THE ANNANDALE HOTEL (BREAKFAST) - ANNANDALE, SYDNEY

The Annandale Hotel (Breakfast)
17 Parramatta Rd
Annandale, Sydney

The recent relaunch of the historic and iconic Annandale Hotel by the gang at Oscars Hotels was more than just a pub opening.

The Annandale is also open for breakfast - and it's not the typical old fashioned plain pub breakfast you get here. Far from it in fact.

It does have the great value that people have come to expect from pub breakfasts though and the huge servings.

If you wander through the main front part of the hotel you come to a lovely oasis at the back that is bright, airy, and extremely pleasant. It has a louvred roof letting in light and air and opening the whole place up even more. The use of timber and heritage materials adds even more to the charm.

First things first for any breakfast - or brunch in this case.

Coffee!

We needed it badly and it came quickly.

You order at the front counter and it arrives soon afterwards - hot, steamy and very tasty too! The mix and match cups and saucers are nice too - very casual.

Our first dish was the Fruit N Muesli Bucket - which understated what you would get by simply saying it came with honey yoghurt and toasted almonds. What arrived was so much more impressive than we actually expected!

A longish wooden board arrived laden with goodies including a jug of milk, a dish of yoghurt and another with honey.

The muesli though was the unique part - served in a large jar with a juicer on top and half an orange. You then use the juicer to drizzle freshly squeezed orange juice into the very full pile of muesli below it! Then remove the lid and add the extras - milk, yoghurt and honey - to taste.

It was fresh, tasty, different and fun - all in one - and affordable! This was a great concept and nicely presented. 

Oh wow - they have some great treats for brekkie at The Annandale too! The waffles we had were amazing - colourful, fluffy and light, with decadent combinations on top that had you drooling before they had even arrived. Then your eyes bulged as you saw what you got! You create the combination too - choose your waffle type, topping, sauce and ice cream. We had plain waffles with strawberries, strawberry jam and peanut ice cream - oink. It was so delish though.

Then it was time for something a bit more traditional for brekkie - eggs - but again with a big twist.

The baked eggs arrive in their own individual cast iron pan served with a great combo of cornbeef hash, caramelised onions, bacon, tomato and Comte cheese. This was seriously good - even for Sir who wasn't sure about the cornbeef hash when ordering. After tasting it though he was a convert.

We've all had hash brown for breakfast - often at fast food places as a side serving. Here at The Annandale the hash browns come in a bucket. We both thought this was just a phrase when ordering - who gets a whole bucket of hash browns anyway - and nobody sells these for just five buck! Well they do here and they're good too - nice and crisp on the outside, fluffy inside and soooo many of them! They come plain, with chilli cheese or chilli cheese and bacon. We had the chilli cheese which went really well.































The Annandale Hotel for breakfast? Really? Yes, yes, yes. It's creative, it's affordable, it's large servings and it's fun. All this in very pleasant surroundings! What more could you ask for?

Sir and Mlady dined as guests of The Annandale Hotel and the Oscars Hotels. Special thanks to Steph and Mo for looking after us so well and explaining everything to us. A big thanks also to Eli West of Oscars Hotels for inviting us.

 

ANNANDALE HOTEL - ANNANDALE, SYDNEY

Annandale Hotel
17 Parramatta Rd
Annandale, Sydney

Guess who's back! Yes - The Annandale Hotel is back thanks to the folks at Oscars Hotels. Great news!

It's a little bit different to its past look - they've put quite a bit of time and money into revamping the place - but it still has links to its musical past around the walls and even outside.

Having been there many a time to watch some great bands over the years it's just so good to see the Annandale back again. The stage is now at the front - the Parramatta Rd end - and it's smaller. There's a front room with a long bar, a back indoor/outdoor room and a separate side diner/bar area as well. Of course it's a hotel so they have plenty of different drinks available. They also have food as well - from breakfast through till dinner.

It wasn't a usual trading night when we were visiting because it was their Grand Opening - or Grand Re-Opening.

Nevertheless, there was plenty of food being served all night - and it was very tasty.

Not sure if these are on their usual menu but the small cones filled with a salmon mousse and poppy seeds were delicious - I had about four of them!

The kitchen was really working overtime because the Annandale Hotel was packed. They seemed to handle it pretty well though because the food just kept on arriving. The quiches had a nice pastry shell and the filling of mushroom and goats cheese was very light and delicious. I can never eat just one Peking duck pancake and this was no exception. They kept going past and I kept taking them. Mlady was far more restrained only having a few.

The seafood sliders were also tasty, but being a bit later and a bit bigger than some of the other food made us both limit ourselves to one each. We were probably to absorbed in the performance by Gossling - and The Annandale are due to have plenty more live performances too - including local and international artists. Don't expect hard rock every night like bygone days - they'll have singer songwriters, hip hop and even bluegrass will be heard from time to time.

The menu at The Annandale Hotel has been put together by their Executive Chef John Rankin (formerly of Waitan). Expect a good range of dishes from breakfast till dinner. They have an indoor/outdoor area at the rear with quirky retro tables, chairs and other furniture, a main room where the live music is located and their long bar and a side room with another bar with booths down the wall. There's plenty of different areas for plenty of different uses!


Sir and Mlady were invited to the media launch of The Annandale Hotel. Special thanks to Oscars Hotels and Rachel for inviting us.

