20 April 2012

Mr Cooper's Restaurant & Wine Bar: Launch Party, Paddington (19 Apr 2012)

438 Oxford Street, Paddington NSW 2021

New wine bar joins Oxford St


Thanks to Scarlett LaPlanche from Mr Cooper's Wine Bar for inviting me to their launch party with Chef John Rankin in the kitchen cooking up a storm of tasty canapés, formerly of The Owl House. The name of the bar is apparently linked to Robert 'Black Bob' Cooper who was a convict and had a particular interest in ostrich feathers, hence the logo and ostrich egg at the entrance. My favourite dishes of the night were the Stuffed Zucchini Flowers with their crispy batter and tasty filling and the Smoked Haddock Croquettes with their creamy centers. I also liked the flavours of the Confit lamb shoulder with white eggplant puree & confit garlic and was quite impressed with their House made chorizo sausage although it was a little difficult trying to get some of the tomato & chilli relish onto the sausage when dipping into the bowl. The Fudge brownie was pretty good for a sugary end although I wish it had a bit more roasty flavour in the nuts and sadly the Raspberry Chocolate Martini I tried tasted more like a cream martini with hardly any taste of chocolate, vanilla infused vodka or raspberry — perhaps it was just mine. I remember when Avido Restaurant & Wine Garden was in this spot and it looks like a worthy drinking hole has now taken up the reins for locals to explore its interesting menu and wine selection.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:
PROS: Nice decor, Courtyard at the back, Interesting menu
CONS: Can get a bit hard to move around the bar when it's crowded
MUST TRY: Revisiting to try the normal menu

Terracotta baked bread and marinated olives
Truffle popcorn
Jamon Serrano
Chicken and pork terrine, grape relish, stout and wholemeal sourdough
Yellow fin tuna, soy dashi jelly, miso curd cucumber
Little Creatures Bright Ale — quite a nice thirst quencher
Tomato with goats curd and basil
Confit lamb shoulder, white eggplant puree, confit garlic
WORTH TRYING :-)

Wine by the glass


Stuffed zucchini flowers
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)
Smoked Haddock Croquettes 
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)
House made chorizo sausage, tomato & chilli relish 

Raspberry Chocolate Martini 
Chocolate tarts
Fudge brownie
Chef John Rankin
Kitchen team

Outdoor lights
Indoor lights
Wines
Spirits

Courtyard seating
Bar seating

Bar seating
Bar and service staff


I love a good reflection shot
'Just keeping it real' — Dreaming of being on Sunrise with Kochie
Jennifer Evans (My Kitchen Rules 2012 winner)
A bit of orange on orange
Official photographer — I reckon I need one of those soft light covers for the flash
Snacks menu

Small dishes menu

Cheese menu

Dessert menu

Cocktails menu
White wine menu

Red wine menu
Mr Cooper apparently loved Ostrich eggs



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Mr. Cooper's Wine Bar on Urbanspoon

7 comments:

joey@forkingaroundsydney said...

Another fab new place, cool. The fried foods look so good even at this time of day. :-)

SarahKate (Mi Casa-Su Casa) said...

I love zucchini flowers and the chorizo sounds lovely... but I'm thinking I'd most like to try that chocolate and raspberry martini!

L said...

Looks like a really good and chic place. Must drag friends to it. XD

tastyfoodsnaps said...

The vanilla & walnut pannacotta, expresso jelly, biscotti sounds yum!

I would love to try the Confit lamb shoulder here :) tapas is the best!

Anonymous said...

OMG...The apple strudel martini was to die for,easily the best cocktail I have ever had!!! Will be back very soon!!!!!

Vivian - vxdollface said...

Love the reflection shot! Food sounds pretty good here :)

Simon Leong said...

hi joey, i hope to check out the normal menu to see what it's like one day.

hi sarah, the martini didn't quite work for me but hopefully they do it well when you go.

hi L, let me know what it's like if you go.

hi tastyfoodsnaps, very tempting sounding menu that's for sure.

hi anonymous, did you have the apple strudel martini, sounds like a nice night cap drink.

hi vivian, i reckon anyone that goes there should do a reflection shot of themselves as well hehe

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