Park Street Bistro at the Kurrajong Hotel Erskineville

Erskineville's Kurrajong Hotel has had a full makeover from neighbourhood pub to chic urban bistro

With former MasterChef judge George Calombaris at the helm, Park Street Bistro is serving elevated pub classics, seafood and pasta to locals, couples and long lunch crews. Think Art Deco bones, a drinks list built around fine wine and a menu that takes dinner seriously.

The kitchen leans on the grill, with steak, lamb, pork and fish served with your choice of butter or sauce, plus a run of snacks and entrées that gives the table plenty to pick at before the mains land. Seafood gets its moment too, from oysters to a spanner crab pasta, and there is a playful streak running through it, with kangaroo turned into a vol au vent and a dessert list that goes full flambé. It is the kind of menu where a group can share a few starters, argue over the mains and still find space for something sweet.

Drinks follow the same easygoing line, with reds, whites, craft beers and champagnes on offer, so something cold and good is never far from your hand. It opens at midday Wednesday to Sunday, which makes it as handy for a lingering weekend lunch as it is for a dinner that rolls on. And with 20 boutique rooms on site, the night does not have to end at the door.