The Winery by Gazebo: A new place to play, Surry Hills (18 Sept 2009)

285a Crown Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010
http://www.thegazebos.com.au

A new place to play

'Come play in the Winery' is inscribed on their business card and an adults playground it certainly is — half naked bodies adorn the menu for a start. Having just opened to the public on the Friday 18 September 2009 the bar and restaurant is packed with the usual inner city clientele. With no booking in hand it becomes a long wait, nearly 2 hours actually for our table of 4, but the wait was worth it — although will definitely make a booking next time if dining. For such a new and classy establishment in Surry Hills one would possibly expect it to be expensive and complimented with attitude but I found the food very reasonably priced for the quality and presentation and the staff were friendly and efficient. Everyone was happy with their meals and we actually didn't try the cheeseboard which I took a photo of at the kitchen pass while waiting to be collected and served to another table.

Lighting is romantically dim although you'll need to use your mobile or battery operated table candle to read it — out waitress certainly did as well as our neighboring table guests. The toilets are retro cool with old pink porcelain sinks and greenish aqua tiles. Weekly menu specials of mussel night, wine tastings, cheese night, Chefs tasting plate night and the Sunday Roast are advertised as 'Coming soon' and 'Not quite yet ... but soon' sound great and I hope to revisit once they are up and running.

Yarra Burn Brut $38 bottle

Bread and dip board, olives, chunk of cheese, parma ham $19

Crispy flash fried squid, mint, coriander, cucumber ribbons $18

Baked fillet of salmon with a herbed bread crust, greens and hollandaise $25

Asparagus, raddichio and garden pea truffled risotto $20

Champagne, grape and dijon chicken pie on a bed of buttered spinach $23

Grilled lamb chops, warm fetta salad, potatoes, olives and a Pinot jus $25

Golden mascarpone and sugared date tart, shortcrust slice, ice cream $13

Affogato, vanilla ice cream with a shot of coffee $6

Cheeseboard with crispy breads, raisin toast, apple and grape chutney $23

Cutlery basket, salt and pepper

Dim lighting makes it hard to read menu

Dessert and stickies menu

The bill

Downstairs bar and dining

Upstairs dining

Downstairs garden feature wall

The kitchen pass

Bar decorations

Menu graphics for adults

Toilet door entry

Homely retro toilet decor

Toilet checks board — nice to know it's been done but perhaps we don't really need to know?

Upstairs wall decorations

Outside seating

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