Central Hotel and District Dining, Surry Hills

EDIT: District Dining has closed

How can you eat a meal by Warren Turnbull for only $10? It's easy.

We all know Warren Turnbull as the head chef and owner of both Restaurant Assiette and District Dining, but few people realise that Warren and his team design and prepare the bar food menu at the cheap and cheerful Central Hotel.



The Central Hotel sits beneath District Dining, facing the Devonshire Street entrance to Central train station. It's a low-key pub that's undergone a recent makeover - timber tables inside and out - with white plastic chairs arranged neatly on the footpath. The only drag is the never-ending melody of pokies in the background - still audible through the thin panelling of the games room.



There's only a small note at the top of the menu that lets you know the food comes from the same kitchen as District Dining. We'd originally arrived at the pub seeking beer and a quick feed, not realising it was connected to Warren's kitchen.The menu is brief and surprisingly simple - it wouldn't look out of place on any other pub menu.


Cherry tomato, bocconcini and basil pizza $12

When the food arrives, however, the difference is immediate.The pizzas arrive on rustic wooden panels, the thin crisp dough covered with a light smattering of toppings.


Garlic prawns, chilli and rocket pizza $16

The garlic prawn pizza is probably our least favourite of the ones we have ordered, missing the sticky olive oil sweetness we'd anticipated, but the cherry tomato, bocconcini and basil pizza is bright in colour, and fresh in flavour.


Mushroom, feta and caramelised onion pizza $12

The unanimous winner is the mushroom, feta and caramelised onion pizza, dotted with button mushrooms, sweet with onion and tangy with feta.


Tomato and feta salad with toasted olive bread $14

We share the tomato and feta salad, fat chunks of tomato mixed with red onion, crumbled feta and parsley leaves. I found the salad a little on the soggy side, which also made me wish the thin slice of olive bread was toasted to a crunch, and not just a pale scorch.

Steak and chips $12 (blackboard special)

There's usually at least one special on the blackboard. Today it's is the steak and chips. A mini jug of gravy is provided for you to pour ceremoniously over the steak. The steak is seared and cooked brilliantly.


Roasted pork belly sandwich with fennel, watercress and apple sauce $10 (blackboard special)

I'd ordered the roast pork belly sandwich, a special that was taped to the drinks fridge behind the bar. It was as good as I hoped it would be. Possibly more.

Lunch was a bounty of meltingly tender pork, small but sticky wads of fat and splintered chards of pork crackling slapped between two thick slices of chewy sourdough bread. There was fennel and watercress and a slather of apple sauce. I almost wept with gratitude with every bite.

And what's better than a bargain lunch by Warren? Finishing with dessert at District Dining. Another light bulb moment.


District Dining


The entrance to District Dining is only around the corner, and the maitre'd is happy to allow us in for desserts only. We explain by saying we've already had lunch, and when we confess that we'd eaten downstairs, our waitress laughs and says "Wait until I tell the kitchen. They'll think it's hilarious."


Buttermilk pannacotta, spiced peaches and mint $12

There are four desserts on the menu, so we simply order one of each and share. Buttermilk pannacotta has a slight yoghurty tang, served alongside one of District Dining's signature sardine tins holding spiced peaches, jelly, and pistachio slivers.


Strawberries, raspberries, meringue and vanilla cream $12

The bowl of strawberries, raspberries, meringue and vanilla cream is relatively unchanged from our first encounter with it in November last year. What has been added are rivers of berry puree and edible flowers. This is still a light and fruity dessert that isn't overly sweet.


Coconut financier, white chocolate ice cream and caramelised pineapple $12

We relish the scoop of white chocolate ice cream on top of the coconut financier, a moist slice of coconut and almond cake. The cake was presented with slices of caramelised pineapple and sprigs of coriander, and we found that eating the cake, pineapple and coriander together gave a completely different twist to the dish.


Chocolate parfait, banana cream and peanut brittle $12

But the dessert I kept returning to was the terracotta pot of chocolate parfait, banana cream and peanut brittle. We broke through the layer of peanut brittle crumbs to scoop up a fluffy chocolate parfait and smooth banana cream. The dessert was sexy, silky and left crumbs of toffee in the corners of your mouth. It was ridiculously good.

Who said eating well had to be expensive?


