When an Eastern suburb girl ventures out of said neighbourhood, it better be for something good. In this case, I burst my Bondi bubble for a free dinner to taste test the re-vamped menu at the newly renovated Jet Bar Caffe in the city.
Located in the Queen Victoria Building, it’s the ideal cheeky spot for an after work drink/meal. The whole place has been completely re-done, they knocked out the awkward panel that ran down the middle of the restaurant, that blocked off the seating area from the bar, so no more Berlin Wall type separation. Now, it’s open, breezy, with the original stain coloured stain glass windows filtering beautiful light across the dining area when the sun sets. It’s great for people watching too, workers scuttle past busy George Street and you’re stilling there – a glass panel protecting you from the peak hour rush and a Merlot in hand so you find their antics all the more amusing.
Food wise – Italian chef Danny Russo serves up classy comfort food. In his own words “think arancini, old-school focaccias and good honest Italian food.” For our dinner entrée we were treated to Italian buffalo mozzarella, tomato & basil salad – so rich and creamy it’s hard to get through the whole plate of cheesy goodness. It was a set menu so as quickly as we’d polished off the basil leaves out came the main, oh and was it beautiful – grilled barramundi with roast peppers, zucchini,
olives & almonds ($30). The fish was cooked with crispy skin – so good my date tried to steal the recipe.
Then dessert – the most important meal of the day – lemon pannacotta, poached rhubarb
& almond biscotti. Oh. My. God. Rhubarb is SO under-rated. My sweet tooth and I would have just been satisfied with this and nothing else.
The staff are passionate about making this space inviting, stylish and leaving a good taste in people’s mouths. Jet Bar has a kind of elegant simplicity – Somewhere you could take your mum, or a hot date. It doesn’t discriminate, even when a girl from the east walks through its doors.
Jet Bar Caffe
Shop 55, 455 George St, QVB Building
http://www.jetbarcaffe.com
**Photos thanks to Tom Hancock