St Leonards Tavern — Restaurant in Sydney

A splendid and suprising local gastronomic adventure, with a casual vibe that belies the diverse (and delicious!) cuisine as well as the remarkable wine list.

I arrived here on a blustery Tuesday evening expecting the typical 'pub grub' but oh, how wrong I was. The St Leonards Tavern is one of those mysterious hideaways that inevitably become a drawcard for the cognoscenti, simply by word of mouth.

Our group arrived to be greeted by Licencee Mikhael, resplendant in a beautifully tailored, lime green Versace business suit, with what appeared to be a laced, violet coloured poet-shirt, heavily ruffled at the front and loosened almost to the navel. I immediately knew that this was no ordinary hotel.

Mikhael greeted us all personally before handing over to the lovely, if quietly spoken Shannon. A demure young lady, slightly royal of bearing and slightly stand-offish.

We ordered the house-made sour dough bread and truffled butter to get us started and was about to order the Pol Roger SWC when the Sommelier popped by to advise that that had recently taken in a shipment of rare Spanish cava by Agustí Torelló Mata! What an opportunity! We ordered two bottles at once and the party was well under way.

I ordered the Salmorejo as a starter in honour of the delightful Cava and I was delighted with the result, but was also intrigued by the Civet de Chevreuil (a traditional French venison dish, marinated for at least 12 hours and served with a grand veneur sauce).

After a quick discussion with Sommelier Ryan, I ordered the venison as a starter as well and Ryan playfully matched this with a Californian Merlot that he had taken delivery of earlier that week.

The epicurean highlight of the evening was probably the deboned quail, stuffed with foie gras and roasted in duck fat, but for sheer enjoyment, the "Omelette au Rhum" remains the highlight.

Mikhael explained that he had recently encountered the "Omelette au Rhum" in a copy of Alexis Soyer's 1846 cookbook, "The Gastronomic Regenerator". Together with his team of chefs, Mikhael had set about recreating the original. The dish, a sweet omelette pudding, is prepared in the kitchen and then doused in rum (Mikhael used a Guyanese, single barrel El Dorado) and flambe at the table. Call me immature, but I still get so much pleasure from a flambe.

We finished the evening with a lovely Comte de Lamaestre armagnac and a plate of cheeses that included a Cabecou Feuille D'Armagnac as a playful reference to the excellent offering of Maison DeLord.

Rarely have I been so pleased with all aspects of a visit. FIVE STARS.

(Pro-tip: if Shannon is your waitress, spend some time getting her to come out of her shell. She is very formal usually, and she needs just a little encouragement to engage directly...

I'm happy to report a friendly, professional resolve to my issue with St Leonards Tavern.

I was contacted by management at Sonenco; They were genuinely interested in my feed back and made every attempt to make me feel welcome back to the Tavern. I was very impressed by the way they handled the situation. Clever and professional. Thank you to the staff at Sonenco and St Leonards Tavern.

I have left my original review below to give context but it no longer reflects my opinion of St Leonards Tavern and will happily lunch there again.

Appalled at the behaviour of the manager (Chris). I had lunch on Friday at the SLT. The food was fine although a little expensive $27 for a chicken pjamigana and $10 for a beer. I was sitting on my own at a table part way though my food and decided to get another beer; The cost of a pub lunch totalling $47. when I returned to my table the food had been cleared away. I asked the waitress and she apologised for clearing the table but thought I had gone. I explained the situation to the manager expecting a replacement meal. Instead he went to the pile of dirty dishes and offered my old meal back. I have know idea where that plate has been; Especially in these Covid sensitive times. He wouldn't give me a fresh meal or a refund. The waitress was doing a good job but there is serious management issue at this...

I've been coming to this pub for a number of years. After a busy day at work, I like to unwind here and watch a game of footy or catch up with some friends with a schooner or two. I've seen numerous staff come and go over the years and some of them are unfriendly towards you at first because they didn't know you, and I get that as you're still a stranger to them. Then they'd see you regularly and they'd become friendly and would smile or say hi. Except this girl with the eyeglasses. She's poured my schooners of beer for months and her attitude is a hit and miss -- sometimes she'd say 'hi' and 'thank-you', sometimes not. But last Friday when I went there to meet my friends, she just looked at me without asking what I wanted. I think she's waiting for me to tell her what I want, which I did. She got the schooner glass, poured beer in it and just set it down on the counter -- no words, no smile. I shared my observation to my friends and they agreed that the nerdy-looking girl wasn't in a bartender-y mood that night. That didn't really make us feel welcome and we thought to ourselves, maybe we should meet more at the Crowies instead. It may be 5 minutes farther from where I live but at least it has a great atmosphere and the bartenders are friendlier and...