The Riverview Hotel
29 Birchgrove Road
Balmain, Sydney
The Riverview Hotel Dining is located upstairs from the busy and very popular pub. You would not think that you are above a pub as it is rather quiet. The dining area is lovely with different rooms – ideal for intimate gatherings. Both Sir and Mlady started their meal with a red wine. Sir chose a lovely Shiraz from Canberra and Mlady chose an equally lovely Tempranillo from Spain. We ordered home baked beer bread with butter. This was served warm and the butter – Pepe Saya – being such a good butter, made this a really nice start to our meal.
Our first entrée was Jamon Croquettas with lemon aioli. These were so light, fluffy and ever so delicious! They arrived as a serving of 3. Mlady did not want to share the third, so she ate it – hee hee hee. Well, she is a HUGE fan of croquettes.
Second entrée was Crispy soft shell crab, Thai herbs, betel leaf, peanuts and nam Jim. How good was this! Great flavours and textures. The soft shell crab certainly was just that – lovely and soft and so tasty. This really was a great flavoursome dish.
As a main Mlady had fresh Linguine with porcini mushroom ragout. This was piping hot and was incredibly delicious. The wonderful porcini mushroom ragout – of which there were plenty mixed so well with the Linguine – that was perfectly cooked. Loved this dish! Sir chose for his main the Beef and Guinness pie, Colcannon and roasted Dutch carrots. Sir’s first comment upon tasting – “It’s good”. It was nicely presented and the meat was very tender. The mash which accompanied the Beef and Guinness pie was also very tasty and fluffy. This was a good hearty meal.
For dessert Mlady had the Sticky date pudding, butterscotch and Mascarpone ice cream. Sticky date is such a beautiful flavour and the aroma is so appetising. It had a nice smooth texture and the sauce was smooth and delectable. Was not a heavy dessert like some sticky date puddings can be. Loved the Mascarpone ice cream too, was yummy. Sir had the peach mess, meringue, yoghurt and raspberries. There was plenty of this dessert. Nice meringue and plenty of it. Lovely peaches and plenty of them. Everything combined well with the yoghurt. It was a good sweet finish to a very pleasurable meal.
Chef John Ikin has created a very tasty and varied menu. The presentation of the dishes was nicely creative and the combinations all worked incredibly well together. It's certainly a great dining experience here.
Sir and Mlady dined as guests of The Riverview Hotel. Thanks to Michael for looking after us so professionally on the night. Special thanks to Claire McPherson of CPM Online Marketing Solutions for arranging this visit.