Strawberry Hills Hotel
Image: estaurants should be afraid when local pubs like this recently refurbished beauty, can offer up heaving plates of good quality, nicely-cooked produce with provenance listed on the menu, for under fifteen bucks!
Restaurants should be afraid when local pubs like this recently refurbished beauty, can offer up heaving plates of good quality, nicely-cooked produce with provenance listed on the menu, for under fifteen bucks! The best dish I ate was a set of Tuscan Pork and Truffle Sausages ($12.50) – made using Bangalow Sweet Pork and Tuscan summer truffles – set on creamy mash with caramelised onion and red wine jus. For the princely sum of fifteen bucks you can also enjoy a pair of well-rendered Duck Marylands in Asian Sauce ($15); or a decent slab of Twice Cooked Pork Belly ($15) with nice little tatties, braised cabbage and a thick demi-glace that failed to unite the dish – it’s worth ordering regardless. A passing platter bearing 600 Day Grain Fed Cabassi & Rea Farm Wagyu Steak ($15) had me wishing I could fit in second dinner. It’s nice to see locals giving the six million dollar renovation the thumbs up after an eighteen-month closure that sensitively retains the classic Aussie pub feel downstairs, with a rather spiffy air-conditioned star-lit deck upstairs. It’s perfect for knocking back jugs of Pimms Coolie ($25), but if you order my coveted steak, throw in a glass of Aerins Vineyard GSM ($7/glass) – it’s an affable quaffer.
Strawberry Hills Hotel
452 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills
Ph: (02) 9699 3355 www.strawberryhillshotel.com.au
Pub Bistro $
