Redoak Boutique Beer Cafe
201 Clarence St
Sydney CBD
Now we wouldn't say that two beer experts were sent to Redoak for this review but we will say that two beer converts definitely came out of it. The restaurant had the feeling of a small bar crossed with a pub and would be ideal for after work drinks or a full sit down meal.
After hearing a brief history of the family owned Redoak and their brewery in Camden, where all the boutique beers are made, we decided to start with one of each of the 'must try' tasting boards; the seafood tasting board and the meat tasting board. Each tasting board came with four tasting plates perfectly matched with four tasting beers. The seafood plate came with soft shell crab, spanner crab cake, grilled octopus and a tiger prawn which were matched with belgian wit, honey ale, organic pale are and pommy bitter. Handmaiden N enjoyed all of the delicious items especially the grilled octopus which was perfectly matched with the slightly light and sweet honey ale.
Princess attacked the meat plate which consisted of roast beef, pulled lamb shoulder, BBQ smoked pork and a Moroccan meat ball which were matched with pommy bitter, honey ale, paddy stout and organic pale ale. The BBQ smoked pork was definitely the winner on the plate, it was so tender and perfectly matched with the paddy stout which was surprisingly Princess' favourite drink of the night.
While we were enjoying our tasting plates, Jack came out and gave us a brief description of each of the beers and why they have been paired with each of the dishes on the plate - he definitely knows a lot about beer!
We then moved on to the mains and asked for the favourite dishes on the menu. When the meals came out we received the duck and pistachio sausages along with the Chef's Nepalese curry. The head chef of Redoak is from Nepal and has created this absolutely divine curry which, when we asked the staff, was the unanimous winner of their favourite dish on the menu. We couldn't agree more, this flavoursome dish was filled with everything you would ask for in a vegetarian curry. The curry was matched with the organic pale ale which definitely complemented the dish. The duck and pistachio sausages were also a wonderful dish. Sitting on a bed of silky mashed potato, topped with caramelised onion and perfectly smothered in red ale jus. The dish was full of flavour and the red ale jus was to die for - Princess almost wanted to drink it out of the bowl.
After the tasting boards and mains we were very full but when offered the dessert menu could never say no. First of all Jack asked if we would like a cocktail instead of another beer to start with - If there is anything that Princess and Handmaiden N will never say no to, it's a cocktail. Princess chose the eu de chocolat which we would classify as a chocolate flavoured martini with what looks like a lindt ball in it and Handmaiden N went with the classic espresso martini. Both were delicious and devoured not long after the photos were taken.
Just as we were indulging in our cocktails the desserts arrived, and wow were they picture perfect. The honeycomb and passionfruit sundae that Princess ordered was in a big sundae glass with about three scoops of ice cream, topped with crumbed honeycomb, passionfruit coulis, desiccated coconut and finished with vanilla pashmak fairyfloss - what more could a sweet tooth ask for! Handmaiden N's chocolate brownie also looked as good as it tasted. The classic warm chocolate brownie was rich but not too rich that you couldn't devour the entire piece, and was topped with just enough ice cream and fresh strawberries.
A big thank you goes out to the staff members at Redoak who made our evening extremely enjoyable and knowledgeable.
Princess and Handmaiden N, who review for Sir and Mlady Dine Out, dined as guests of Redoak Boutique Beer Cafe. Special thanks to Chrissy Symeonakis of Creative Little Soul for arranging this visit.