Sunday lunching at Alpha Restaurant

If you've ever walked through the Sydney CBD on the weekend, you'd notice it's pretty dead outside of Pitt Street shopping mall. I always wonder what tourists think of our empty city centre; and how uneconomic non-office city rent must be.

Further in CBD south Alpha Restaurant is going against the grain and actually making the most of weekend crowds, introducing a Sunday lunch service to its all-week trading earlier this year.

Dining tables at Alpha Restaurant, Castlereagh Street, Sydney

It's been a funny year for modern Greek restaurants: while there have been a few casualties and gyros are trying to become the next big thing, Alpha appears to be going gangbusters with the corporate crowd through the week, and large families and groups around that, both drawn in by head chef Peter Conistis' generous menu of traditional and modern shared Greek dishes.

The stunning, bright, contemporary fitout helps, presenting both a traditional and modern Greece, as do the high ceilings of the ground floor Hellenic Club building and the fresh, modern approach to Greek cuisine in a part of town that doesn't have many higher-end restaurants.

Bar and seating

Having sat at the marble-topped bar for ouzo on a previous occasion, I was excited to be trying 'Yia Yia's' tasting menu to share among the table, with a few extras thrown in for good measure (denoted in the caption with an *).

Pita bread with taramosalata (back) and melitzanosalata (right, centre)

We started with some of my all-time favourites in Greek food: warm triangles of soft, fluffy pita bread with a taramosalata white cod roe dip and a chunky melitzanosalata smoked eggplant dip.

The pale taramosalata was the winner of the two with well balanced acidity against the creamy flavour of the roe, while the soft dice of eggplant in the melitzanosalata could have been smokier for my liking.

Baked kalamata olives

A large serving of kalamata olives joined the starters, baked warm with an array of spices enlivening the saltiness of the olives.

Sesame leaf dolmades*

A classic Greek dish of dolmades was next, featuring an almond and herb rice wrapped in sesame leaves rather than the more common vine leaves.

As un-photogenic as dolmades can be, Alpha ups the presentation stakes by serving the leaf-wrapped rolls in a pool of foamy preserved lemon avgolemono sauce, garnished with micro herbs.

Falafel with chickpea hommous*

I was impressed by the perfectly smooth and golden surfaces of the falafel, hiding hot and well-seasoned innards of crumbly ground chickpeas.

While they're more commonly known as Middle Eastern fare, Alpha's piping hot falafels were too tasty for argument along with the chickpea hommous with tahini sesame paste and plenty of garlic.

Haloumi saganaki, ouzo, lemon, oregano

There was a collective murmur of appreciation when the frying pan full of haloumi was put down on the table. The slices of pan fried cheese were joined by sweet grape tomatoes, lemon juice, oregano and lots of olive oil.

Any ouzo addition must have cooked down as I couldn't really taste it in the salty, trademark squeaky cheese that's some of the best in town and simply gorgeous with lemon and ripe tomatoes.

Octopus twice-cooked, spinach, white beans, red wine vinaigrette*

While octopus isn't one of my favourite seafood types, the grilled offering at Alpha may have me converted. The twice-cooked tentacles were impossibly tender, finished on a grill for colour, flavour and a touch of char crispness.

Eaten with a squeeze of lemon and soft white beans which added richness, the octopus was an absolute star dish of the lunch, even if it's not what I know as traditionally Greek.

Moussaka of eggplant, seared scallops, taramosalata*

Chef Conistis' moussaka of eggplant is something of a legend - developed as a dish in 1993 and enduring time and appearances at all of his earlier restaurants since, the eggplant tower is a stunning to look at and devour.

Two thick rounds of slow roasted eggplant sandwich taramosalata and plump scallops grilled to perfection. Topped with diced and herbed tomatoes and garnished with salmon roe pearls, it combines soft and creamy textures with perfect specimens of seafood in an absolute explosion of flavour.

I, and most at the table with me, would happily eat this as a main meal at Alpha and call it a day. Legend status maintained.

Spanakopita - spinach pie, leeks, fetta, dill

I adore most savoury pastry varieties and so was pretty chuffed to see the spanakopita spinach pie, served whole at the table.

Cut spanakopita

The delicate, golden filo pastry held a finely chopped filling of spinach, leek, fetta cheese and lots of dill; the latter which added a new and refreshing flavour to a classic vegetarian filling.

