Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Otto Ristorante - Finger Wharf Woolloomooloo

24 degrees, no wind a beautiful sunny day, where else would you rather be than at a wonderful restaurant in a wonderful location. It always amazes me that it doesn't matter what day it is there are always people dining at one of the restaurants on finger wharf.

Today we chose Otto's as our guest had not been there for some years. For those of you who haven't been there it is an iconic restaurant with many tables outside and you get a fantastic view looking back at the city. And there are always beautiful people to look at.


Today was no different, so now that the atmosphere has been created what did we choose for lunch and what wine did we wash it down with. We started with half a dozen oyster natural, the special lamb pappardelle and a Porchini Soufle. The Lamb rageout was excellent with home made pasta and a taste that was rich and well rounded. The portion was small but very filling and just the right size for an entree.



The porchini soufle was presented on a plate covered with melted cheese and the soufle stood up on it's own in the middle of the plate, wobbling around like a jelly. The taste was very light and moist with more cheese taste than mushroom, but was worthy of the special.





For mains 2 of us had the grilled barramundi fillets and one had a spagetti seafood dish. The fish was cut rather thin for Barramundi which I liked as I don't particularly like fat fish. The sides were beans with pancetta, chips and a caprese salad. The spaghetti was an entree size and was full of small pieces of seafood with the home made spaghetti melting in the mouth.







All of this was washed down with a bottle of Polish Hill Grosset Riesling and a few beers. No one had enough room for deserts but they had some on the menu which made me wish I wasn't full. All in all a very rewarding dining experience with great service and wonderful food. I would rate this a 7/10 for both.

I suggest you wait for a few more weeks and when spring is here do yourself a favor and go to Otto's for a great afternoon out. But remember it is hard to go back to work if you have to.

Woolloomooloo Wharf
6 Cowper Wharf Road
Woolloomooloo NSW 2011
Tel : +61 2 9368 7488



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Saturday, August 20, 2011

District Dining - Surry Hills Sydney

The best way to describe this place is funky. the decor and ambiance is busy and bistro like. the food is quite different and is made up of small tapas plates which you share. this is well known chef Warren Turnbull's newest restaurant. his other restaurant is Assiette in Albion st. The service was excellent and the wine list not as extensive as most, which is good as you don't have to wade through pages of wines from around the world.

We started off with;

Crispy quail eggs tarragon mayonnaise,
Crispy courgette flower Kervella goats curd truffled honey
Seared scallops jerusalem artichoke crispy pancetta, prune.

These dishes were all the size of an entree and good to share.

There are some heavier dishes as well which we had
Rabbit ragout, pappardelle, green olive, pangrattato,
Cone bay barramundi, celeriac, peas and bacon, sherry vinaigrette.

and then finished off with a

Dark chocolate brownie, macadamia brittle, white chocolate ice-cream.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes something different but it is a bistro so not a romantic dinner for 2. it's somewhere you would go to before going to the theatre. The only bad point for me was it was a bit rushed as they have 2 dinning times and they need your table. My rating is 6.5/10 for food, service and overall dinning experience.


17 Randle Street, Surry Hills
Sydney, NSW 2010
(02) 9211 7798
info@districtdining.com.au




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