Lil 'Damita(inside The Flynn)
2a Bligh St
Sydney CBDNamed after the flamboyant and often scandalous Errol Flynn, The Flynn is a long and surprisingly large place that is almost as deep dark and mysterious as its namesake.
It's clearly a popular place judging by the crowd there. Initially they have higher bar tables, then a casual area, then finally a nicely sectioned-off restaurant with proper tables for meals and comfy chairs.
Its a very cavernous place, but not in the open and hollow sense - it's just big and goes in a long way. There are plenty of different spaces inside though catering for a wide number of different groups without having then crowd each other out. The food of Thuong Dang is also a drawcard.
It always seems appropriate to start a relaxing evening with a cocktail and this evening was no exception. I decided to try something a little different - the Crystal Head blue cheese martini. It certainly sounded unusual - the thought of blue cheese in a cocktail both intrigued me and almost scared me - but hey, you only live once! It turned out to be very nice - with only a subtle cheese taste. Mlady had another tasty treat called Le Gurk - picked by Luke Reimann who created most of the bar list.
Our first starter was the zucchini blossoms stuffed with Gorgonzola, ricotta and Parmesan.They had very good flavours, textures and combinations that worked well together creating a lovely dish.
They were big too - and there was plenty of rich, gooey, tasty filling inside that oozed out as we cut into them.
Mlady loves beetroot - particularly the freshly cooked variety. The roast baby beetroot came with buffalo mozzarella, vellutata, wild rice puffs and basil.
Mlady thoroughly enjoyed this entree and the matched cocktail (see above) did not overpower the dish but nicely complemented it.
I couldn't resist ordering the Riverina lamb. Described as lamb rump, tomato fondue, eggplant puree and potato dauphinoise it was also one of the recommendations, so it pays to listen to the experts!
The lamb was in several good sized segments and had a nice fruity taste to it with the sides. It was beautifully cooked and nicely pink and tender. I loved it.
It came resting on a bed of carrot and ginger puree with spinach, seed mustard dressing drizzled around the puree and apple salad nestling on top.
It was elegantly presented and the skin was deliciously crisp. It was a truly flavoursome dish that she thoroughly enjoyed.
As a pairing with dessert I also had a rum chocolate Manhattan - which was recommended again by Ben and was another unique drink that was worth choosing!
The sticky date pudding was another recommendation - and we were so glad we took their advice! It comes freshly made so it takes a few minutes longer (but not many) and is served with poached rhubarb, butterscotch sauce and vanilla ice cream.OMG - this was amazing! It was so nice - steaming as we cut into it and full of flavour. The butterscotch sauce was also a winner and it was nice to see rhubarb on the dessert list - as I grew up with it!
Listed in the menu as espresso, vanilla bean ice cream, pistachio biscotti and frangelico - it had all the major food groups she desired - especially the frangelico which she loooooves.
She swirled it all together into a rich, creamy indulgently delicious dessert - and then devoured the lot!
The Flynn was a surprise - a nice surprise! It looks like another busy popular bar from the outside, but it also stretches inside quite a way, through casual areas and on to a lovely restaurant with great food.Sir and Mlady dined as guests of The Flynn. Special thanks to Luke Reimann, Thuong Dang and also Jess and Katie for looking after us so well on the night . Thanks also to Sneha Dave of Shake Appeal for arranging our visit.
