Eat your heart out, Sydney - Gelato Messina have gone one step further on the ice cream cake front
-152x110.jpg)
Enjoy an intimate dinner experience at this acclaimed restuarant
Learn to cook like a master chef
A casual offering from Four in Hand’s Colin Fassnidge is filling tables fast
Colin Fassnidge hasn’t left the Four in Hand. And he hasn’t stopped consulting on the menu at the Paddington Arms. Nope, he’s just decided that what he needs is more work. You may or may not know the rogue chef depending on how obsessed you are with restaurants, whether or not you watch MasterChef or you read his (very) candid Twitter feed. A black sheep of Sydney food, and happy to offer a two-fisted salute to anyone in close range, Fassnidge is also the rare chef who has the culinary chops to back it all up.
It’s a real indication of where restaurants are at now that we’re in a full, buzzing room on a Tuesday night, when the food is served still in its frying pan and ‘Root Down’ by the Beastie Boys is blasting out the speakers. Punters are better informed about food and restaurants than ever before and smart chefs around town are listening.
They want to be out and about and eating, but they don’t want a ten-course degustation, or earnest chefs demanding the attention of the diner through every minute of the meal. Not every day, anyway. The people of Sydney want good, smart, tasty fun and they’ll get it at 4Fourteen.
It’s a good set up – open kitchen, island bar, bright red banquettes down the right side of the open plan room and bentwood table settings knocking about throughout. Big, bottle-green industrial lampshades light the perimeters of the room, which used to be the old Le Pain Quotidien.
The menu is all about sharing, so go hard on the snackish things at the beginning of the menu such as deep-fried tortilla shards squelched up with light, creamy chicken parfait, chutney and topped with a boned-out deep-fried chicken wing. We’re simultaneously feeling for the poor apprentice who has to deal with all those wings and secretly pleased that someone’s doing it so we get to eat them.
It’s well worth trying a couple of the fish dishes too, like seared bonito with dollops of buttermilk cream, topped with a nest of celery leaves. It’s all briny and astringent, while confit salmon with long thin ribbons of pickled cucumber and big florets of pickled cauliflower is all wood-smoky and brilliant with a Bandol rosé.
The table favourite though, is the Irish breakfast: a hot frying pan served straight to the table with a perfect sunny-side up fried duck egg, chorizo fried until nought but crisp skin and nubbly meat and a soft, velvety blood sausage. Mix it all together and you’ve bought yourself a one-way ticket to Boom Town.
There’s also the double-crumbed pig’s tail (yes, it’s crumbed once, fried, left to cool, crumbed again and fried again – suck on that, carotid artery). It sits on a bed of corn kernels and striations of crabmeat. Oh, and the suckling pig plate that comes with ribs, loin, kidneys and a dear little golden snout. Aw.
We probably wouldn’t go back for the celeriac three ways, which is a bit wet and flabby, but the roasted-and-honeyed carrots are definitely worth a tilt. Or you can always go classic with a wedge of iceberg with thin slices of radish and salad cream. You’ll want something, though, to break up the festival of rich protein, else you’ll leave clutching your sides wishing for a Fernet Branca. Or a defibrillator.
Do make sure to order the icy pop of the day (ours is Nutri-Grain), which comes with a wedge of honeycomb from the roof of the restaurant where the crew are keeping their own bees. It’s beautiful honey, though we’d probably have preferred it on a separate plate. The two don’t really party together. Nor does the confusing puddle of yoghurt that comes with it. Try the doughnuts with Calvados Cream, too, all light and fluffy and sugar-covered, or their take on a Bounty bar.
Any restaurant banging out great food, in a casual setting to the tune of Mariachi El Bronx gets a big thumbs up from us. Ting!
Surry Hills 2010
Telephone 02 9331 5399
Price per person including drinks up to $100.00
Open Lunch Tue - Sun noon - 3pm; Dinner Tue - Sat 6pm - late
0m - The beloved Bronte Road pizzeria has branched out, bringing their truly...
153m - They're really into music at Suzie Q. Next to the counter is a haphazard...
174m - Sparkle Cupcakery make and bake their cupcakes from scratch every day. Each...
