Kipling's Garage Bar — Restaurant in Sydney

My sister and joined my wife and I for lunch. We booked a table for midday. My sister and I had the ‘lunch special’ for the bargain price of $65.00 per person, including entrée, main, dessert and tea or coffee. We were advised that unlimited sparkling mineral is served in bottles for $3.50 per person. I ordered a can of Capital Brewing Company zero alcohol Pacific Ale ($7.00). I did not vibe with it, more like soft drink than beer. For entrée, I chose the delicious, lightly battered Zucchini Flowers, filled with three cheeses and truffle honey, my sister chose the Peking Duck pancakes, served on a wooden board with portions of duck, thin pancakes, cucumber, and a small bowl of hoisin sauce. My sister enjoyed the tastes, though she was taken aback, when she had to assemble the ingredients in the pancakes, herself. We both enjoyed our entrées. My wife skipped the entrée course. For mains, I chose the Lamb Rump cap, served with labneh, a good portion of mashed minted peas, Dutch carrots, and pistachio dukkha. The lamb was succulent, the minted peas, the small carrots and the dukkha added to the flavour of the meal, loved it. My sister chose the Zucchini and Halloumi Fritters, served with smoked salmon, crème fraiche and a mixed leaf salad. She was happy with the flavours of the fritters, though she thought there was too many salad leaves and she left a great deal of it on the plate. My wife said she is glad that she chose the Nori Crusted Salmon ($33.00) with cauliflower puree, charred broccolini, field mushrooms and soy sesame glaze, because it was very tasty and the flavours all worked together to make it a delicious meal. I also tried a can of Bridge Road Brewers Free Time zero alcohol Pale Ale ($7.00) and it tasted like a beer should, it tasted good. For dessert, my sister and I had the Limoncello Cheese Cake served with vanilla icecream and lemon curd. It was truly delicious and we both enjoyed it. My wife skipped dessert, but she did order a small, almond milk latte ($4.30). My sister drank a small, flat white coffee and I had a small, soy milk latte. We were delighted with the menu; it did not contain any of the typical pub food and it is more exciting. All staff were warm and friendly and very efficient. A lunch at Kipling's Garage Bar is highly...

Drinks were okay, but food was quite the disappointment. The confusing menu sounds fancy on paper but is really bland RSL food at fine dining prices. I'm not sure what kind of cuisine it is, but it was a mix of asian/italian/mexican/modern australian? The lunch special isnt even cost effective and at most saves you $4 if you pick only the most expensive options and saves you nothing if you pick the cheapest options.

The burrata was served unseasoned with a sweet fennel jam and nothing else. Luckily there was salt on the table but otherwise it was basically a dessert. The mains were also disappointing. Barramundi was OK but not very fresh, served with an unbalanced soy and ginger sauce (no ginger at all) and a few greens underneath, no rice. For $33 it was incredibly overpriced for what it was. Gnocchi was from a packet and cooked inconsistently. Some of the cherry tomatoes were uncooked.

Service was also lacklustre. Had to flag waitress down for service. Salt and pepper shakers were basically empty on our table. We asked for another glass of wine that never materialised. Waitress straight up forgot to key it into the system. We will definitely not be returning, not when there are plenty of nicer...

Turramurra needed a place like this. I'm not sure they even have a pub, so to have an old corner garage turned into a wine and cocktail bar is a major neighbourhood plus.

It's big inside. There are ordinary indoor tables, some sofas around a fireplace, and a bunch of tables in what was the old forecourt, now enclosed in plastic sheeting (and possibly open to air in warmer weather). It's all clean and new-looking, with a bit of a industrial-chic nod to the previous function (they've left in some of the roller-door apparatus, for instance).

They've got more than just the standard beers (e.g., Matilda Bay Ruby Tuesday Amber Ale) and an OK wine list. I didn't try any cocktails.

They do bar snacks during the day, and bigger meals after 6pm. The snacks were tasty but definitely on the small, snacky side. The prawn and chorizo pizza was flavourful but only had an OK crust, and wasn't much more than 5 or 6 bites, at $12.

The staff were excellent, and happy with either bar or table service.

It was an easy place to meet up during the day with plenty of residential parking around and not too crowded inside. I'm told it gets pretty mobbed in the evenings, being the only decent drinking...