Down to Earth District Dining

District dining is a modern bistro that offers casual yet dimensional food. The restaurant felt cosy with wood-panelled walls, bare marble tables and timber flooring. Tonight is a soothing break from a busy week, shared with my fellow foodie Lu. After taking a pair of identical cameras out of our bags, one of the waiters asked if we are bloggers. It’s the first time I ever got asked that question and I timidly admitted. After this, throughout the night we had the same waiter constantly checking up on us to see if everything is ok, if our glasses needed topping up and if we needed a photo of him for my blog :P

We had our table booked for two and a half hours and our three course meal came out well-timed. The food here is substantial and full of interesting and distinctive flavours from around the world. My entrée is Chinese (tofu), my main is Moroccan (lamb), and my dessert is English (Eton Mess). As we chatted about the complications in our lives, I found the ultimate comfort food in the form of a huge serving of perfectly slow cooked lamb that fell apart the instant my knife cut through it. The lamb is so tender and well seasoned with Moroccan spices and balanced with the sweet pumpkin and the crumbly, salty feta.

I have never been a fan of Pavlova but I fell for the blueberry Eton Mess at District Dining – fresh blueberries in a luscious glory of blueberry sorbet, crunchy meringue flakes and airy whipped cream. The bread and butter budding is also outstanding – it’s served warm and the bread has a nice crunch to it, matched flawlessly with the cinnamon & apple crumble ice cream. Lu and I both agreed the desserts are the highlight of the evening (and perhaps the highlight of our week)!

Down to earth comfort food, exactly what we needed
on a cold night after a long day's work.

A simple wine list is on offer with some great wines

Kingfish, wasabi snow, soy tapioca and radish

Black pepper tofu, chilli, ginger, broccoli

  

Sumac crusted salmon fillet, shaved fennel salad

Spiced 12 hour lamb shoulder, pumpkin, raisins, brik pastry, feta

L Loves... Blueberry Eton mess, blueberry sorbet

L Loves... Bread & butter pudding, prune, cinnamon & apple crumble ice cream

L's Verdict:

·     Taste: 7.5/10

·     Ambience: 4/5

·     Value: 4.5/5

·     Service: 4/5

·     Creativity and other WOW factors: 2/5 

Overall rating: 22/30

District Dining

17 Randle Street 

Surry Hills, Sydney, NSW 2010

Ph: (02) 9211 7798

Mon - Sat: 12-3 pm & 6-11pm

Visited May 2012

Friendly advice: Good news for my fellow Kiwi foodies, after receiving many great reviews, head chef Warren Turnbull (who is also a Kiwi) brought his recipe for success back to Auckland! Check it out at http://districtdining.co.nz/