Small Bar, Crows Nest

I recently came here to celebrate the momentous first birthday party of mini-Aunt T. Small Bar seems to be the go-to place for special occasions for MSG Cafeteria due to its convenient and central location so I thought I'd use this opportunity to document and share the food experience.

Located along Willoughby Street (i.e. main food street) in Crows Nest, Small Bar faces some intense competition in the food stakes. There is limited seating outside the main entrance and along the long aisle towards the courtyard around the back, however the courtyard space is big enough to accommodate 40+ people.

Outside of Restaurant

Aunt T & Co. went all out on the event with the food and decor, even decorating the courtyard with balloons, banner and bunting. Also, Ivanhoe was recruited to apply her artistic skills to create the time capsule slips for guests to fill in.

Hotel Bondi, Bondi Beach

Back in Jun, MSG Cafeteria was approached by Hotel Bondi to drop by and sample some of their new bistro menu. So on the date of our booking, Whitty and I made the trek out to Bondi from the city after a brief stop by Zero Degrees to try their puffer fish. As we arrived at Bondi Beach early, we ended up walking along the promenade so that Whitty could go Pokemon hunting - apparently there were a lot of "rats and pigeons" around, as well as an occasional Psyduck if you're lucky.

Outside of Hotel

Whitty and I met up with the manager of Hotel Bondi, Ralph, who explained how the hotel had been renovated back in Dec 2015 - complete with new floors, paint job, new furniture and lighting. It certainly looked worth it! There were some awesome LED chandeliers at the main entrance for the hotel and more interesting lights spread throughout the bistro and bar area to provide dim lighting for guests. There was ample table seating inside as well as a pool/TV room. Apparently, Hotel Bondi previously leased out their kitchen but took the kitchen back in Mar 2016 so they're now serving their own food, complete with a new bistro menu.

Kirribilli Hotel, Milsons Point

Do you ever have days when you just don't feel like cooking? What happens for you on those days? Exhibit A for our family. We head down to the pub.

That isn't completely true. We actually look through the Entertainment book and find a convenient place.

Spicy, sticky glazed pork ribs w thick cut chips & salad - $41 (full rack)

Didn't take long for Uncle G to decide he wanted the ribs. Greed set in when we saw it was $33 for half a rack, and $41 for the full rack. We thought "eh, might as well get the full rack! Can save the rest for lunch the next day, right?". Wrong. Kirribilli Hotel is the first place I have been to where I have been informed of a STRICT no food leaves the premises policy.

"Can I have the leftovers takeaway?"
"No."
"O, if there's no box that's ok, just give me some foil."
"No. You might leave it out in the sun too long and get food poisoning so no."
"... Umm ok. Can I get it as doggy bag for my dog then?"
"No. Strictly all food must be confused on the premises."

I haven't tried to take food away from a pub before, so I'm not sure if this is common. The cook pointed out a tiny sign above the kitchen window with a paragraph of fine print on what is allowed and not allowed at this place.
I guess my biggest qualm with the matter is you should make an effort to make sure guests are informed about this before ordering. Could probably do better than a small sign above a kitchen window (rather than at the point of order).

Kirribilli Tapas Sampler: King prawns w freshmango & tomato salsa; seared scallops
w sweet soy ponzu sauce; arancini balls w sundried tomato, basil, mozzarella & aoili - $38.00

Left with no choice we monstered down all the food we ordered. Yup. That's all the scallops 3 tapas and the full rack of ribs.

I guess you just want to know how the food was right? Overall it was ok. The ribs were falling off the bone and saucy. The arancini balls crunchy and fluffy in the middle, it was especially good with the aoili provided. The scallops were also well cooked. I would probably not go for the prawns again though as a number of them could have been fresher.

In spite of a 25% Entertainment discount, it hasn't won our return business, but that's the risk of trying new things! You never know, if you never go.

Four In Hand, Paddington

To make a friend's dream of eating "Mr Pork Belly" a reality, a group of friends organised a pork belly dinner at Four in Hands as an early celebration for Christmas. All of us were uber excited by this opportunity for pork belllyyyyyy!
 
We were originally asked to get a majority of the people there by 6:45pm for a 7pm start but they were happy to delay serving the food until 7:15-20pm to cater for the few late-comers.

Finally, the time had arrived and our pork belly was delivered to our table:

Pork Belly Platter - Pork Belly + Ribs with Onions (Halved), Roasted Carrots,
Roasted Potatoes, and Broccoli, served with Gravy

The wooden platter (more like a plank!) was enormous and required two men to carry it. We were all amazed by the sheer size of the platter and spent the next 5 min taking photos of the food and the dinner table.

Close Up of Pork Belly *drools*

Eventually, we started serving out the pork belly and accompaniments to everyone:

Pork Belly Dinner on a Plate

Overall, I was extremely satisfied with the meal. The pork belly skin was crispy and well-seasoned, and there were ample sides - there were 13 of us and we depleted everything except for half the bowl of potatoes. Everyone was stuffed by the end of the night and one of my friends has already commented that they would be coming back on their birthday next year for another pork belly dinner. The service was also good - waiters were friendly and were constantly checking up on us to ensure that we were happy with our food.

If you want to partake in a pork dinner, you'll need to call up in advance (at least 48hrs notice) and reserve a pig ($800 for 10+ people) or pork belly ($350 for 10+ people).

The bar/restaurant is accessible by car (park on nearby streets) and public transport - either train to Edgecliff station, or get off at bus stop on Ocean Road/Trelawney St along the bus route to Bondi Junction, and then hike 600-800m via the 'bush' or the streets of Paddington to the bar/restaurant.
The place is hidden within a quiet residential area but you will notice it from the noise generated by the pub clientele. The bar (where we ate our dinner) adjoins the restaurant and has a separate dining area on the side.

Four In Hands at Night