465 The Avenue
465 Victoria Ave
(Cnr Brown and Railway Streets)
Chatswood, Sydney
The Avenue is a stunning place. The minute you get here you notice it - especially at night. The lights sparkle and the quirky layout has instant appeal. This place is a bar and restaurant - with separate areas for each - and a number of spaces that are well used. We were there for dinner chasing tapas - although they have a wider variety than just this.
The restaurant area inside has a real wow factor. The high ceiling has an amazing chandelier holding prime position and the walls and booths draw you in.
We started our evening with a few beers. Mlady, as usual, chose a dark beer - stout on this occasion - and Sir a Corona with lime.
Now, what to eat? As we wanted tapas we stayed with this section of the menu. We finally landed on three choices - a Vegi Plate, Crispy Squid and Crispy Hot Wings.
All the dishes arrived together as we requested. The Vegi Plate looked amazing. It was very full, loaded with mushroom and Parmesan arancini, grilled haloumi, roasted beetroot and sweet potato, labneh, olives, vegan cashew pesto, crostini and ciabatta. The biggest decision was where to start. It was bursting with colour and flavour. The arancini was and haloumi were of course hot so they seemed the obvious places.
The Crispy Squid in golden strips was very tender. It was served with contrasting cool crisp cucumber and a good sized pot of tangy aioli.
Our Crispy Hot Wings were another hearty serving. They were nicely coated in hot sauce with bite - but fortunately not at the mouth numbing end of the spectrum. The celery and ranch dressing added some crisp coolness to the spicy tender wings.
We were very impressed with The Avenue. The food arrived quickly, the quantities were great and it was very tasty. It’s a stunning venue too with great appeal. This was a great find!