PITT ST DINER - REDFERN, SYDNEY

Pitt St Diner
96 Pitt St
Redfern, Sydney

Pitt St Diner has a casual sophistication - an air of relaxed charm. It's small, boutique in fact, and not on a busy street.

They've only been around less than two years but in that time they've shown that they are prepared to be bold and creative with their menu and wine list - and their loyal followers certainly appreciate it.

The menu is French influenced - and the French accents flowing from the kitchen are clear.

It's honest and good food and also still adventurous and exciting nonetheless. Owner Gary Prebble takes great pride in making the food take centre stage - and it does. The lovely wine and charming feel of the whole place are an added bonus.

Our first taste of the food was with the arrival of the pork and pistachio pate. It was chunky and rough with definite texture - as intended - and served in a jar.

The pate came with a rich aged balsamic onion jam, cornichons and sliced baguette.

It was a substantial starter which was ideal for sharing, with bold flavours.

Next to arrive was a beautifully presented tuna tartare. We know some people won't eat tuna this way - for them it has to be cooked. However, if you haven't tried it raw you really should. The flavours of this dish were superb.

The tuna was nicely combined with cherry tomatoes and avocado, all nicely stacked and topped with thin slivers of crisp and crunchy apple. The colours were bold and the flavours were delicate and paired so well.

Good food deserves some good drinks to have with it of course - and so Mlady had a light 2013 Storm Ridge Pinot Noir from Yarra Valley and Sir had a fuller 2011 McLaren Vale Shiraz. 

Fancy some fish? The whole snapper was served with mixed green vegetables (including beans and cooked tomatoes) and lovely hand cut potato wedges. Yes we did eat our greens that night - mum would be proud!

This was a spectacular dish - the whole fish diagonally across the plate with the sides at either end. The fish was perfectly cooked too with it's skin nicely crisp yet revealing moist tender flesh just below the surface. 

Our other main course was chicken - and done so well. The tournedos chicken is boned and rolled with mushroom truffle and goats cheese inside and then sliced and served on pumpkin mash and a porcini cream sauce. 

Again the colours were evident and the flavours matched this too. The smooth pumpkin mash and porcini cream added tasty depth to the fragrant tender chicken.

Before we moved on to dessert we had a lovely cheese plate. Pitt St Diner has a small but highly select range of cheese choices and it's well worth trying a few.

On this occasion the cheeses we had were a beautiful fromage de Meaux (a French brie), a fragrant and more dominant Italian Gorgonzola and a lighter Munster from France. They were all beautiful and came with baguette, honeycomb and fresh pear slivers. 

Then it was time for dessert proper - and there are quite a few regulars to choose from here. We decided to have one of the specials though.

The sablees was lovely - cake like but a bit different - that was served on a board with marinated mandarin segments scattered around with swirls of raspberry coulis and passionfruit Chantilly dolloped on top. Its a sweet dessert, but with a subtlety that makes it not overpoweringly sweet. We thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Pitt St Diner is charming. It's cosy, intimate and personal. There's plenty of choice on the menu, and even more on the specials board. If you want, they'll match wines for you too, and it's well worth considering. Nothing is to much trouble.

Sir and Mlady dined as guests of Pitt St Diner. Thanks to passionate Chef/Owner Gary Prebble and Nicolas for looking after us. Thanks also to Claire McPherson of CPM Online Marketing for arranging our visit.