21 December 2009

The Pond: Pop Up Restaurant, Darlinghurst (20 Dec 2009)

32 Burton Street, Darlinghurst NSW 2010

Super Crunchy Fried Prawns

Shining like a beacon at night this pop-up restaurant is sponsored by Pure Blonde and thankfully I got to try it on its last day before closing for Christmas — it'll reopen on the 1 January 2010. I first heard about it through Not Quite Nigella and then by The Unbearable Lightness of Being Hungry so it's been on my radar for a visit — please check them out for more photos including the cool looking courtyard. The Flash Fried School Prawns with aioli are a great starter and cooked to crispy crunchy perfection. Ana's Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli with brown butter and sage is exactly what I was hoping for. It's got plenty of flavour and melts in your mouth. It's quite an oily dish because of the butter but it tastes so good. The Chicken Scallopini with orange and fennel salad is a great combo of flavours and the salad helps cut through the heaviness of the chicken crumbing and generous serving. How could I go past a glass of shiraz named 'The Idiot' from Phillip Shaw — had good depth of flavour without too much tannin taste.

It's great to see the furniture is environmentally sound being crafted using reclaimed hardwood timbers, certified plantation pine timber, recycled pine and found objects — I love the look of it and would want some for my own home. The exposed sandstone and rustic flowers adorning the tables gives the place a very homely feel — a bit of an oasis from Darlinghurst outside. I've heard its been quite popular and perhaps too popular which might have affected service and friendliness — such can be the downside of ones own success. Tonight was fairly quiet when arriving near closing time so there was no problem getting a seat or problems with service.

PS. The Pond will be closing 6 Jan 2010 (see Media Alert below).

Flash fried school prawns with aioli $12
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Ana's spinach and ricotta ravioli with brown butter and sage $20
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Chicken scallopini with orange and fennel salad $20
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

2007 'The Idiot' Shiraz, Phillip Shaw, Orange NSW $10, 2008 Aerin's Vineyard Grenache-Shiraz-Mouvedre, Heathcote, Vic $8

Menu

Wine menu

Stairwell art

Table flower

Furniture crafted using reclaimed hardwood timbers, certified plantation pine timber, recycled pine and found objects.

Wall decoration watching over me

The bill — where else can you get '1 Idiot for $10' :-)

Closed til 1 Jan 2010

Nice reminder in the mens toilet — I always do :-)



Media Alert - The Pond closing 6 Jan 2010

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lovely restaurant. Heard so much about these 'pop up' hype lately but this one stood up among the rest.

Jacq said...

Haha the bill with the idiot for $10 is hilarious! This place looks pretty decent compared to some of the other pop-up bars I've read about. The ravioli looks great!

Trissa said...

My favourite snack food would be those crispy fried prawns - I would go to The Pond for just that - and the Idiot of course! hehe

Simon Leong said...

hi ellie, i think it possibly might become a more permanent restaurant next year which would be good as the food was very good

hi jacq, i'm so glad i wasn't an idiot for ordering it as it was a really nice drop :-)

hi trissa, i'm thinking those crispy fried prawns would go so well with a few cold beers as well. can't go past a good idiot hehe :-)

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