Riverview

A lovely old neighbourhood public house in the quiet backstreets of Balmain, the Riverview is gussied up in the style of a classic British gastro pub, its bright red doors holding the promise of a good feed and a few tall tales at the matching red-tiled bar. You’ll find the locals sitting at tables around the fireplace or heading up the stairs to the dining room for a sit-down dinner. The menu here is a cut above your standard pub bistro and you can put your faith in the kitchen and order the ‘trust the chef’ tasting menu for $75. You can get a wood-fired pizza in the bar - two for one on a Tuesday - or treat yourself to the fixed-price, three-course Friday markets lunch for $39. Wines by the glass hover around the ten-dollar mark, but these represent only about a tenth of the full wine list, conspicuously housed in a towering cabinet in the main bar. At the lowest price point you can get a bottle of Longbend Sauvignon Blanc for around $40, or throw caution to the wind and splash out on a bottle of the 2008 Château Beychevelle Saint-Julien from Bordeaux for $195. Prefer a carbonated beverage? They have Balmain pilsner on tap as well as some of the more familiar craft beers and Guinness for when you fancy a steak in a glass.