GALLON + CAKE WINES - PYRMONT, SYDNEY

Gallon + Cake Wines
117 Harris St
Pyrmont, Sydney

There's something about the old historic buildings of Pyrmont that creates a warmth and charm as they transport you back to a bygone era. Gallon is one of those places!

We were at Gallon for the Cake Wines matched campaign to sample the best of both worlds - some signature dishes at Gallon matched with some tasty drops from Cake Wines.

The high ceilings, lovely arch and stone wall down an entire side add to the old world feel. High shelves around the walls are adorned with nick knacks and there's even a bronzed pigs head protruding from the wall just inside the doorway. Gallon seats 236 comfortably - so its pretty big, but that includes the courtyard out the back, two areas that can be privately booked and seating out the front.

We arrived at Gallon feeling quite peckish and therefore we were eager to try a few dishes on the menu as there were some decent choices available.

We started with the half bocconcini ball drizzled with lemon and olive oil and accompanied with a decent serving of house made crisp bread.

The dish was simple but very effective.

We just cut chunks of bocconcini out of the ball and put them onto the crisp bread then scooped some of the lemon and olive oil mix onto it. Lovely.

This whole dish combined really well and it was fresh and very tasty.

As we were at here as part of the Cake Wines matched campaign we were of course going to sample a few Cake Wines! As Cake Wines say: Matched is an idea that's about exploring "kitchens that don't live in the limelight", sharing stories from the chef's that run them and giving some much needed love and exposure to the restaurants, cafes, tapas/wine bars and gastro pubs that sometimes get drowned out in our celebrity driven food world.


As a result, Cake Wines have been matched with certain signature dishes from places around the country. This is certainly a great concept and we were happy to be involved. Our starters were matched with a lovely Cake Wines Rose from the Adelaide Hills in South Australia. This wine was not too sweet or too dry so it was an easy drop to sip with plenty of taste and it was something most people could enjoy.

Our second starter created such an impression when it arrived at our table - it had a real wow factor to it. We had grilled Cypriot haloumi with a watermelon side that was drizzled with a thin line of balsamic vinegar. The colours were impressive as were the flavours - rich warm cheese with refreshing crisp watermelon and a bit of tang from the balsamic.

Who would have thought that this would all combine so well! Mlady looooved this!

Then it was on to the mains. The signature dish we were having was the veal and pork meatballs in tomato sauce with a bread mop. These were very tasty with a tomato sauce with some tang but not overpowering the meatballs. The meatballs were from a family recipe from the grandmother of Gallon owner Julian - and we fully understood why they had this on the menu as they were great. 

The meatballs were paired with a lovely red from Cake Wines. This was the Cake Wines Shiraz from McLaren Vale in South Australia. We love our red wines and this was a lovely mellow soft red with great flavours that combined very well with the meatballs.

Gallon are well known for their pizza's. There are a decent list of available options on the menu and usually a special on the blackboard too.

We chose the Peking duck pizza which had sliced duck breast, hoisin sauce, plum sauce, garlic and shallots.

Hoisin sauce and duck meat are made for each other and this Peking duck pizza was testament to this.

Gallon seems like a small place when you walk in, but it keeps on flowing into other spaces and other rooms. They've cleverly converted what used to be stables out the back into a beautiful room that opens onto a lovely courtyard. It's a nicely decorated place that exudes old world charm. Almost all of their tasty food is made on site and can possibly be described as simple and quality food, but there is also a touch of adventure.

The drops from Cake Wines that were paired with our dishes at Gallon were both very tasty. They were well paired and each had great flavours. We hadn't tried Cake Wines before and we really enjoyed them.

Sir and Mlady dined as guests of Gallon and Cake Wines. Thanks to Lubos for looking after us so well, Julian for explaining where Gallon is heading and to Glen Cassidy, co-founder of Cake Wines for inviting us and arranging everything.