Martin Place Bar
A good location can often lead to a few cut corners—especially when it comes to city pubs. So it was a pleasure to find out that Martin Place Bar takes pride in not only producing good food, but in sourcing free range produce. With an impressively long bar, and sizeable wine list, bar snacks are bite-sized and moreish. Prawn Tostadas ($12) are grill-smoky yet sweet with a lingering chilli warmth; and there is an excellent fried crust-to-aromatic-filling ratio in balls of Pumpkin and Thyme Arancini ($10). Full marks for the delightfully porky house made terrine, part of a Charcuterie Board ($24), that goes down rather nicely with a glass of the big and peppery Cake Wines Cabernet Sauvignon ($11.50 glass/$55 bottle). More substantial fare comes in the form of the elegant ‘Cone Bay’ Barramundi ($25), the cooking right on-point, and earthy with new potatoes and a cauliflower puree; or the hefty, bone-protruding goodness of a 300g ‘Northern Rivers’ Rib Eye ($30). Corned Beef ($18) proved a bit home-cooking for me, but my Swedish dining partner was transported back to the Motherland. This is unpretentious pub food with appreciable sophistication, and if you’re after a more liquid dinner, they have just opened a cosy new cocktail lounge.
Martin Place Bar
51 Martin Place, Sydney
Ph: (02) 9231 5575 martinplacebar.com.au
Bar, Modern Australian, Pub Bistro $$$
