Lodge Tapas
1/24 Burns Bay Rd
Lane Cove, Sydney
Nestled in the popular “hub” of Lane Cove you will find Lodge Tapas. It's a very pretty venue with inside and outside seating and can cater for up to 200. The décor has a warm and inviting ambience. They open from 7.30am – Monday to Sunday and are open every night (for dinner) except Sunday.
Sir started his meal with a cocktail – Apple liquorice Gin Sour – house infused liquorice gin, lime juice, sugar syrup, apple juice and bitters built on ice. Mlady chose the Lychee Mojito (Mojito’s are such a classic). This consisted of white rum, mint, lime, brown sugar, lychees muddled built on ice. The cocktails looked so good on arrival their presentation and colour and once sipped – in unison Sir and Mlady both said “Oh that’s nice”!
For entrees we had the arancini balls with wild mushrooms, white truffle oil and aged parmesan. Now Sir loves all things truffle related and Mlady just loves arancini balls period, so these were simply so good for us both. Oh wow. Such a great taste, great combination with the white truffle oil with a really good sauce. They had a nice soft crisp crunch outside and a delicious centre. We loved these.
Another entrée we had was the beetroot cured salmon with pickled vegetables. This dish was such a pretty dish. The dark dish enhancing the vibrancy of the brightly coloured salmon. Oh yes – pickled vegetables – Mlady adores pickles and having this in the form of vegetables, this tasty dish ticked the boxes.
Our last entrée was the Double cooked pork belly with baby granny smith apple puree, apple chip and calvados, apple serve with grilled Canadian scallop with house made vegetable chips. This had colour, nice texture, and great taste and was very tender. It was nicely cooked with a lovely crisp skin. Doesn’t pork and apple go so well together!
For mains Sir chose 300gm New York cut Angus sirloin char grilled with beer battered fries, creamy mushroom sauce and sundried tomato butter. This was so artistically presented. The chips came in a little “chip deep fryer” and the yummy mushroom sauce came in the cutest little “saucepan”. These delicious goodies with the steak that was cooked beautifully medium rare – how Sir likes it were all attractively presented on a bread board. It tantalised your eyes, nose and mouth.
Mlady chose the handmade gnocchi with wild mushrooms, goats cheese and truffle oil. To put it simply – this really was one of the best gnocchi’s ever! Smelt delish, tasted amazing, and loved the combination of wild mushrooms and the truffle oil – which did not over power. It was so soft and tender and also the sauce was so tasty. A truly delicious dish!
We managed to fit in dessert and we both shared the Espresso brulee with Kahlua Anglaise and the Lodge Aussie mess – lemon, lime curd with lime, meringue, lime jelly and mixed summer fruit.
The Espresso brulee was a work of art and the presentation was so innovative. It sat in a coffee cup! How good was it! Shame we had to share it. We have had a lot of brulee’s in our time of which we have enjoyed immensely but this truly was so scrumptious! The brulee coffee taste was so mouth -watering. Not bitter, not too sweet – it was just right! The Lodge Aussie mess was a lovely sweet dessert with cute meringues that just dissolved when you ate them – nice. The presentation was so vibrant – all those yummy goodies sitting in a dark bowl showing off their wonderful colours. We loved both these divine desserts.
The food here is really good and full of flavour with a great range of choices on their menu and generous servings. It's a place well worth visiting.
Sir and Mlady dined as guests of Lodge. Thank you to Marketa for looking after us on the night and taking time from her busy schedule to chat with us. Special thanks to Rochelle Blanch from Wordstorm PR for arranging this visit.