Monday, October 17, 2011

Review : District Dining - CLOSED

17 Randle Street, Surry Hills

Sydney, NSW 2010

(02) 9211 7798
info@districtdining.com.au

Monday Dinner 6 - 11pm

Tuesday-Thursday & Saturday
Lunch 12 - 3pm & Dinner 6 - 11pm
Friday, open all day 12 - 11pm
Sunday long lunch 12 - 5pm

Today finds us lunching with our two favourite girls…..H & A.

We are heading to District Dining, and as none of us have dined here before, we are all quite looking forward to the meal ahead.


We initially have a little trouble locating the restaurant, but soon spot the Mondrian inspired panel out the front.
The restaurant is larger than expected, and at this time of day still relatively empty.
Once seated, we order a bottle of 2010 Pike & Joyce ‘The Bleedings’ Rosé, and glance over the menu.
We decide to order a series of starters to share, followed by a main each.


Beef chimichanga, curry avocado
None of us have experienced 'chimichanga' before, and to be honest, once it arrives we are all a little underwhelmed. The flavour is quite mild & the real highlight is the lovely curry avocado.

 



District chicken wings, chilli caramel
The chicken wings however, do not disappoint. We are all very taken with the chilli caramel, alas, we realise too late, that most of it has sunk to the bottom of the bowl! The wings themselves could have a crisper skin, but on the whole....delicious.



Crispy quail eggs, tarragon mayonnaise
This is a real winner with me, I love the perfectly cooked, crumbed, tiny eggs with their runny yolk....once again though, it is the accompanying tarragon mayonnaise that is the winner.


Steak tartare, aioli, french fries, sourdough
This is the first time H & A are trying steak tartare, and they both seem to enjoy it, once they get over the whole 'raw meat' thing. This is certainly not the best rendition we have sampled (and we do miss the yolk on top), but it hits the spot nonetheless.

Share plates done, we move onto our mains.




Blackened king salmon, succotash, lime sour cream, crispy tortilla
Buggles absolutely loves this dish. The fish is moist & quite delicious with its blackened exterior. The succotash adds some nice texture & sweetness to the dish, while the crispy tortilla adds the crunch factor.



Braised beef cheek, celeriac mash, parsley, horseradish
This is quite disappointing. While cooked well & very tender, the cheek itself is quite bland and devoid of flavour. The horseradish is all but non existent, however the celeriac mash is rich, creamy & divine.



Lamb rump, carrot puree, cumin salt, olive salsa
'A' finds the lamb to be quite good, if ever so slightly overcooked. She is completely taken with its crust however, which is sublime & really takes the dish to another level.


Parmesan Gnocchi, broad beans, veal shoulder, pangrattato
'H' loves her gnocchi. The feather light pillows are fried (or baked) & have a lovely somewhat crisp exterior. The interior is beautifully lush & full of salty parmesan goodness. A truly spectacular dish.


We accompany our mains with Baby carrot salad, salted yoghurt, dukkah, almonds. Truly delicious. The thin ribbons of sweet carrot are complemented by the salted yoghurt and the crunch of the almonds, however we would have liked more dukkah.

Mains polished off, we move onto dessert.



Sticky date pudding, caramel sauce, whisky ice-cream
'A' is quite the 'Sticky Date' connoisseur, claiming that her father Borsie makes the best Sticky Date Pudding she has eaten. While the District Dining version does come close to Borsie's, it just seems to fall short. 'A' is still pretty impressed though.

 


Dark chocolate brownie, macadamia brittle, white chocolate ice-cream
'H' declares this to be a run of the mill brownie (on sampling, I have to agree), the white chocolate ice-cream is quite good though, as is the brittle. 'H' is a little disappointed.


Lemon cheesecake, blueberries, lemon curd ice-cream
Buggles goes with the cheesecake, and on arrival it looks amazing. The cheesecake itself is pleasant, but unremarkable, it is nowhere near lemony enough. The tangy lemon curd ice-cream on the other hand is a citrusy revelation! The sweet blueberries help to cut through the richness.


 Mandarin brulee, cardamon, poached mandarin
My brulee is lovely & creamy with a strong mandarin flavour. The accompanying jar of poached mandarin is also spectacular.

While not every dish is a complete success the four of us certainly enjoy our lunch at District Dining and will not hesitate to return.

Squeak

P.S The cocktails are also pretty fantastic.

District Dining on Urbanspoon




2 comments:

Tina@foodboozeshoes said...

Um yum yum - I've been meaning to get back here for so long.
I've had chimichangas at a Mexican joint and didn't like them at all - must be the dish itself... :S

joey@forkingaroundsydney said...

Only dined here once and enjoyed it, but didn't get to try out the quail eggs or the chicken wings. Must do that before the menu changes.