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Central Hotel

42 Chalmers Street, Surry Hills, Sydney

Tel: +61 (02) 9212 3814

Bar menu available 7 days 12pm - 11pm

District Dining CLOSED

17 Randle Street, Surry Hills Sydney

Tel: +61 (02) 9211 7798

Opening hours:

Tuesday to Saturday 12pm - 3pm and 6pm - 11pm

Friday 12pm - 11pm

Related Grab Your Fork posts:

District Dining, Surry Hills (Nov10)

Surry Hills - Bentley
Surry Hills - Bird Cow Fish
Surry Hills - Bodega Tapas Bar
Surry Hills - Boteco
Surry Hills - bills
Surry Hills - Le Monde

Surry Hills - Single Origin
Surry Hills - Spice I Am
Surry Hills - Sugarcane
Surry Hills - The Smokehouse

Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale

Beef nachos $12.50

Many a poor and thirsty student has ended up at the Lansdowne. For years it was famous for its $5 meals, and students from both USyd and UTS flocked there for a cheap feed and a schooner.



Prices have increased since then, but only slightly, and renovations have turned the first floor of the Lansdowne Hotel into a bright and airy space.



The main dining room has a school mess hall feel, but it's comfortable and spacious, and if you time your visit well, there's cosy bench seating in the sunny alcove that overlooks Victoria Park.

Seven bucks will get you a grilled steak, chicken schnitzel, bangers and mash, pesto penne or vegetarian nachos. You have a get a drink as well, but that's rarely a problem for the beer-guzzling uni student.

The tiered menu increases in price to $10 for the chicken caesar, burgers, pizza and chicken wraps;  $12.50 for beef nachos, beer battered flathead, chicken parmigiana and 350g rump steaks. The high rollers fork out $16 for chilli and garlic prawn fettucine, T-bone steaks and chicken kiev.


Vegetarian nachos $7

The food is better than I remembered. We order both the beef and vegetarian nachos and receive a pile of corn chips smothered in beans, cheese and tomatoes. Guacamole and sour cream are not the watered down imitations I've seen in other budget restaurants, and the beef mince isn't overly greasy either.


Grilled steak with chips and mushroom sauce $7

You do need a steak knife to cut the $7 steak, but it's not overly chewy, helped by a ladle of mushroom sauce. The chips are golden and crunchy.


Beer battered flathead with lemon and chips $12.50

And at $12.50 for fish and chips, how can you go wrong? It's a generous serve of beer battered flathead, tartare sauce, lemon wedge, chips and a decent side of salad. Relive your student days without the mandatory lectures.


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Lansdowne Hotel

2-6 City Road, Chippendale

(diagonally opposite Broadway Shopping Centre)

Tel: +61 (02) 9211 2325

Bistro opening hours:

Open 7 days 12pm-9.45pm

Kammadhenu, Newtown

Egg hopper $3

The crispy bits are always the best part. That's what makes the hopper — a popular Sri Lankan breakfast or dinner — so delicious. It's nothing but crunch, a thin batter that is delicately lacy around the edges. The batter is fermented from rice flour and coconut milk, giving a slightly sour taste similar to sourdough. Hoppers can be cooked as plain or sweet, but we like ours with a runny yolked egg resting patiently at the bottom.


Kammadhenu dining room

Kammadhenu is a vision of purple walls and green neon, serving Sri Lankan, Indian and Malaysian cuisine to hungry locals. There are two branches along King Street, Newtown, but we've stuck to the northern end.

Service is notoriously slow here, mostly due to the skeleton roster of staff. Thankfully the food is worth the wait, although by the tail end of today's lunch, we notice that every table is cluttered with uncleared dishes.


Masala dosai $8

Apart from egg hoppers, masala dosai is my favourite dish here, a huge South Indian pancake that is the size and length of a trumpet. The dosai comes with a range of fillings, but I've always like the plain masala the best, a simple huddle of curried potato cubes hiding in the centre.

The dosai is also made using a fermented batter, and we tear off shreds of the crispy pancake and dip into the accompanying sauces.


Plain dosai $5

Plain dosai is made without ghee or oil, and it shows in this healthier version. Although the pancake still has a lovely golden colour, it lacks the crispness that comes from sizzling in oil.


Rose lassi and mango lassi $3


Beef korma $12

We suck down thick drinks of rose and mango lassi as we move onto the curries. Beef korma is a little on the bland side, with perhaps too much cream and not enough almond and coriander.


Mushroom matter $11.90

Mushroom matter is much more satisfying, thin slices of mushroom cooked with peas in a spicy sauce that is aromatic with cumin, ginger and chilli.


Plain roti $5

Plain roti is light and fluffy, best eaten with a quick dunk in curry sauce.

