DUNBAR HOUSE - WATSONS BAY, SYDNEY

Dunbar House
9 Marine Parade
Watsons Bay, Sydney

Dunbar house is an historic Harbourside venue situated in magnificent Watson's Bay offering breathtaking views down the harbour of Sydney's city skyline. You probably know Dunbar house as the perfect venue for a wedding (which it is) with the famous Moreton Bay Fig tree just outside, a place were many vows have been exchanged.

What you may not know though, is that after a recent refurbishment, Dunbar house now offers a stylish restaurant for a la carte breakfast and lunch, as well as for exclusive hire. The exceptionally stylish decor in addition to the warm welcome upon arrival conveyed a relaxed yet professional atmosphere. The sun was shining so we chose a table outside with a beautiful outlook over the water and Robertson Park. The seating inside is just as exciting with beautiful tables and lovely couches, a perfect setting in any weather.

If you fly first class you start with a glass of champagne before take off so we thought we would do the same (ok. we're not flying today but this place oozes luxury). We chose NV Lanson, a fine French champagne.

With our champagne our appetiser arrived. A delicious scallop served in a cup with a cauliflower volutè and truffle oil - it was very creamy and smooth with a rich flavour.





















We love it when our waiter recommends a wine for us so we had a glass of William Fevre Petit Chablis, a light and crisp accompaniment to our entrees which had just arrived.

We had two entrees, Tempura Zucchini flowers stuffed with feta accompanied by tomato salsa, Sicilian olives and rocket, plus nori wrapped quail fillets with avocado, horseradish mousse and papaya. Both were outstanding. The creamy feta and peppery rocket combined well with the fluffy Zucchini flowers. The quail, perfectly cooked, had a zesty kick when combined with the horseradish mousse. Our waiter told us the quail was not a regular menu item but a special for the day (lucky us!).

Next our mains arrived.

First was a lovely beef cheek pie with truffled mash.

The beef was rich and tender, the filo pastry was crisp and buttery.

We really liked the truffled mash too. This turned out to be a very hearty dish with plenty of flavour - and nice pastry for the pie!

Our second main, a Murray river cod served with a quinoa salad was just as impressive. The lime and tomato dressing added a real freshness to it. Both mains were served with 2012 Massale Pinot Noir. We were fortunate enough to meet head chef Tarrant Fennel who spoke to us about his passion for creating a fresh seasonal menu that is modern yet unique, a notion we most definitely noticed today.

And then quite suddenly a heavenly selection of desserts were presented before us accompanied by two glasses of 2010 Dowie Doole Cane Cut Viognier.

The first dessert, A crispy chocolate cannoli with poached rhubarb and lemon balm herb was absolutely impressive.

The hint of lime in the balm lingers on the palette and is very refreshing.

An afternoon tea tray was beautifully presented on a 3 tier stand overflowing with cakes such as a  cherry ripe slice, raspberry cheesecake and a lemon financier. Of course, you can't have a proper afternoon tea without savoury treats and this one is complete with a salmon mousse tart, Parmesan, olive and sundried tomato shortbread and a selection of sandwiches. Oh - and don't forget the scone with lashings of cream and house made berry jam!

Dunbar House offers truly exceptional service in a very chic setting. Our waiter on the day, Michael, provided us with outstanding service and shared a great deal of food knowledge. Dunbar house is open 7 days a week for breakfast and lunch.

The Counts, who are now doing reviews for Sir and Mlady Dine Out, dined as guests of Dunbar House and Grand Pacific Group. Special thanks to Hannah Evans for arranging this visit.

WATSONS BAY BOUTIQUE HOTEL - WATSONS BAY, SYDNEY

Watsons Bay Boutique Hotel
1 Military Rd.
Watsons Bay, Sydney

The first thing you notice at Watsons Bay Boutique Hotel are the views. They are magnificent. You get to stare out at the beach and boats bobbing on the water. It's captivating.

The next thing you notice is how popular it is! This is a happening place that people flock to. This doesn't just happen with great views. The food, service and atmosphere here all contribute to the whole experience.

Tom Harper, the General Manager, showed us that with new owners and a lot of redevelopment things have come together nicely. It's easy to see it's working - we were there on a weekend night and it was packed - but everything was moving very smoothly. The system was working well!

Whilst there are plenty of individual dinners you can order here, the shared plates are also very popular.

We started with the extremely colourful crudites and dips platter. You get herb goats curd and three generous dollops of dips - beetroot, feta and chilli hummus.

It was impressive to look at and tasted great. Plenty of nearby tables were starting with this one as well!

We then moved on to yet another platter. We love starting meals with antipasto platters and we thoroughly enjoyed this one.

The antipasto board here has such a great selection of goodies to share.

The artisan salumi had plenty of flavour and the marinated vegetables were vibrant and tasty.

We initially left the olives in a jar but once we tried them we kept going until they were all gone.

The two cheeses went nicely as well - buffalo mozzarella and provolone picante cheese.

Finally the grissini added a nice crunch to the whole platter.

So after already having two platters we completed the hat trick and moved on to the chilled seafood platter - and we were glad we did. It had lovely fresh juicy tiger prawns, tasty fresh pacific oysters, two Moreton Bay bugs that had each been halved, blue swimmer crab in the middle of the platter and marinated calamari. It also came with two tasty and very different dipping sauces.

It doesn't get much better than this - fresh seafood and great harbour views!

After this lovely feast we just had to try a few of the most popular desserts.

The smashed pavlova was similar to Eaton Mess in some ways but not identical.

It came with lemon curd, marscapone and blueberries and was so crisp, light and delicious.

We ate every last bit of it!

The final dish we tried was the berry tiramisu.

In many ways it was lighter than a normal tiramisu (not that tiramisu is a heavy dish anyway) and certainly fruitier.

It had raspberries, blueberries and white chocolate and was very good.

We again ate the whole lot - and almost licked the bowl!

The Watsons Bay Boutique Hotel has so much going for it - and people are discovering this very quickly.

It has great views, great atmosphere and of course great food and drinks.

It's had a lot of time and money invested in revamping it and people are liking what they see and get here!



Sir and Mlady dined as guests of Watsons Bay Boutique Hotel. Special thanks to General Manager Tom Harper for looking after us, Head Chef Dave Peniston, General Manager Dee and of course Executive Chef John Pye. Thanks also to Oliver Lloyd of EVH PR for arranging our visit.