Horiatiki salad - tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, red onions, olives, fetta

As the food continued to roll in, I was glad to see a vibrant salad join the offerings. Greek salad can be found at almost every salad and sandwich shop these days, but Alpha's version was worlds away in quality.

The kitchen has clearly gone to the trouble to source the very best quality vegetables to differentiate their Horiatiki salad from the masses: perfectly ripe and flavoursome tomatoes, sweet-as red capsicum strips and then, a smartphone-sized hunk of salty fetta cheese to break over it all.

Greek spiced slow roasted lamb shoulder, roast potatoes, tzatziki

The salad was served as more of a side to the piece de resistance: a slow-roasted whole lamb shoulder with aromas of oregano and rosemary, amid other Greek spices. The lamb roast was served with roasted kipfler potatoes and my favourite condiment of tzatziki mint, garlic and cucumber yoghurt dip/sauce.

Roasted lamb shoulder being served

The lamb was ridiculously tender, falling off the bone with a mere push, and seasoned beautifully and relatively exotically with an array of spices. Traditional Sunday roasts may well have a new Greek home in Alpha.

Loukamades - Greek doughnuts, spiced honey syrup, candied walnut ice cream

The long lunch was rounded off with a shared dessert of loukamades Greek doughnut balls. Even as a non-fan of doughnuts generally, these two-to-three bite-sized balls had a lovely chewiness within their golden fried surfaces, although it was the rich candied walnut ice cream that did it for me.

Light features at Alpha

It was such a nice feeling to sit back and admire the gorgeous fittings at Alpha post meal, and perhaps escape to a Mediterranean-inspired food coma.

The restaurant offers generous food that you want to dig in to with friends and family, and a unique and classy ambience (despite the occasional fire engine departure, sirens and all). For a beautiful and thoroughly satisfying Sunday lunch in the city, Alpha has to be one of the best, if not only, choices in town.

Food, Booze & Shoes dined at Alpha Restaurant as a guest, with thanks to Wasamedia.

Hanging out with Mrs P's and the family

Posted by Hendy

Mrs P's is a small, family-run café just behind Burwood RSL, tucked behind the main Burwood Road corridor where a number of bigger, more established cafés reside. As the name suggests, the café family's surname begins with the letter P.

All-day menu board at Mrs P's, George Street, Burwood 

The son of Mrs P's explained how the café has now been open for almost two years, having opened on the specially selected date of 12/12/12.

Father George is the barista on the coffee line with the son working the floor and front counter. Mrs P's takes care of the bustling kitchen at the back. Given the limited number of staff on the floor, I found service to be a bit slow though the service is quite personal which was lovely to see.

George P (in red) and his son

Mrs P's interiors

The venue is small yet cosy, with a big window opening up to lots of natural light. Son of Mrs P's explained how they wanted a vintage setting and vintage feel, somewhat consistent with majority of the cafés in the inner west area.

There are photos of Mrs P's family and extended family around the café which make for interesting viewing. He also explained how with the limited initial budget, all the tables were self designed, painted and sanded.

Latte

The all-day menu is extensive. You can have breakfast in almost any combination: a choice of eggs, toast, potato cakes, mushrooms and more breakfast sides tailored to your appetite and liking.

Cappucino

We started with a selection of coffees, each which comes a bite-sized shortbread. Using Five Senses beans, the coffee had a nutty, subtle and mellow tone and was quite clean and smooth on the palate.

Flat white

George P is undoubtedly an excellent barista and master of the milk station, with the smooth, silky coffee a function of the quality of the milk preparation.

Blueberry muffin

Lining up at the counter to order, there were a number of homemade cakes including a rather pale blueberry muffin which was nice and soft with plenty of blueberries but sadly, no muffin top.

Gourmet ham toastie

We also ordered the gourmet ham toastie which comprised a generous serve of free-range and preservative-free, thick-sliced ham, melted Swiss cheese and Dijon mustard on toasted brown bread.

Egg & toast with the added homemade potato cake

From the breakfast options we ordered two poached eggs and organic sourdough toast with add-ons of beef sausages and a homemade potato cake. While the eggs looked superb on the plate, they were slightly overcooked with the yolk being quite firm and not as runny I would have expected, though compensated for by the scrumptious homemade potato cake and the flavourful beef sausages.

Vegetarian breakfast

The vegetarian breakfast was the most colourful dish that morning, served with poached eggs, grilled tomato halves, blanched baby spinach, a large grilled mushroom, a fan of avocado and sourdough toast.

