The Porterhouse, Surry Hills

I've had lunch at The Porterhouse before but this time a group of ten foodies descended upon it, in search of homestyle Irish comfort food washed down with a pint of Guinness or two.



I always get good vibes about The Porterhouse. Inside it's spacious and airy, rustic without being musty, and devoid of any nosewrinkling ghosts of stale cigarettes or beer.

It's also one of the few Irish pubs I know actually frequested by Irishmen. Not just your motley crew of backpackers but Irish old-timers who sit there nursing a Guinness whilst they read the paper. There also seem to be a fair number of Irish barstaff and chefs about the place--although it does't feel like a cheesy deliberate marketing ploy.

We were seated in the atrium, a lovely converted space of what used to be a Greek church. The ceiling soars off into the distance and although I can imagine it would get quite echo-y with lots of people, we had the room to ourselves on a fairly quiet Thursday evening.



On what seemed to be a slow evening, I was pleasantly surprised to see our meals come out quickly and come out well.


Chef's duck live parfait with onion marmalade and toasted bread $9.00


Porterhouse famous Beef and Guinness Pie $16.50




Blue eyed cod fillet with saffron mash and vongole in tomato and garlic $21.50


Thai lamb salad in a wonton basket $14.00




Prime Porterhouse steak with potato and pumpkin gratin, horse radish creme and red wine jus $21.00


Confit of duck leg on garlic mash with red onion jam and red wine sauce $21.00


Braised lamb shank on onion mash with buttered beans and jus $20.50

A brief survey of everyone indicated that all were happy with their respective meals. There were some indications that the duck confit and the blue eyed cod fell a little short of expectations, but overall the grub was tasty and satisfying.

I had the braised lamb shanks which were... magnifique. Truly these babies were up there in the Hall of Fame. Moist, tender flesh fell off the bone with a gentle nudge of the fork, the onion mash was rich and creamy, and the jus was clean with perfect hints of red wine. I do enjoy my shanks and I couldn't fault these in any way. The only thing that was missing was a chopstick to get to the marrow and the beans were a little khaki and overdone.

I had a sampling of the Beef and Guinness pie but couldn't really taste much Guinness. The vongole were very tasty though and the presentation of the lamb salad in the deep fried wonton basket was funky and very effective.

Overall though the Porterhouse serves up fairly reliable upmarket pub grub at reasonable prices in ambient surrounds. The menu covers a broad spectrum of palates (from chips to vongole) without compromising the value or quality of either.

What to do when faced with such a gamut of delicious menu options? Stick by the adage "When in Rome...". And shank goodness I did.


The Porterhouse
Corner Campbell and Riley Streets, Surry Hills
Tel: 02 9211 4454

Open 11am to midnight 7 days

Related GrabYourFork posts:
The Porterhouse, Surry Hills Nov 04