Riverview Hotel & Dining

By Franz Scheurer

There are pubs and there are gastro-pubs and Riverview Hotel & Dining definitely falls into the second category. It’s a pretty good-looking pub, too, with a great public bar and a cosy dining room upstairs. Brad Sloane reigns supreme in the kitchen and his food is as pretty and substantial as the dining room. The two really go well together as the dining room is very Old World but with an Australian edge to it and this really does describe the food, too.

A shared entrée platter for 2 ($38) is a good way to sample a lot of different dishes and get into the chef’s head. Alternatively if you order à-la-carte there are good choices available to you. We tried the ‘Seared Peppered Hiramasa Kingfish with Pink Grapefruit, Fennel & Witlof ($19), the ‘Zucchini Flowers w Scallop, Prawn, Rocket & Crab Aioli’ ($18), a lovely serve of fresh peach slices with Gorgonzola and prosciutto (this dish is off the tasting plate and not priced separately), and ‘Wagyu Beef Cheek Schnitzel, Smoked Onion Puree, Red Cabbage, Pickled Cauliflower ($19). Every entrée was well executed and I loved the clear, defined flavours. No 27 different garnishes here, it’s all about the produce and the Wagyu beef cheek schnitzel is a dish I could eat again and again.

For mains we tried the daily special, parpadelle with boned lamb shanks ($19 entrée size and $28 mains), and our resident vegetarian also ordered the same dish but with a putanesca-style sauce, the ‘Seared Ocean Trout, Courgette Spaghetti, Black Mussels, King Prawn & Chorizo’ ($32) and the dish of the night, ‘Berkshire Pork Belly, Black Pudding Ravioli, Seared Scallops & Apple Balsamic Puree’ ($32). The pork belly was simply superb, gooey with a perfect crackling and I was thrilled to see that they are using female pig. The ocean trout sported the crispest skin I have ever encountered and the lamb shank parpadelle was good, with lots of dark, wintery flavours. The vegetarian version (admittedly not on the menu) was not so good, as it lacked depth and flavour.

They do bake their own bread and churn their own butter. This is admirable and they are both excellent. They do serve ‘herb butter’ with the bread unless you ask for straight butter, and unfortunately they use truffle oil and it spoils a terrific product.

For dessert we asked for a tasting plate (wanting to taste every dessert) and none of us was prepared for the amount of food we received. Looking at it we were sure we couldn’t do this justice, alas we were wrong (and it says a lot for the quality of the desserts) and polished it all off with the bread and butter pudding being the stand out.

There is no question about it: this pub serves great food!

The service was attentive and friendly and although the place was packed there were no obvious frayed nerves and it was not too noisy to hold a conversation. I do have to bring the wine list to your attention: it’s fantastic! One of the best small wine lists in Sydney with ample selection by the glass. Top marks!

Noise level: 68db

Would I go back: Absolutely

Did I like it: Terrific pub grub, way above expectations

Score: 7.5/10

For more information or bookings:

Riverview Hotel & Dining

29 Birchgrove Road

Balmain

Tel.: 02 9810 1151