52m - Since 2005, Somedays has cemented itself as a pioneering retailer of local...
247m - This Crown Street stalwart has been supplying textile lovers with interiors...
267m - This medium sized park on Crown Street is a popular hangout for hipsters and...
307m - Treasure troves don't come any more amazing as they do at Sydney Antique...
Newsletter |
RSS feed | Restaurants RSS |
iPhone App |
Other Time Out cities |
Magazine subscription© 2007 - 2013 Time Out Group Ltd. All rights reserved. All material on this site is © Time Out.
Print
Email
Horrible experience at this restaurant. Was rushed to order and eat to clear the table for the next customers. When we were halfway through the meal we were hurriedly made to choose (which may I say was lower than average...) they threw the bill at our table. Of course we weren't offered to dessert menu, nor did we ask for it after their bill slamming stunt. Would never ever return. Even for a free meal.
Posted on Mon 22 Apr 2013 04:59:09
Horrible experience at this restaurant. Was rushed to order and eat to clear the table for the next customers. When we were halfway through the meal we were hurriedly made to choose (which may I say was lower than average...) they threw the bill at our table. Of course we weren't offered to dessert menu, nor did we ask for it after their bill slamming stunt. Would never ever return. Even for a free meal.
Posted on Mon 22 Apr 2013 04:59:09
Horrible experience at this restaurant. Was rushed to order and eat to clear the table for the next customers. When we were halfway through the meal we were hurriedly made to choose (which may I say was lower than average...) they threw the bill at our table. Of course we weren't offered to dessert menu, nor did we ask for it after their bill slamming stunt. Would never ever return. Even for a free meal.
Posted on Mon 22 Apr 2013 04:59:09
Horrible experience at this restaurant. Was rushed to order and eat to clear the table for the next customers. When we were halfway through the meal we were hurriedly made to choose (which may I say was lower than average...) they threw the bill at our table. Of course we weren't offered to dessert menu, nor did we ask for it after their bill slamming stunt. Would never ever return. Even for a free meal.
Posted on Mon 22 Apr 2013 04:59:09
Horrible experience at this restaurant. Was rushed to order and eat to clear the table for the next customers. When we were halfway through the meal we were hurriedly made to choose (which may I say was lower than average...) they threw the bill at our table. Of course we weren't offered to dessert menu, nor did we ask for it after their bill slamming stunt. Would never ever return. Even for a free meal.
Posted on Mon 22 Apr 2013 04:59:09
Horrible experience at this restaurant. Was rushed to order and eat to clear the table for the next customers. When we were halfway through the meal we were hurriedly made to choose (which may I say was lower than average...) they threw the bill at our table. Of course we weren't offered to dessert menu, nor did we ask for it after their bill slamming stunt. Would never ever return. Even for a free meal.
Posted on Mon 22 Apr 2013 04:59:09
Horrible experience at this restaurant. Was rushed to order and eat to clear the table for the next customers. When we were halfway through the meal we were hurriedly made to choose (which may I say was lower than average...) they threw the bill at our table. Of course we weren't offered to dessert menu, nor did we ask for it after their bill slamming stunt. Would never ever return. Even for a free meal.
Posted on Mon 22 Apr 2013 04:59:09
Horrible experience at this restaurant. Was rushed to order and eat to clear the table for the next customers. When we were halfway through the meal we were hurriedly made to choose (which may I say was lower than average...) they threw the bill at our table. Of course we weren't offered to dessert menu, nor did we ask for it after their bill slamming stunt. Would never ever return. Even for a free meal.
Posted on Mon 22 Apr 2013 04:59:09
Horrible experience at this restaurant. Was rushed to order and eat to clear the table for the next customers. When we were halfway through the meal we were hurriedly made to choose (which may I say was lower than average...) they threw the bill at our table. Of course we weren't offered to dessert menu, nor did we ask for it after their bill slamming stunt. Would never ever return. Even for a free meal.
