Sometimes this results me to being invited to the dinner which is how I ended at District Dining about two months ago. I’d recommended this restaurant to a friend of mine who was celebrating a birthday. As there were so many of us we ended up with the banquet – which is incredible value may I add.
I didn’t blog that dinner as:
a) it was at night and the restaurant was too dark for my old Canon G11;
b) there was so much food (16 different dishes to try) that I think my head would’ve exploded trying to write about them all;
c) I was a bit ill on the night to didn’t end up eating all that much – what a waste of a banquet; and,
c) I only knew the birthday gal at the dinner so thought it might be pushing the friendship making 10 of her friends wait to eat their meals whilst I took photos.
I ended up at District Dining a second time as Neicy Poo was looking for somewhere to go for a birthday lunch with the family. As I’d missed my opportunity to blog about District Dining last time I suggested it as a possible birthday lunch venue – and she happily agreed.
We decided to order a few small share plates to start with and then each have our own mains. On my last visit here we’d had both the crispy pigs ears with Szechuan salt ($10.00) and the crispy school prawns with lime mayonnaise ($16.00) and I was keen to have them again – the others didn’t need much convincing.
We all loved the crispy pigs ear - it's just like eating the most crunchy of crackling; and the school prawns are always a favourite with The Boy and myself - they are so crunchy and moreish, and because they are so small there is no problem eating the head, tail, shell and legs.
The quail eggs were lovely - a firm white surrounded by a crispy outer with a runny, oozy yolk waiting to surprise you when you bite in to the delicate egg.
I already knew what I was going to have before we arrived at the restaurant. Last visit I LOVED the mushroom risotto with truffled marscapone and parmesan crisp ($25.00). The risotto was a veritable Aladdin's Cave of mushroom delights - I counted about five different types of mushroom including bunches of stringy Enoki (my favourite). There was a lot of marscapone, which tasted quite buttery, so I mixed a little through the risotto and pushed the rest aside - for the sake of the waistline of course.
The Boy orders the crispy pork belly with an Asian style salad and chillli, peanuts ($24.00) which he said was fantastic. The pork and crackling were very obvioulsy deep-fried making it absolutely delicious (I was allowed a bite or two). Any guilt was offset by a fresh, zesty salad. I have to admit, I had food envy.
The Boy orders the crispy pork belly with an Asian style salad and chillli, peanuts ($24.00) which he said was fantastic. The pork and crackling were very obvioulsy deep-fried making it absolutely delicious (I was allowed a bite or two). Any guilt was offset by a fresh, zesty salad. I have to admit, I had food envy.
Niecy Poo ordered the kingfish with wasabi pannacotta, quinoa and ponzu. This is one of District Dining's starter dishes (for $19.00) that they served as a main for the birthday girl (no idea how much, but around $25.00 like the rest of mains I'm guessing). This dish looked very dainty and I can attest that it is a lovely, light and fresh dish from my earlier visit.
Big Brother ordered the parmesan gnocchi, broad beans, veal shoulder, pangrattato ($29.00). He said the dish wasn't overly warm when he tucked it, but I had to remind him that I'd snapped quite a few photos before he started eating...the downside of eating with a food blogger. This dish was also really nice - I had a mouthful of the gnocchi which was pan-fired at the end of the cooking process giving it a nice crunchy skin. The lamb was tender and flavoursome.
The service at District Dining was second to none - very friendly and attentive. We were really well looked after and the food was a perfectly special way to celebrate a birthday. Although located above a nondescript pub in Surry Hills the dining room feels really quite...fancy with its dark wooden floors and table and modern fittings.
District Dining is at 17 Randle Street, Surry Hills.