VINERY FOODS - ANNANDALE, SYDNEY

Vinery Foods
125 Johnston St
Annandale, Sydney

Vinery Foods offers a wonderful combination of great food and a great wine list - and all in close proximity to the Sydney CBD in Annandale. Owner Joseph Moussa comes from a strong culinary background having worked with and alongside some of the best chefs in Sydney before branching out to his own place.

Vinery has a nice feel to it. The tables are well spaced out so you're not sitting on top of the people next to you. There's a high bench in the middle, some front window tables and plenty of others inside. There's even a private dining room that holds 28 people. The place is open, airy and has a relaxed comfortable feel to it.

It's somewhere you can stop for a nice drink and snack or stay for a full meal.

While we were deciding what to order - and it was a tough choice - a lovely amuse bouche arrived at the table.

It was a broccoli and Parmesan soup in cute little red cups and it tasted great. We both loved it - even I did, and I'm not generally a huge soup fan at the best of times!

What a nice way to get the palate warmed up!.

I love smoked salmon. I always have and I always will. So when I spotted the tequila cured salmon plate on the menu it caught my eye immediately. It came with cucumber and fennel salad and lightly toasted rye. Lovely. It was light, packed with subtle flavours and a decent sized serving for salmon fans like me!

Throw in a nice Tasmanian pinot noir and a soft negroamaro from Salento in south eastern Italy and its a perfect start!

Mlady was in the mood for some pasta so the roast pumpkin and almond ravioli was her starter of choice.

She loved it.

It was beautifully presented and its vibrant colours looked great on the plate.

Again it was a generous serving for an entree.

My main was a surf and turf combination that sounded great and tasted great as well. I had pan fried Harvey Bay scallops with roasted pork belly, pea puree and apple. It was an interesting mix that actually worked really well. 

Another two glasses of wine from the good list here again completed the course. Vinery have expanded their list considerably over the last few years and some people are now coming here just for the wine!

Mlady often chooses barramundi and this was no exception. The barramundi fillet with spinach and fennel, cherry tomato, cucumber and red onion salsa sounded good and turned out to taste great as well. The crispy skin was an added bonus!

We added a side of bacon, quail egg, spinach salad and Parmesan. It was like a Caesar salad in many ways but much with lighter ingredients and with a lighter dressing. It was all delicious.

For dessert I chose the vanilla bean crème brûlée with champagne braised rhubarb.

I was a little concerned that the rhubarb would overpower the custard but luckily it was a small serving of rhubarb and the combination actually went really well.

We also added a couple of glasses of Pedro Ximenez - just love this stuff!

Mlady loves chocolate desserts - most of the time.

This was again one of those times!

She chose the dark chocolate fondant interestingly paired with earl grey jelly.

She commented that the jelly paired beautifully with the rich fondant.

Vinery Foods offers a strong and diverse menu with a distinct European feel to it combined with a strong and diverse wine list that is attracting customers in its own right. It offers the option of both great bar and great restaurant - it's your choice!

Sir and Mlady dined as guests of Vinery Foods. Special thanks to Vinery Foods owner Joseph Moussa for inviting us.

ESTHER'S TABLE - ANNANDALE

Esther's Table
61 Annandale St
Annandale

This is a pretty little cafe perched on a quaint street corner in Annandale. It serves an interesting variety of all day breakfast items and lunch items that are tasty and affordable.

On a week day though at lunch time its a bit quieter so it was a good time to drop in and check out their goodies.



My partner in crime - supercoach Lisa this time - chose the croissant with wilted spinach and camembert. It was a nice flaky croissant with plenty of filling and came garnished with a small serving of fresh salad. It was tasty and appealing. It cost $8.

My choice was the Turkish BLT - light fresh Turkish bread with bacon, lettuce and tomato with a lovely tomato relish covering the base. It was a nice BLT - plenty of bacon and a good combination of flavours.

The coffee at Esther's Table is also nice. Lovely flavour and nice and hot without going to far.

Esther's Table is a great little cafe with a nice range of food to choose from - including an all day breakfast menu. The food is good, the service friendly and the decor and outlook is lovely.



REVOLVER - Annandale

Revolver
291 Annandale St
Annandale
Phone: 95554727

Revolver is a rustic, quirky place on the outside and the inside. As its not snuggled in among all the other Annandale eateries its a bit hidden - but worth the hunt to find.

Sir was without M'Lday for this journey, but joined by good friend "Lisa" who is a Revolver regular and had recommended the place.

Sir thought it was worth a shot (sorry - bad pun).


We were lunching and decided to share two of the meals on the specials board.

The first was described on the board as: "Zucchini fritters with avocado, bacon, poached egg and macadamia nut salad." It ended up looking and tasting as good as it sounded.

The egg was cooked but runny and mixed well with the remainder. I was initially sceptical about the macadamia's but they provided a crunchy nuttiness to the taste and texture that went surprisingly well.

Then there was the: "Bruscetta of ricotta stuffed zucchini flowers, pumpkin puree, sage, roast tomato and goats cheese."

Another interesting combo that tantalised and delivered.

Both meals came on plates that wouldn't look out of place at your Grandmas - you know the sort - floral and pretty.



Revolver is usually very busy and you may need to queue during peak hours - but its worth it. Parking is easy though - unlike some other parts of Annandale.


Meals vary in price - ours were both $15.50 each - but you get interesting and tasty combinations. Revolver is well worth trying!




 

Revolver Specials Board