The Victoria Room @ Darlinghurst

This was probably the most ill timed blog post ever. The morning of me posting this it was confirmed that The Victoria Room has closed.  However, it may be open again in a few weeks/ months with new owners/changes.  You can read about here at Good Food.  So after all that....I am so glad that I got to dine at the iconic spot before it closed.

Rumour has it that The Victorian Room is closing.  If true, I'm so glad that I finally got to dine there at least once.  If not true, and I really hope that it isn't....I have found a lovely bar to hang out in.  Can anybody confirm these rumours?

Anyway, upon entering The Victoria Room I can't help but feel that I'm stepping back in time. 

Oldwordly, dark navy velveted drapes hang around the room.  Plush and comfy Victorian settees set around low tables scatter the bar area and the white linen clothed tables on the other side of the large room  offer wide comfy victorian chairs.

It's dimly light and delightfully.... well, elegant.  I think to myself it is perfect for a romantic date and in my case tonight, the perfect place to catch up with a wonderful friend.  The music is not loud, we can hear each other speak (and ourselves for that matter) I feel elegant (gosh I feel old!) and the ambiance is otherworldly.

Our waiter sees us to our table and offers us the cocktail list.  We watch the barmen across the room mixing up cocktails with a few theatrics and flair thrown in....when I say that I am talking about the 'flame thrower' they are using for whatever they are mixing up!

The cocktails are of the classic variety including side cars, sours, martinis and the like and we start this girls night off with a cocktail.  I decide on an Amaretto sour.  Please excuse the darkness of my photos.  The room is dimly lit and I don't like using flash for food photography (not just for the quality of the photos but also courtesy to fellow diners). We did use a torch on the phone for a few photos *grin*

The European inspired menu is designed to share so we select a couple of smaller dishes and two larger dishes with a salad. We find this is more than enough (if not a little to much!)

Bread basket with a selection of sourdough and flat breads with a bowl of olive oil.  

One of the smaller dishes is the peppered wagyu skewers.   The beef is tender and juicy and peppery. They are good.

The duck and pistachio terrine with blood orange preserve is a lovely little dish.  The terrine is chunky style and is meaty.  I really like the balance of flavours but I don't recall tasting the blood orange so much. 

 

 

Our second smaller dish is the grilled squid with roasted chilli oil and coppa.  This was the stand out dish for me tonight.  The squid was silky tender and the coppa added hints of saltiness.

The slow roast pork belly with sweet mustard glaze is delicious

We pair all our dishes with a salad of  baked beetroot, sheeps milk yoghurt, cocoa nib and honey.  I love beetroot especially when it's fresh and roasted.

 

 

 Overall the night was a fun night and it was great to spend a few hours sitting chatting to my friend


over good food and cocktails (and a bottle of wine).


The Victoria Room
235 Victoria Street
Darlinghurst, Sydney
Tel: (02) 9357 4488

www.thevictoriaroom.com