reviews
Best Weekend 23/1/10
THE Tilbury is one of my favourite local watering holes, so I was in familiar surrounds when I road tested their Fast Festival Feasts menu. However, I have only eaten in the restaurant a few times, as the focus of my visits generally leans more towards the wine list than the menu.
The pub sits one street back from the water at Woolloomooloo. The simple, elegant dining room has wooden floors, white tablecloths and an open kitchen to the side, and sits in the middle of the ground level, overlooking the courtyard.
In an effort to sample as much of the menu as possible, we steered a little bit off course and added a few extras to the special deal they are offering in conjunction with the Sydney Festival, which includes a main course of john dory and glass of 2009 Stoneleigh sauvignon blanc or Little Creatures bright ale, for $30.
To start with we shared deep fried salt and pepper Balmain bugs ($21) served with rocket, creme fraiche and chilli jam and a saffron risotto with lobster, peas and chervil ($22). The bugs’ meat was delicious, fresh and sweet and the risotto was creamy with generous chunks of lobster. For main we had the pan-fried John Dory with asparagus, tomato and a clam vinaigrette.
The dory was well cooked with a crispy skin and lifted by the tang of the vinaigrette. The clams scattered on the plate alongside were tasty little morsels that also added a bit of visual interest, as well as an extra dimension to the dressing.
We shared the passionfruit pannacotta ($12) for dessert, which had just the right amount of wobble and was smooth and creamy with a distinctive passionfruit flavour and served with a fresh passionfruit on the side — quite clever, as the seeds drizzled out to create a ready-made sauce.
The restaurant doesn’t quite have the glamour of those along nearby Woolloomooloo wharf, with their backdrop of the Harbour and the city’s twinkling lights, but it’s worth veering off the main drag for food that is this good.
After such a pleasant meal with friendly, attentive service, we’ve both resolved to mix it up a bit and devote more of our time to the restaurant, rather than the bar, on future visits.
Verdict: The food served among the somewhat rowdy drinking in the surrounding bars is top notch.
Alice Wasley