I must admit that I’ve had dinner at Pyrama quite a few times, but never had the opportunity to write a review. Previously my review for Pyrama was based on their breakfast/brunch/lunch service on the weekend – which was amazing! And dinner is no disappointment either.
Chef Jim Larcan cleverly designs his menu based on the season and selects his produced when they are the ripe time to savour. Their service is very friendly and they have an attentive eye for detail to ensure that you have a faultless evening. Staff at Pyrama haven’t changed in the various times that we dined there which shows the quality of management in keeping their staff happy.
Pyrama have a special that has been going on for some time and it hits the sweet spot for those looking for fine dining without busting the budget. $29 for 1 course, $40 for 2 courses and $52 for 3 courses (wine is extra). There are a dish or two that can attract an extra $10 on the bill, but my god the value for money is outstanding. With a decent wine list to compliment your dinner, you don’t feel disappointed that it is not BYO.
We called at 8:45pm to check if they had availability within 15 to 20 mins and Karen was more than helpful to accommodate our late dinner by letting Jim know of our late arrival. To start I had the carpaccio with mushrooms and grana padano (Italian cheese) which was simply prepared and served to perfection. A very nice and light way to start off dinner. Other options on their entrée menu are Tempura Zuchinni flowers with ricotta and herbs or chorizo with caramlised onion, apple and yoghurt – who would have thought =)
My mains was the sirloin (which attracts and extra $10 on the bill) and was absolutely divine. It comes with fries, herbed butter (café de Paris) and red wine jus. Cooked as requested, medium rare, the meat was very tender and the jus works balanced the flavours really well. And those fries are to die for! They look similar to McDonald fries (sorry Jim), but they taste a 100 times better. Other options for mains are confit duck with lentils, shallots and orange sauce or try the pan roasted spatchcock with roasted beets and parsley salad.
Desserts are irresistible (like in any restaurant). However, our mains were quite filling and we instead opted for some homemade chocolate truffles. These melt in your mouth with a cup of latte alongside. If you want something more filling try their vanilla pannacotta with mango and mint salsa or the French white chocolate crème brulee with passionfruit.
Pyrama is a welcome restaurant for a nice low key dinner and you can chose to enjoy your meal in their courtyard or indoors if the weather doesn’t suit. The staff are very friendly and Karen and Linda do an awesome job of making sure you enjoy yourself- and Jim at the same time ensures that your plate comes with quality and tasty food.
You will not be disappointed!
Website – http://www.pyrama.com.au/
Menu – http://www.pyrama.com.au/menu.html
Atmosphere – 8/10
Food – 8.5/10
Wine (cocktails) – 8/10
Staff – 9/10
Value for money – 9.5/10
The DCM nightclub on Oxford Street has recently been replaced by a Mediterranean restaurant called The Mediterranean. Opened by the owner of Tandoori Palace from across the road, this restaurant boasts a decent menu of some Greek classics. Arriving at The Mediterranean requires climbing a flight of stairs which could in itself work up a thirst for a glass of wine.
The atmosphere is different to your traditional fine dining restaurant whereby this setting has Greek resembling statues, and the decorator seems to have a fetish for long hanging lights. There is a feature wall when you arrive with brick tiles and a relief. Towards the end of the bar there is a beautiful painting (or wallpaper) of the Greek island coast, which unfortunately is dimmed out due to the lighting. Previously a dance floor and now capable of holding close to seating over a 150 people, the restaurant has been opened for just over 8 weeks.
The menu list your Greek specials of dips, souvlaki, moussaka and also a great variety for seafood dishes. We had ordered the mixed platter ($10), which unfortunately only turned up with 2 dips – Tzatziki and Taramosalata (fish roe) but however they missed the eggplant dip (Melitzanosalata). Being a non-seafood diner, the tzatziki was actually pretty good. Nice warm pita bread topped with dried herbs works really well with it. I did however crave for other dips but we moved on to the entree of meatballs (Souzoukakia – $15.90) where the serving is actually quite generous with 4 large pieces – enough for one per person to try. We had also ordered some Ouzo Prawns ($17.90) which look well cooked in the a rich tomato, garlic and chilli based sauce.
