No. 5 Restaurant and Bar — Restaurant in Sydney

During a weekend long heatwave my dining partner and I headed for a lunch catch up at No. 5 Restaurant and Bar. Located in the industrial area of Alexandria, down an unassuming street, shared by only one other eatery type venue (a coffee house/ cafe). I picked this spot as it was one of a number of restaurants that I was able to score a free bottle of wine through my credit cards rewards program (Citi rewards) and let’s be honest, how can you pass up a free bottle of plonk!?!?

No. 5 is a converted gem polishing factory and as such the decor is very industrial right up to the tin roof, which being a heatwave meant it was hot!! I don’t want to go on too much about the lack of air conditioning and the very hot environment as this was extreme weather so I’m sure it is generally nicer especially at night.

On entering it was great to see that covid safety is taken seriously including QR code check in and bespoke sanitiser at each table! Well done 👍🏻

The staff are super friendly and well versed in their tasting notes for each course. This is more impressive considering that the menu is constantly changing as the head chef, Emrys Jones, adapts the fare to suit the fresh ingredients he finds locally; some even outside the front door of the restaurant! A big shout out to our waiter Monique, she was lovely and we had a great laugh many times throughout our sitting.

For lunch No. 5 has a bar menu but if you want the fine dining experience they do a four course set menu during their lunch service coming in at a very reasonable $49 per head.

First up were oysters. I am a huge fan of of these shelled delicacies and there was nothing wrong with the ones we had but they weren’t amazing! Eating an oyster should be the food equivalent of a quick dip in the ocean and I didn’t quite get that on this occasion. The oysters were a little tepid and the accompanying warrigal (native spinach) and cucumber dressing was lacking the acidity you would normally expect. Still very fresh and a nice start to the meal.

Next up was what I considered the stand out dish, Kangaroo Tartare. I was really keen to see how the chef dealt with what is a very tricky meat and especially having to serve it raw I was expecting a very strong or gamy taste. The result was quite the opposite and absolutely delicious! I’m not sure if it was the buckshorn purée or the macadamias but the dish was refined and beautifully balanced; nasturtium finishing with a hint of botanical pepper.

The main dish was blue eye cod served in a bone broth with kelp oil and a quartered fennel bulb. The dish was garnished with fresh botanicals and satisfied my appetite and also had some very rich flavours. The bone broth was lovely and the fish cooked perfectly. This course may be a little fishy for some but for me it really was lovely. My dining partner was not a fan of fennel but this is a vegetable that isn’t to everyone’s liking.

Completing the meal was a very interesting desert. Sea mustard ice cream quenelle with dulce de leche, candied seaweed and almond sponge. The ice cream won’t be to everyone’s liking as the taste is very much like vanilla ice cream that has had a scraping of hot English mustard mixed through. It’s not unpleasant, just unusual, and combined with the sweetness of the dulce de leche and the almond sponge it was a very nice way to finish our dining experience.

Now for the small negatives... The live musician was great but just too loud. Jai is a very talented musician but was too loud to hear my dining partner without difficulty, and we were at the back of the venue! I would also love to see cloth napkins and table cloths. I know this is a small thing but when a restaurant advertises fine dining it is pretty much par for the course to have higher quality tableware.

In conclusion a great little spot worth taking the time to check out if you like fresh, thoughtful and refined food at a really reasonable price! I will...

Dog owners rejoice! There’s finally a place where you can neck cocktails and scoff small plates with your hound at hand. No. 5 Restaurant and Bar court your canine companion with two statuesque carved hounds fronting their fire pit, which is set right in their warehouse doorway. The dancing flames are ringed by tables where you and your doggy can sit, imbibe and survive a cold Alexandria evening.

Inside you’ll find a genuine warehouse conversion, which has kept the corrugated iron roof and exposed rafters, distressed brick walls, and concrete floor, but warmed them up with a pallet-mounted green wall and softly flickering brown bottle candle lights. The hard metals continue into caged bulbs dangling over the long, pressed tin bar, where you can order drinks to consume at your table, or in a homely, mismatched collection of lounges before you settle in for dinner.