Posted on Mon 22 Apr 2013 04:59:09
Horrible experience at this restaurant. Was rushed to order and eat to clear the table for the next customers. When we were halfway through the meal we were hurriedly made to choose (which may I say was lower than average...) they threw the bill at our table. Of course we weren't offered to dessert menu, nor did we ask for it after their bill slamming stunt. Would never ever return. Even for a free meal.
Posted on Mon 22 Apr 2013 04:59:09
Horrible experience at this restaurant. Was rushed to order and eat to clear the table for the next customers. When we were halfway through the meal we were hurriedly made to choose (which may I say was lower than average...) they threw the bill at our table. Of course we weren't offered to dessert menu, nor did we ask for it after their bill slamming stunt. Would never ever return. Even for a free meal.
Posted on Mon 22 Apr 2013 04:59:09
Horrible experience at this restaurant. Was rushed to order and eat to clear the table for the next customers. When we were halfway through the meal we were hurriedly made to choose (which may I say was lower than average...) they threw the bill at our table. Of course we weren't offered to dessert menu, nor did we ask for it after their bill slamming stunt. Would never ever return. Even for a free meal.
Posted on Mon 22 Apr 2013 04:59:09
Horrible experience at this restaurant. Was rushed to order and eat to clear the table for the next customers. When we were halfway through the meal we were hurriedly made to choose (which may I say was lower than average...) they threw the bill at our table. Of course we weren't offered to dessert menu, nor did we ask for it after their bill slamming stunt. Would never ever return. Even for a free meal.
Posted on Mon 22 Apr 2013 04:59:09
Horrible experience at this restaurant. Was rushed to order and eat to clear the table for the next customers. When we were halfway through the meal we were hurriedly made to choose (which may I say was lower than average...) they threw the bill at our table. Of course we weren't offered to dessert menu, nor did we ask for it after their bill slamming stunt. Would never ever return. Even for a free meal.
Posted on Mon 22 Apr 2013 04:59:09
Horrible experience at this restaurant. Was rushed to order and eat to clear the table for the next customers. When we were halfway through the meal we were hurriedly made to choose (which may I say was lower than average...) they threw the bill at our table. Of course we weren't offered to dessert menu, nor did we ask for it after their bill slamming stunt. Would never ever return. Even for a free meal.
Posted on Mon 22 Apr 2013 04:59:09
Horrible experience at this restaurant. Was rushed to order and eat to clear the table for the next customers. When we were halfway through the meal we were hurriedly made to choose (which may I say was lower than average...) they threw the bill at our table. Of course we weren't offered to dessert menu, nor did we ask for it after their bill slamming stunt. Would never ever return. Even for a free meal.
Posted on Mon 22 Apr 2013 04:59:09
Horrible experience at this restaurant. Was rushed to order and eat to clear the table for the next customers. When we were halfway through the meal we were hurriedly made to choose (which may I say was lower than average...) they threw the bill at our table. Of course we weren't offered to dessert menu, nor did we ask for it after their bill slamming stunt. Would never ever return. Even for a free meal.
Posted on Mon 22 Apr 2013 04:59:09
Horrible experience at this restaurant. Was rushed to order and eat to clear the table for the next customers. When we were halfway through the meal we were hurriedly made to choose (which may I say was lower than average...) they threw the bill at our table. Of course we weren't offered to dessert menu, nor did we ask for it after their bill slamming stunt. Would never ever return. Even for a free meal.
Posted on Mon 22 Apr 2013 04:59:09
Horrible experience at this restaurant. Was rushed to order and eat to clear the table for the next customers. When we were halfway through the meal we were hurriedly made to choose (which may I say was lower than average...) they threw the bill at our table. Of course we weren't offered to dessert menu, nor did we ask for it after their bill slamming stunt. Would never ever return. Even for a free meal.
Posted on Mon 22 Apr 2013 04:59:09
Horrible experience at this restaurant. Was rushed to order and eat to clear the table for the next customers. When we were halfway through the meal we were hurriedly made to choose (which may I say was lower than average...) they threw the bill at our table. Of course we weren't offered to dessert menu, nor did we ask for it after their bill slamming stunt. Would never ever return. Even for a free meal.
Posted on Mon 22 Apr 2013 04:59:09