinders & headed instead to 'Danks Street Depot'. We have been regulars at Danks Street pretty much since it opened, we have visited often for breakfast, lunch & dinner. Our last visit was for dinner about four weeks ago & it was most enjoyable.

The restaurant was filling up as we arrived, however we managed to score one of the larger tables close to the open kitchen.

We ordered a bottle of sparkling mineral water & Buggles orders the cocktail special 'Pear Martini'  I ask for a 'Mojito', I am told that a Mojito may not be possible as they don't think they have any mint, however they do manage to rustle up some mint, so Mojito it is. I must say they were quite heavy handed with the rum (not that i'm complaining!).

The menu arrives & it all sounds very promising.

Buggles begins with the 'Game terrine', pheasant, pork, duck & rabbit with green peppercorns, served with caramelised figs, baby herb salad & sourdough toast. Buggles thought the terrine was meaty, not too gamey, perfectly complemented by the sweet caramelised fig. The portion was quite large, especially when accompanied by four slices of sourdough toast, but an enjoyable starter nonetheless.

I was tossing up between the Beetroot Salad (which I had on my last visit & loved) & the 'Oxtail Soup'....I opted for the oxtail soup.
I know it looks like somebody threw up in my bowl, but actually it wasn't too bad. It was definitely lacking in seasoning & I did also come across a small bone in my soup, but the meat was tender & the parsley & tomato concasse were fresh & crunchy. However, it is not a dish I would order again.

For her main Buggles orders the 'Berkshire Sweet Pork Belly' crispy roasted Berkshire Pork Belly served with roasted Field Mushrooms, Sweet Corn Puree and Jus. Buggles comments that the crackling is perfectly crispy, however she feels the pork itself is a tad overdone & a bit dry. She thought there was an excess of the corn puree. On the whole she was quite happy with the dish.
I order the 'Angus Scotch Fillet Steak' cooked medium rare, served with Cafe de Paris butter, hand cut chips and jus.
I know what you're thinking...great presentation!
It looks like a slab of meat on a plate swimming in liquid.
The meat was tender, but there were some rather tough gristly bits, the Cafe de Paris, butter was suitably spicy & you could really taste the tarragon (I think?). The accompanying hand cut chips are usually very good, however, tonight they were a little dry & withered. I would have to say that I wasn't particularly happy with the meal.

We did order a rather fresh & zingy 'Pink grapefruit, Orange and Shaved Fennel Salad' to accompany our meals & this was very successful, full of crunch & flavour. This was probably our favourite part of the meal.

The desserts are not a high point of the Danks Street Depot menu; we have never had a dessert that was outstanding (or even close to good). On our last vist we ordered the 'Apple Crumble' to share (it was pretty awful), this time we opted to share a 'Pavlova' 
(the fact that we opt to share a dessert is indicative of how poor they are...Buggles & Squeak NEVER share dessert!). Once again there are no surprises with the Pavlova, it is dry, chalky & bland...there is none of that chewy meringue. Very poor indeed.


Our last visit to Danks Street Depot a month ago was very enjoyable (if you discount the apple crumble), all entrees & mains were very, very good. Perhaps this was because Jared Ingersoll was actually in the kitchen on that occasion....sadly, last night he was not & the experience was entirely different.
Having said that, as stated on their website, Danks Street Depot was founded on principles of the 'Slow Food movement' - practising sustainable and ethical principles in sourcing raw ingredients. Consistent with this philosophy, Danks Street Depot supports local producers, ensuring quality seasonal produce and minimising unnecessary transportation and storage. This of course has to be a good thing & a reason why we will continue to support this cafe/restaurant.
Squeak