Similarly, the poached eggs were slightly overcooked while the tomatoes and mushroom would have benefited from a bit more seasoning.

Mrs P's, George Street, Burwood

Mrs P's is a great fresh addition to the set of conventional Mediterranean style cafés in Burwood. The simplicity and homely feel of the dishes are heart-warming, complemented by the personal touch offered by Mrs P's and the family.

So cool, SoCal

When SoCal opened in Neutral Bay late last year, it was really one of the first all-out themed bars to hit the lower north shore. Decked out in a Southern Californian beach style with bearded and floral-shirted hipster staff at every turn, SoCal has certainly hit a chord with the themed-bar-starved locals, who flock to the upstairs and half outdoor bar and restaurant through the week and especially on weekends.

Cocktail samples at SoCal, Young Street, Neutral Bay

I'd been to SoCal once before for a quick margarita in warmer times, enjoying the casual outdoor terrace vibe amid some very dressy groups of girls. The venue's fitout and music does well in transporting people to another place, far away from the thoroughfare that is Military Road.

As does a fun cocktail list which we sampled parts of at a recent SoCal Social event. Misbehaving foams were the name of the game with a fun, flirty and citrusy orange-red tequila cocktail by bar manager Joe Worthington.

Crab and sopressatta tostadas

Given its proximity to Mexico, the Southern Californian theme sees a Mexican tinge through the menu including plenty of tequilas on the back bar and a unique Californian slant to the wine list.

The food started with a bang and a crunch with a board of tostadas delivered by chef Zac Smart himself. Crunchy chip circles were topped with a zingy, flavour-packed combination of two of my favourite things: crab flesh and sopressata salami. Rich yet moreish, this really was the ultimate tostada and a good sign of things to come.

Chicken sliders: marinated chicken breast with avocado and chorizo

Sliders make a menu appearance, along with fellow-everywhere buddies tacos and quesadillas, but these aren't your average mini burgers.

Maybe it's been a while between sliders for me but I loved the juicy chicken fillet with avocado on the little toasted burger bun although the chorizo didn't really register.

Frisco Pisco cocktail

The sliders were paired with the Frisco Pisco cocktail – a jalapeño chilli-infused Pisco shaken with egg white, elderflower liqueur, lime, sugar and muddled cucumber and perfectly garnished with a touch of cracked pepper.

Seared salmon with broccolini, chilli and coriander salsa verde

To the more substantial share plates, we had the delightfully seared salmon with broccolini, the crunchiest sweet potato crisps and a smashing chilli and coriander salsa verde.

It was perfection with the salmon just a little rare in the middle, and matched with Dry Creek Fume Blanc from California's Sonoma region.

Slow roasted lamb shoulder with faro, freekeh, quinoa and kale

Next was the slow roasted lamb shoulder - itself a very 'now' protein offering served on a superfood medley of old grains faro, freekah and quinoa with diced kale, topped with an enlightening gremolata of chopped parsley and citrus zest.

This was pretty much the ultimate new take on a rustic dish that fits right in with modern Australian cuisine and was paired with Bliss Pinot Noir.

Scotch fillet with chimmichurri

And if that wasn't enough red meat pleasure, our final shared savoury dish was a very rare scotch fillet steak, sliced to share, with tangy chimmichurri that could go well with really any protein though I would have been happy to have the steak on the grill a minute more.

Mushroom and bean salad

The steak was served with Dry Creek ‘Heritage’ Zinfandel, also from the Sonoma region, and a mushroom salad with plenty of beans and spinach.

Chocolate, pistachio and tequila brownies with chipotle cream

The night finished on a high of several kinds, especially the fudgey chocolate, pistachio and tequila brownies served with a squizz with chipotle cream. While I'm not a dessert person, if there's a sweet I can never resist at least tasting, it's a brownie.

Espresso martini

The decadent brownie was matched with an equally rich salted caramel espresso martini of Ketel One vodka, Galliano Ristretto, salted caramel and espresso (decaf on request for those who can't sleep after espresso martinis). Garnished with a crumble of honeycomb chocolate, this is definitely a great dessert cocktail with both a sugar and caffeine high.

The people behind SoCal (and Bondi Hardware and The Botanist) are spreading their brand of casual but fun cool all across Sydney and for Neutral Bay locals, it must be so cool to have SoCal in the neighbourhood.

Food, Booze & Shoes attended the SoCal Social as a guest, with thanks to Pendulum Communications.