21 Bay Street
Double Bay
9988 0120
doublebay@adlibbistro.com
Tuesday-Sunday:
Lunch (from Midday) and Dinner (from 5pm)
Saturday/Sunday:
Breakfast from 9am
It is yet another cold, wet & windy Sydney day. We need comfort food, something warming to the body & soul. We have long wanted to dine at Dietmar Sawyere's Ad Lib Bistro and today seemed a better day than most to sample his take on bistro fare.
Ad Lib Double Bay is quite a large space with a classic 'bistro' fitout (think dark, warm woods & classic white tablecloths).
The menu is also classic bistro with entrees that include: Duck Liver parfait, Onion marmalade; Onion Soup Gratinee; Roast Portobello mushrooms, snails & parsley crumbs....all very appealing.
35 Oxford St, Darlinghurst NSW
At the Hyde Park end of Oxford St.
Phone: 9283 1891
Email: info@gotham.net.au
Mon - CLOSED
Tue - Sat 5pm to midnight
Sun - CLOSED
As huge fans of Laif Etournaud's (ex-Onde, Bistro Moncur and Berowra Waters) style of cooking (mustard crumbed beef cheeks, anyone?), we are really keen to see what he is bringing to Gotham now that he has signed on as consultant chef.
When you add mixologist extraordinaire, Dane Reid (Jimmy Liks) to the mix....well Gotham becomes a must do destination....doesn't it?
The question proves rhetorical as Squeak and I decide to stop in for one of those midweek early dinners that help shake off the cares of the working week. With the name intrinsically entwined with a New York sensibility Gotham promises much in terms of moodiness and sophistication, so expectations are high as we step over the threshold.
96 Pitt Street Redfern
Breakfast & Lunch
Monday-Sunday
I love Redfern. I have lived in Redfern on & off over the years, before finally settling in the Inner West about 10 years ago.
Talk of Redfern's 'transformation' has been ongoing.... finally though, things seem to be chugging along.
We return to 'the Fern' this Sunday morning for a spot of breakfast at the relatively newly opened Pitt Street Diner.
156 Enmore Road Enmore
8021 8451
Tues-Thur 5pm-midnight
Fri 5pm-1am
Sat 2pm-1am
Sun 2pm-10pm
We are wandering down Enmore Rd (prior to Jennifer Coolidge), looking for a bite to eat & perhaps a drink or two.
Thanks to a prior visit we now know that Pickwick's is out.
As we pass the myriad of Thai, Indian & Turkish restaurants we spot a sign that reads 'The Green Room Lounge'.
Intrigued we peer in, looking beyond the Twin Peaks-esque red curtains to spy a very funky, 1950's styled lounge/bar.
Bilson's Restaurant
Radisson Plaza Hotel Sydney
27 O'Connell Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Phone: 8214 0496
Dinner Tues-Sat
6pm til late
After our recent dining experience at Bilson's, where we felt our expections were well & truly not met, we decide to try again to see if our second experience will bring those long held expectations to fruition.
This time dining on the L'Omnivore Petite menu ($145), we let all thoughts of our last visit go & start afresh.
129 Enmore Rd
Enmore
9557 2607
pickwicksbistro@gmail.com
Tue 8am-4pm
Wed-Sat 8am-11pm
Sun 8am-5pm
Our plan for the weekend was simple. Catch a movie on Saturday, potter about the house a bit in between, then lunch at the Four in Hand on Sunday. A spanner was thrown into the works when I spotted this comment on Pickwick's facebook page "All-day red wine braised beef cheeks / heirloom carrots / caramelized eschallots / garlic confit mashed potatoes". I am obsessed with beef cheeks, and as we had been meaning to revisit Pickwick's for dinner (after really enjoying their brunch), I convinced Buggles to forgo lunch at the Four in Hand in favour of dinner at Pickwick's.
When we arrive the restaurant is all but empty & we are sat in a dark corner under the stairs. We have forgotten that the restaurant is BYO, so I dash up the road & pick up, what turns out to be, a not so great Cooks Lot Pinot Gris (I really have to stop picking wine just because I like the look of the label).
University Hall
2-12 Glebe Point Rd
Glebe
02 9660 6999
info@bedlambar.com.au
Open from 5pm 7 days
Munson diner started it all for me. One bite of that double cheeseburger (American cheese of course), bereft of salad and I was hooked. The standard Aussie burger with its lettuce, tomato & beetroot would never really do it for me again.
Buggles and I have had a long obsession with American Diner food. We both used to frequent Arnold’s Diner (yes, modelled on the Happy Days one), at Darling Harbour back in the day. We were regular diners at the Hard Rock Café, which while not technically “American Diner”, was the closest thing we had to it at the time.
So it will come as no surprise that we are loving the current “dude” food movement and their take on burgers, dogs & fried chicken.
There are, of course, your more traditional diners such as Jazz City Diner. Well, we were beside ourselves when we heard it was coming to town….now if they could just sort out the service end of things, we would be very happy campers indeed.
With all that said, we are huge fans of The Norfolk, so when we started to hear about a little spot in Glebe that was being compared to the Norfolk, we knew we just had to visit.
