Le Salle Dining by Bar Chaplin — Restaurant in Sydney

Chef Patrick Dang has opened this new European Restaurant in Surry Hills. It is sophisticated, refined and creative. When asking about his vision and the name, he said it draws inspiration from Chaplin, who let his art speak for itself. Words don’t describe it, it’s the feelings you get. Dang explained that simplicity is not simple. Each element is carefully considered, intricately prepared and immaculately presented. We cannot quite believe the fine dining food here at such reasonable prices. For $88 for 4 courses, it’s the best value you’ll find for a meal of this calibre.

The venue itself is small and intimate, catering to 25 diners (and on average around 3 tables full when you’re there.) Inconspicuous from the street, which is how they like it, the demographic is for mid age professionals looking for a sophisticated experience. Don’t expect a walk in, you will need to book ahead. The space is dimly lit which dark timber, black leather placemats, Reidel glassware on the table, and a small vase of flowers. The restaurant has quiet ambience to it, perfect for a date night.

Run only by Dang and Eddy on the floor, this 2 person endeavour is a feat to be able to run. Dang works with incredible precision and focus in the kitchen, whilst Eddy speaks to guests serves the food and provides wine recommendations (a keen focus on Croatian varietals).

Dang is keen to keep it small and intimate, change up the dishes seasonally depending on available produce and having wines to pair (only a few key cocktails on the menu).

We initially visited for the ala carte but since our return, they are now only offering the tasting menu. The tasting menu or “menu du jour” is incredible, and for $88 is amazing value, but in order to have regulars or for us to visit more often, we’d hope to be able to see ala carte again, as a four course dinner (at minimum) is extravagant, and special to us. We’d love to return for just entree/main more regularly.

On our first visit we were impressed with the Veal Tartare - as pretty as a picture: different, since it’s made with veal, charcoal, truffled yolk, cultured kohlrabi and a few crisps. You can stir it all together and top with the crisps.

We also had the bbq zucchini, served in a creamy sauce of bbq corn, roasted yeast, quinoa and basil. They change up the vegetable offerings, sometimes it’s asparagus or artichoke.

The aged duck was outstanding, served with smoked cherry, red cabbage and beetroot. These flavours worked perfectly together.

We thoroughly recommend the wagyu MB5++ as it is so buttery and melt in your mouth, with lovage, black garlic, allium and bone marrow, it speaks opulence.

We returned for the “menu du jour” (Le Voyage) which is $88 for 4 courses or the option for supplementary add ons. Each add on is around $25.

The menu will seasonally change, depending on available produce. It began with Amouse bouche; chicken liver parfait, with chicken skin, raspberry and was served on a bite sized cracker.

Honestly the food cannot be faulted. We also noticed that the Chef's work station is immaculate and well organised and is kept spotless. Everything was such high quality and precision in its preparation and display was evident. We thoroughly enjoyed the food and service was amazing and we will...

After spending time cooking in Taiwan, chef Patrick Dang has popped up on a back street in Surry Hills. Le Salle by Bar Chaplin is a darkly sophisticated small space for serious diners. It’s neither well signposted nor designed to accept walk-ins: you just have to know. It’s also light on the dish announcements as Dang prefers, in the style of Chaplin, to be mute and let his food do the talking. Wine ain’t cheap, but it’s well-handled in Reidel stemware. With my first selection from the short list being unavailable, the more pricy 2021 Place of Changing Winds Harcourt Marsanne ($154) was thankfully an excellent drink.

In line with Sydney’s current menu fad, the ‘menu du jour’ is a four course affair ($88/head) designed to lure diners in, supplemented by optional add-ons. To my palate, the supplemental dishes—like a plump St Helens oyster with Osetra caviar, a ‘pearl’ of horseradish cream, apple fennel broth and wasabi (+$18/person)—were where the excitement lies. This means, realistically, you’re paying the same $130 you would for a 6–7 course menu elsewhere. Doing things this way can interfere with the flow of the meal, with the oyster eclipsing a beautiful but more muted john dory crudo rose with elderflower and ice plant. It’s also fraught in terms of pre-planning, meaning two of our table’s oysters had to have their pre-made ‘pearl’ replaced with uni.

Veal tartare (+$25/person) with charcoal oil, cultured kohlrabi, parsley, tarragon, pumpkin seed emulsion and a fully set truffled egg yolk, was great smeared on as much house-made lavosh as you needed. I wasn’t a huge fan of the basil pesto-dominated blue eye cod with eggplant and piquillo peppers. The lamb which followed it was a fighting dish with rehydrated morel mushrooms and grain mustard. It came with an individual crown-like brioche that might have gentled it, but was sadly too dry to enjoy. While you can dabble from the cheese trolley for an extra fee (+$12), the included Michel Cluizel single origin chocolate mousse square cut by passionfruit, salted caramel and coconut proved a good...

We came here for our anniversary and it was truly one of the best meals I’ve ever had! Le Salle is a small venue that cannot be easily spotted from the street. It is beautifully designed and has maybe 10 tables in total; when we were there, we were the only patrons which made for an intimate dining experience. The lighting is dark and the vibe is very relaxed. The service was perfect - super personable, easy to chat with, happy to explain their food preparation processes, but also giving you privacy and space to enjoy your company. The restaurant is reservation-only which can only be cancelled more than 3 days in advance. This makes sense since the chef goes to the market every 2 days, guaranteeing fresh finds. The set menu is then designed accordingly. We had the 5-course tasting menu. The food was of incredible quality, so delicious and so thoughtfully prepared - each dish was better than the last. The Jurassic quail with burnt orange/foie gras sauce was unlike anything I ever had before. The blue fin tuna and scallops with morels and Iberian ham were amazing, and the honey brioche bread to mop up the sauces was delightful. The sous-vide and seared lamb melted in your mouth and has truly ruined all my future lamb dishes. We paired our meal with an excellent bottle of Chardonnay that was recommended to us from their impressive inventory (I wish I noted the exact bottle!!!). All in all, the perfect restaurant to celebrate special occasions and such a hidden gem. I cannot...