Sunday, August 19, 2012

Review: The Bar at the End of the Wharf

Pier 4
Hickson Rd
Walsh Bay

Monday to Friday
Coffee and cake 10am - 3pm                        
Lunch 12pm - 3pm
Bar menu 5pm - late 

Saturdays
Lunch 12pm - 3pm
Bar menu 5pm - late
 


So tonight as part of our STC subscription we are off to see 'The Splinter', so rather than dine at our usual spot Cafe Sopra, we decide to give the relatively newly opened 'Bar at the End of the Wharf' a go.


'The Bar' fills the space formerly occupied by The Wharf restaurant and after the very lengthy walk down the pier, we are happy to settle into our seats and admire the best view of the harbour, Sydney has to offer.


We kick things off with The Tempest (Havana Club Especial, fresh lime, Bundaberg Ginger Beer and bitters) - topped with half a lime, it is cool, refreshing and thoroughly enjoyable.


The menu is designed for sharing, so we order 4 items and a salad assuming the plates will be staggered somewhat - unfortunately everything arrives at the same time - so annoying!


Chicken liver parfait with poached cumquats is really very good. The parfait is rich and creamy and the cumquats wonderfully sweet, served with slices of grilled sourdough we enjoy it very much.


Crispy School Prawns with Chipotle Mayo remind me why I will never love prawns, too strong and 'fishy' in flavour, they also lack the appropriate amount of crispness - the mayo helps a little, but this just doesn't work for me. Buggles seems to enjoy this more.


The Wild Mushroom Arancini with Shaved Pecorino, on the other hand, are quite spectacular. The mushroom and pecorino flavours are very prominent and the arancini are soft and creamy.


Wagyu Beef & Gruyere Sliders are also very good. The thick wagyu patty has great flavour and there is a generous serve of gorgeous melted gruyere. The bun is soft enough to soak up all the meat juices - very 'dude' food worthy indeed!


We finish things off with the Passionfruit Charlotte. Not much to say here really, other than it is fairly bland and uninspired.

On the whole the food is pretty good and the serves are incredibly generous - we would prefer though, if all the plates didn't come out at once, two at a time would work well.
The sheer convenience of dining here prior to a theatre performance, will most certainly guarantee its success.

.....oh and by the way, the play - not so good.

Squeak
The Bar at the End of the Wharf on Urbanspoon


2 comments:

chocolatesuze said...

love the cocktail in the jar but woah the chicken liver parfait sounds fantastic!

Buggles and Squeak said...

@chocolatesuze....yeah, love the presentation of the cocktail as well.
The parfait, was pretty damn good - so were the sliders.