Onion pakoda $7

I've saved the best for last. The fried. We'd tried to order gobi pakoda but were told that due to the cost of cauliflower at the moment, this wasn't currently available. We settle instead for the onion pakoda, curls of onion slices dipped in chickpea flour batter and deep fried until crispy and golden.

This is crazily addictive stuff, especially with dabs of MD green chilli sauce, a Sri Lankan favourite made with green chillies, vinegar, garlic and ginger.

And if you're keen to hear more about suburban eats around Sydney, tune into ABC radio this weekend!

_______________________________________________________________

GRAB YOUR FORK ON 702AM ABC RADIO 11AM THIS SUNDAY

I'll be chatting with Simon Marnie about ethnic eats in Sydney's suburbs. Joining me live in the studio will be Gourmet Forager and Noodlies.

Tune into 702 Weekends on Sunday 20 March 2011. 
Our segment will be broadcast live 11am-11.30am.

_______________________________________________________________

Finally, I was recently interviewed for a feature piece on Sydney eats by the Today newspaper in Singapore. I've cut and pasted my section of the article below, otherwise you can read the article on the Today site or click on the layout images at the end of this post to view larger.

I tailored my suggestions for a Singaporean audience (hence no mention of Malaysian cuisine!), but where are your favourite eating spots to take tourists? And how do you define Sydney cuisine?

Welcome to the Other Side
by Serene Lim
Published in Today newspaper, Singapore, 19 February 2011 

[excerpt]
For the hungry food lover

Sydney's food scene is a massive success story. Restaurants Tetsuya's, Marque, Quay and Rockpool hobnob with world's best. Helen Yee, freelance writer and popular food blogger of Grab Your Fork (grabyourfork.blogspot.com) explained the city is a hot-bed for dining because of its excellent produce and diversity of cuisines.

"We have a fantastic base of Italian, Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants, but you'll also find specialists in food from Portugal, Laos, Turkey, Korea, Chile and Burma, to name a few," said Yee, who also writes for the 2011 Foodies' Guide To Sydney. "We tend to have a very clean approach to food, allowing quality products to shine and be appreciated.

"Provenance is also a key feature on many menus - customers value knowing where their fish was caught, where the beef was reared, or where the potatoes were grown. Good food starts with good ingredients and Sydney restaurants have incredible access to fresh and local fruit, vegetables, meat and seafood."

This is why her favourite place to bring tourist friends isn't a restaurant, but the Sydney Fish Market. "You can watch oysters being freshly shucked, check out the lobsters in the fish tanks and then enjoy a picnic of prawns, sashimi and fish and chips sitting outside on the wharf with the giant pelicans," she said.

And when you do want to sit down for a proper meal, you don't have to splurge to have a good time. Yee swears by small yet superb eateries. Among those which made her list are District Dining in Surry Hills, a modern bistro with a sharing plate concept; Luxe Bakery Cafe in Newtown for great coffee, delicious pastries and heavy loaves of fresh sourdough bread; Tomislav in Darlinghurst whose chef has worked with Heston Blumenthal; and Harry's Cafe de Wheels in Woolloomooloo for a taste of traditional Aussie pie served straight from a trailer and eaten on the street.

"I also love exploring the suburbs of Sydney, areas filled with new migrants who have brought all the colour, smells and flavours of the cuisine from home. Cabramatta is often known as Little Vietnam. The shops selling pho noodle soup and street snacks are worth the 50-minute train trip from the city.

"Auburn is like stepping into Istanbul, an adventure of char-grilled meats, sweet baklava pastries and a stretchy ice cream called dondurma that you can eat with a knife and fork. Closer to town, feast on Portuguese chicken and custard tarts in Petersham, soup dumplings in Ashfield, and wood-fired pizza and gelato in Haberfield.

"Caffeine addicts should head to Surry Hills which is filled with quirky coffee shops and lots of hip and happening restaurants."

Plenty of reason not to stop at just the super sights that frame the city. Delve deeper to get to know Sydney a whole lot better.

