Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Review : Pickwick's - CLOSED

129 Enmore Rd
Enmore




Tuesday 8am – 4pm
Wednesday-Saturday 8am-11pm
Sunday 8am-5pm




Despite living relatively close by, we don’t tend to spend a great deal of time in Enmore; we usually drive through it on our way to somewhere else or stop briefly when catching a show at the Enmore Theatre.


A recent visit to Pickwick’s may be about to change all that.


Pickwick’s resides in the premises that once housed Razors Edge (the Razors boys having moved up the road to the Queen Victoria Hotel). The room feels somewhat familiar, but things have been scaled back, most notably the denuded walls which give the space a warm, earthy feel.




Things are a little cramped in here though, with just way too many tables jammed into the small room. They could really do with losing the 3 tables that run up the middle. Perhaps when the back courtyard opens?


I manage to squeeze myself into a seat at a table which is very close to the front door.


Two chalkboards adorn the walls one with breakfast/brunch offerings, the other with dinner; we are also given menus to read at the table.


I love a good Croque (be it a Monsieur or Madame), so am very happy to see both on the menu….happier to see they are served with bacon rather than ham.




The Croque (Madame on this occasion), is delicious. The locally cured, organic bacon is crispy & more importantly abundant, the Emmental cheese is quite creamy with a mild nutty flavour and works well with the sweet relish; the egg that tops it all is cooked to perfection, the yolk very slowly oozing over the sandwich……heaven.




Buggles’ French toast is less successful. Housemade Challah bread served with ricotta, maple syrup, strawberries (not available today, so substituted with banana) & an optional side of bacon. It is just a little too dry, it needs to be dunked into the egg mixture for a lot longer, allowing it to soak up all that eggy goodness. The ricotta that accompanies it is very good, however there needs to be a lot more of it; the bacon is (partially) crisp & delicious.


Other tempting brunch items include; Luxe Fig & Walnut Bread, handmade pork sausages & an omelette with potato roesti & parmesan.


So another brunch visit is ensured.


Dinner appears to be delectably promising with dishes such as….Peaches & Roquefort, Scampi & Finger Lime and Parisian Gnocchi....to name but a few.


Pickwick's is also very reasonably priced with the most expensive main (a grass fed sirloin) coming in at only $29.


The menu always includes vegetarian and gluten-free options and if you're vegan or have any other special dietary restrictions, they are more than happy to accommodate.

It is all starting to sound a little ‘too good to be true’….



Service brings things back down to earth, this morning it is clumsy at best. These are early days though, so it is fair to assume that this will improve.


As we leave Pickwick’s and head up Enmore Road, I start thinking about a subsequent visit….perhaps dinner, Thursday Next?

Squeak
Pickwick's on Urbanspoon

6 comments:

joey@forkingaroundsydney said...

Looks ok although I don't usually go out for breakfast. I did notice a tweet from TimeOut food writer Myf that it was not worth visiting.

Buggles and Squeak said...

To be honest we're not sure what the comments referred to. It definitely has some teething problems... but from what we could gather the main issue from Myff was that the bacon for the croque's is grilled. Anyway... everyone has their own experience.

john@heneedsfood said...

I thoroughly enjoyed the food here when I last visited. All places have teething problems so can't be long before they're all sorted. Next visit, breakfast

Buggles and Squeak said...

@heneedsfood
We certainly enjoyed the food as well, really looking forward to stopping by for dinner. We need more places like this in the area.

PIckwick's said...

Thanks so much for your review, buggles; as I mentioned on our FB page, we really took your feedback on the French Toast on board and are now serving 3 thin rather than 2 thick slices; the thick slices just don't soak as well.

I was wondering if you could provide us with a link for the Myf review? We are only in our 4th week now, I think our 2nd in your review, and all feedback is important and appreciated, negative or otherwise.
Also, please come in for dinner and let us know what you think! We are really proud of our a la carte menu and see it as the cornerstone of the restaurant.
I suppose it's unusual for the restaurant to comment on your review, but we are still in our first month and I really see all feedback as crucial - and very much appreciated. Thanks.

Jasmin said...

http://twitter.com/#!/myffyrigby/status/36250555869306880

Is where you'll see the tweet. Not a review.
In all fairness, the food was amazing but there were some service hiccups on our visit on Saturday - but it is early days yet.

My poor boy was so excited for the Croque Madame and was slightly disappointed to end up with a male version.

Our final dealings - I believe was with Sophie who more than made up for our incredibly rude waitress. We too will be back for dinner, and it's nice to see places like this in the area.

Blog-post forth coming. =)