Le Pub, Wynyard

Despite all the restaurants that I've been to on my adventures in finding delicious food, a cuisine that I hadn't tried yet was French. Ooh la la! Definitely excited to eat some snails. My friends and I were meeting for dinner to say goodbye to Ms Dentist-In-Training for 6 months as she flies back to Queensland for her teeth studies. I had just come back to Sydney from a road trip on the Central Coast, so it was a big blurring rush of dumping my luggage, showering, and running out of the house! Somehow, I still managed to get there first :P

Escargots de Bourgogne, $15.00

Snails!! I remember when I was younger and we were in China, it was the first time I had ever seen snails eaten as food. I looked at him with wide eyes and shook my head adamantly when my dad asked me whether I wanted to try it. Ten years later, I'd like to think I've matured and am generally open to trying new things. So here's to escargot! It really reminded me of mushrooms in terms of taste actually. The sauce was really good especially when dipped with the crusty bread. Could've gone for a more intense garlic hit, but I really love love love my garlic strong :P

Collet D'Agneau, $26.00

Ms Dentist-In-Training went for the lamb neck with a quinoa and herb crumb, cauliflower puree, shaved cauliflower and pea salad. The lamb was cooked to a perfectly medium rare and everything worked wonderfully together. And despite hating cauliflower, Ms Dentist-In-Training really loved the cauliflower puree to her surprise! Those peas have been freeze-dried I think.

Confit de Canard, $26.00

I couldn't go past the confit duck! I'm a sucker for roasted beetroot and I love carrots so this definitely caught my eye as soon as I saw it on the menu. The duck was incredibly soft from the confit process and fell off the bone with just a soft prod of my fork. Paired with the carrot puree, it gave the game meat that subtle sweetness and I was one happy duck eating this indeed.

Say hello to my friends who happily ate their coq au vin and steaks! Le Pub also gives fancy water with a slice of lemon in it :)

I found the meal to be extremely good value for the quality of food that we received and would happily go back to sample more items from their menu! Very happy first French dining experience :)

Le Pub
Basement, 66 King St
Sydney, NSW, 2000
Stair entrances from both King St & York St
www.lepub.com.au

Opening Hours
Monday - Wednesday: 10:00am - 12:00am
Thursday - Saturday: 10:00am - 3:00am

The Forresters, Surry Hills

This oncoming winter has been so very cold, and to keep ourselves cosy, a friend visiting from Melbourne, Casanova and I hit up the Forresters of the Drink and Dine Group. Having already visited The Abercrombie previously, I knew we were up for a solid feed.

Deep fried cauliflower cheese, $8.00

This was ordered to make us feel like we were consuming our daily amount of veggies and not just stuffing ourselves with junk! The cauliflower had a crisp exterior and was quite lovely by itself despite the lack of seasoning. I like eating cauliflower like this as I mostly eat it boiled at home with no additional flavour. I avoided the cheese dip on the side though as it was a bit watery.

The choke hold, $24.00

I loved the base of this pizza which was thinner than normal yet retained a nice fluffy chewiness. So much cheese! It had quite the chilli kick which I was not expecting but it was welcome all the same. We demolished this delicious pizza very quickly :P

Fries deluxe, $12.00

Yay more more things covered with cheese! It was covered with the same chilli sauce that was on the pizza as well as pulled pork which was a tad dry but made the fries a substantial meal in itself!

BBQ pork from the pit, $30.00

This dish had to be what we were looking to most and it sure was the highlight of the night! The pork was amazingly tender and smothered with a gorgeous sweet and smoky bbq sauce that is the stuff of dreams. The Korean slaw was also a very welcome addition to the plate as it provided crunch and also left a refreshing feeling in your mouth. Loved how they mixed through mint leaves!

We were nowhere finished with all the food as we sat back and consolingly rubbed our stomachs. Ordering four dishes between the three of us was not a smart idea! But it sure was worth it. I will definitely be back for the bbq pork or even some pizza :)

What would be your favourite meat to be BBQ'd? And do you like it accompanied with a lot of sauce?

The Forresters
Corner Foveaux and Riley Streets
Surry Hills, NSW, 2010

Opening Hours
Monday - Wednesday: 12 noon - 12 midnight
Thursday - Saturday: 12 noon - 1:00am
Sunday: 12 noon - 10:00pm 

The Abercrombie, Chippendale

 
Who's heart stops just thinking about a deep-fried Golden Gaytime? As if the Golden Gaytime itself was rich enough, the crew over at the Abercrombie just had to dip it in batter and chuck it in the deep fryer too! My friends and I decided to catch up over a super late lunch after uni, since this hotel is very close by.

They have specials during the week as well as tonnes of lunch specials from 12-4pm for just $10! CHEAP AS.

Korean fried cornflake chicken, $10.00 lunch special

Who doesn't love fried chicken? I've never had one with a cornflake batter, but this was just as good with a nice crunchy exterior, succulent meat and damned awesome with a squeeze of lime and dunked into the spicy mayo on the side. The ketchup heart was a cute touch don't you think?

Deep fried mac n cheese, $10.00 lunch special

Mac and cheese is already comfort food at its finest - creamy, carbolicious and heavy. With a crunchy batter on the outside? Even better. Not something I'd have every day of course :P And definitely goes down with jugs of beer and cider - get them at only $10/jug from 12-10pm Monday to Friday which is insanely good value!

Double reuben dog, $10.00 lunch special

I normally have enough trouble finishing one hot dog (damned being a small Asian girl) so when this huge as double dog came to the table, I was stunned. How was I to finish this? It was bigger than all my guy friend's schnitzels and burgers! They were definitely generous with the mustard,sauerkraut and dill pickle sauce. And squeeze on the ketchup they give you on the side and you have a solid hot dog. Waaay too filling for me but hell yes to getting your bang for buck!

Deep fried chocolate brownie, $7.00

Yes, they now have a deep fried brownie. Whaaat. A bit too heavy for me - I think I'll stick to traditional brownies thanks :)

Deep fried golden gaytime, $7.00

To be honest, I wasn't particularly overly keen for this as it has been hyped up by the food bloggers all over the blogosphere. It was good, but not something so fantastic I wouldn't be able to help myself but rave about it to everyone. It really is like the deep fried ice-creams you get at Asian restaurants but with a Golden Gaytime centre instead :)

All in all, the Abercrombie has solid pub food that is great for uni students on a tight budget. Relaxing vibe, cheap booze and as long as you have good company, you're set for a good time.

The Abercrombie
100 Broadway (Corner Abercrombie Street)  
NSW, 2007, Chippendale