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Kammadhenu

171 King Street, Newtown, Sydney

Tel: +61 (02) 9550 2611

Opening hours:

Open 7 days 11.30am - 9.30pm

Also open at

Kammadhenu (King Street South)

377 King Street, Newtown, Sydney

Tel: +61 (02) 9557 2186

Opening hours:

Open 7 days 12pm-2.30pm and 6pm-9.30pm

Kammadhenu Neutral Bay 
12 Waters Road, Neutral Bay, Sydney

Tel: +61 (02) 9953 9999

Opening hours

7 days 11am - 9.30pm

Related Grab Your Fork posts:
Kammadhenu, Newtown (Aug10)

Newtown food tour

Goan - Viva Goa

Indian - Abhi's, North Strathfield
Indian - Aki's, Woolloomooloo

Indian - Maya Masala

Pakistani - Faheem Fast Food, Enmore
Sri Lankan - Janani, Homebush

Top 10 Sydney Eats for Tourists

Cho Dumpling King, Haymarket Chinatown

Cho Dumpling King is always surrounded by a queue of people. Often you'll find a staff member acting as bouncer to the crowds. She hands out menus with brusque efficiency, and it's only when you've placed your order that she'll put your table numbers down in her notepad queue.

The restaurant name is a bit of a misnomer. There are no dumplings to be found here. Instead it's a mix of Taiwanese dishes, all printed in large on the window, each accompanied by photos. The window offers a visual enticement of side dishes, all neatly plated and ready to be served.

You only need to decide on your main meals outside before you communicate them to the bouncer -- side dishes can be chosen ad hoc once you're inside the restaurant. The side dishes are cold but wide and varied, including pig ears, deep-fried white bait, pork hock slices, potato salad, golden fried prawns and plates of baby octopus. They're also super cheap at only $3.50 each.


Queues outside Cho Dumpling King

The restaurant itself is the size of a shoebox, squeezing in 22 people with minimal room to move. It's noisy and chaotic but the diners - mostly Asian uni students - don't seem to mind. We squeeze our way to the display cabinet to pick out our side dishes, having to dodge rushing waitstaff carrying tea pots or serving dishes in the small gaps between each table.


Taiwanese style stewed minced pork rice set $9 (includes one side dish)

The three of us share two mains and a collection of side dishes. Stewed mince pork is a Taiwanese classic, a saucy huddle of sweet pork mince served on fluffy white rice and garnished with pickled daikon slices.


Firm tofu and cucumber $3.50

There's not a lot of flavour to the firm tofu, but its texture has the chewy satisfaction of meat. It's quite a light dish, especially with the chunks of pickled cucumber garnished with coriander and chilli.


Pork chop with rice value meal $9

A bento box holds our pork chop value meal, a flattened pork chop crumbed and deep-fried. The pork is tender and there's plenty to keep us occupied here, from the stalks of crisp broccoli, to mouthfuls of fluffy omelette and wedges of sweet orange to finish.


Crumbed and deep-fried pork chop


Fried eggplant $3.50

Fried eggplant is a little oily but it's so deliciously caramlised, soft and sticky that it's worth it, and we have no choice but to savour every last bite.


Bamboo shoots $3.50

We also dig into stalks of young bamboo shoots, always a textural treat with its bumps, grooves and crevices.


Fried chicken pieces $3.50

I put in a call for the fried chicken and I'm glad I did. The bone-in chicken has been marinated, battered and deep-fried to finger lickin' deliciousness, and even though the chicken is cold, the batter still has plenty of crunch.


Bitter melon $3.50

A plate of bitter melon balances all the evils of deep fried I say, at least on the palate anyway. Bitter melon is a bit of an acquired taste, but we grew up on this at home, usually stir-fried with beef and salted black bean.

Here it's served very plain, boiled and sliced, then dressed with vinegar, garlic and chilli. It is bitter, but I find it cleansing, particularly against all the grease we've just consumed.



Dining at Cho Dumpling King isn't for the faint of heart, particularly during peak hour. It's a whirl of queues, utilitarian ordering, cramped and noisy dining and an efficiently dispensed bill as soon as you've finished your meal. On the other hand, there's much fun to be had with the self-serve $3.50 side dish buffet, and with free tea on offer, we eat ourselves into a stupor for lunch for only $10.50 each. 


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Cho Dumpling King

Prince Centre, Shop 6

8 Quay St, Haymarket Chinatown, Sydney

Tel: +61 (02) 9281 2760

Opening hours:

Open 7 days 11am – 8pm

Related Grab Your Fork posts: 
Taiwanese - Blue Eye Dragon, Pyrmont
Taiwanese - Meet Fresh Dessert House, Haymarket
Taiwanese - Mother Chu's Taiwanese Gourmet, Haymarket
Taiwanese - Ten Ren Cha for Tea, Chatswood
Taiwanese - Ten Ren Cha for Tea, Haymarket