We opted to sip sake at our table while we chose our wine. The Karakuchi ($9/glass) is fruity and dry junmai sake, while the Takashimisu ($10/glass) junmai daiginjo offers crisp apple with a savory, umami finish. The globe-trotting one-page wine list is quite wide ranging for its size. I settled on a blush pink 2016 Wooing Tree ‘Blondie’ Blanc de Noir ($90/bottle). This unusual ‘white’ pinot noir is created by minimal skin contact before pressing the grapes, and results in a pretty wine where pink grapefruit mingles with the smell of freshly baked brioche.

With just eighteen savoury dishes the sharing food menu is similarly succinct, though with three-word descriptors it’s sometimes hard to visualise what the dishes will look like, or how many of dishes to order. Head chef Emrys Jones takes the guesswork out of ordering with a Chef’s Sharing Menu ($50/head) or a more extravagant version for $65/head. We give the standard menu a whirl, which starts with House Pickles ($7). They’re sour and appetite inducing with romesco and hummus dips, plus a handful of crisp grilled pita wedges.

A snowy dusting of ricotta salata elevates the humble Carrot ($14) as baked piece and puree against a clever mix of Vietnamese mint, fennel and pepitas. Think of it as a winter salad that employs the best of the season without resorting to tired tropes or heaviness, all the while balancing the natural sweetness of the orange root vegetable.

Pink Snapper ($16) is treated with yuzu, with the fragrant citrus moderated by the truffle oil. Radishes, pink grapefruit and avocado purée complete the pretty plate, that shows good balance because you can still taste the delicate raw fish.

A sesame-seed crusted French trimmed Lamb ($28) shank is artfully tucked into a roasted wombok (Chinese cabbage) wedge with a puddle of house-made, fruity yakiniku sauce. The dish has a lovely savoury rumble, with sesame oil and ginger jumping out. It’s accompanied by another green wedge - Iceberg ($8) – this time cold, with the leaves interspersed with nutty sesame dressing. It’s tasty, and an excellent use of a much-maligned lettuce, but as it’s winter and there’s only one lamb shank to share, I probably would have preferred spuds.

Matcha ($12) yuzu almond is based around olive oil cake soaked in ginger. It's buried under shards of meringue, almonds and matcha ice cream. It’s a solid finish to a meal that’s clearly the work of a skilled chef with his eyes firmly fixed on both food costs and flavour. The only stickler for me is I think this particular set menu...

Did you ever ask your parents for a Lego set as a child, only to have your holiday's dreams dashed as you unwrapped a box of Mega Bloks? Bar No. 5 is Sydney's nightlife equivalent. In theory it should work, but in reality, it's a cheap inauthentic substitute.

The decor was deceptively 'cool' at first, though as I stared at the walls waiting for a table I quickly realised they had gone too far .. though somehow not far enough. It looked as though Pinterest had exploded all over the walls, with kitsch objects scattered throughout. There was no coherency to this aesthetic, as the stools were made from timber veneer, as were the tables - cheapening the aesthetic and serving as a stark allegory for the bar itself; hollow fakes masquerading as the items that inspired them. Once the novelty of the warehouse location wore off, I realised this was far from the industrial staples of Fitzroy or Brooklyn. Sadly this type of warehouse was lacking not only in charm but also practicality. The air inside was stale, both figuratively and literally, with giant fans attempting to fight off your impending anxiety attack. To top this all off, the staff seemed to be as confused as the venues decoration, scrambling behind the bar to provide table service, counter service and tend to the customers who approached the bar once their patience had worn off. They were not only confused, and inefficient, but also rude. I so wanted this venue to spark the change for Alexandria I have long dreamed of. Sadly, this is far from the venue. It's sad to say, but this warehouse served Sydney better as...