Our mains had one let down, the Lamb Fourno ($26) which did have quite a few rib bones in the dish, and while some of the meat was tender it left little to desire with slightly over salted potatoes. However, the meat Moussaka ($20) was value for money. I haven’t had very many Moussaka’s in my life, but this tasted great. Nice layer of mashed potatoes on top, with a layer of tomato paste and mince sitting on a bed of eggplant baked with crispy sides that held its shape well when presented. A piece of this was sufficient to fill me up without much of the Lamb Fourno.
After having tasted the above it left very little room for dessert, but I was given an explanation of a deep fried donut topped with honey and cinnamon that sounded great, but I had to prepared myself for a walk down the stairs – and dessert would have made that harder.
The Mediterranean’s kitchen is run by a Greek chef and so the quality of food isn’t bad for a restaurant down Oxford St which unfortunately does have a lot of competition to keep them going. The restaurant has an abundant amount of room to host group dinners and functions which they advertise on their website. $50 per person allows you to try a mixed variety of what The Mediterranean has to offer. Their wine list is pretty decent for a restaurant of this price range too. We had a great Sauvignon Blanc that worked well with our food, but if I wasn’t driving I would have selected a second glass of red for my mains.
Being only opened for 2 months, the service will need time to improve itself. The waitress did have a hard time understanding our order, as well as the names of the dishes. Her knowledge of the wine list required us to repeat it a few times, but again that just needs encouragement and education. On a Tuesday night (which is when I went) don’t expect a full house, but on a Friday or Saturday I’ve been told that live entertainment is on offer with belly dancing and singing to bring in a crowd.
Dine at The Mediterranean and then head down to the nightlife of Oxford Street, you won’t regret filling up your stomach before those tequila shots.
A couple of years ago, I attended the Taste of Sydney festival – and I remember trying some of the dishes from Longrain, which I thought was fantastic. Especially their tapioca dessert.
So recently, we decided to give them a go. Longrain is a restaurant where you can’t book a table, and when you do get table… you’re pretty lucky (or so you think!)
First impressions of the place was friendly atmosphere with a decent sized cocktail lounge on one end and the restaurant and the other – in between you have a long hallway (Tony Hawk would love to convert it to a skating ramp).
The place looked busy, and I think know why. Since you can’t book a table, people rush in early to get their names on a list by the restaurant’s… let’s call him the bouncer, this guy meant business. So once you’re names is on the list, you wait – in their cocktail bar.
We asked for a “table for 2”, and he said “Sure, that’ll be 2 hours”. I had to clarify if he misheard me mentioning the number of people and not the number of hours. Clearly, I was put in place to say that it will take 2 hours. Great, so where to? Of course we were ushered to cocktail lounge and asked to “enjoy ourselves” while we wait – nice touch.
6 x cocktails (at $16 – $18 each), sparkling water, some oysters and a dish of mince pork lettuce cup kind of thing. I’ll be honest, I can’t remember much of it, partly because I wait for 2 f@*king hours! By then my taste buds had given up and it probably preferred a chicken kebab as opposed to a curry. Just as we were contemplating our decision, bouncer man comes and offers us a table.
As I sat down, I noticed that our ‘table’ was in between a birthday celebration to my left, a couple trying to have an intimate moment to my right, and a couple who were previously getting drunk at the cocktail bar now sitting opposite me – lovely!
Dinner time, and we ordered 2 main dishes, a salad, brown rice – all to share, followed by dessert (yes, I had their tapioca pudding) – but let me say that the food didn’t compensate for the lack of table service, mannerism of the restaurant staff and not even the table setting. Honestly the restaurant could do with more space dedicated to the dining area.
All in all, cocktail, nibles, mains, dessert came to $110 per person – so value for money wise, it’s okish. I’d rather spend an extra $80 and go Universal for a 5 course world cuisine with matching wine.
And to top it off, the staff decided to charge my credit card twice within a space of 1 minute. I got a call from my bank on Monday morning (thanks St George) to call back the restaurant if it was a mistake.
Admittedly, their accountant was much better to deal with and I would rather have her serve my table.
Longrain –I wish they called it Longwait!
Atmosphere – 7.5/10
Food – 6.5/10
Wine (cocktails) – 7.5/10
Staff – 5.5/10
Value for money – 6/10