The Waratah — Restaurant in Sydney

we dined at the waratah last night for their weekly special date night set menu! for $49, we thought the value was pretty good so have a read on what we got:

focaccia, whipped cultured butter & stracciatella, grilled zucchini, saltbush the bread was an amazing start, super fluffy and crunchy. we loved this topped with the Stracciatella

potato scallop, raw scallop, tartare sauce the crunch of this scallop was amazing, and paired with a classic tartare made this a delicious snack.

we also added on the sydney rock oysters with rosella mignonette but they came out quite late, and were unfortunately a bit warm and fishy tasting which was a little disappointing.

mooloolaba prawns, fermented chilli butter, dessert lime this was another add-on which missed the mark, the prawns were luke-warm and overcooked, so did not lift out of their shells nicely at all. didn't have a strong buttery taste so I wouldn't order this again

half chicken, fregola, shimeji mushroom, sunrise lime & fries, chicken salt the main meal was lovely and a generous portion. chicken meat was juicy and flavourful, but did get heavy towards the end so would've appreciated some sort of greens or salad to lighten it up. chippies were great!

fairy bread ice cream sandwich, honey buttercream what I really came for was this cute dessert! a bit simple in terms of flavour but the ice cream was lovely, and the added crunch of the 100s and 1000s was so fun.

overall for me this spot was hit or miss, with the snacks outperforming the main parts of the meal. I think it's a great spot for a couple drinks and snacks but not for a...

UPDATE: the guy after the bar saw my review and explained the drink to me and was kind enough to give me a refund! very sweet. i knew when i got this drink that a lot of work would have been pht into it but was still shocked, the guy said he understands and should have explained it to me. I do feel like if it was explained I would have had less of a reaction! Also just ust tried the food here and its amazing!

bro i feel like i got pranked. i dont drink so i got a non alcoholic drink, i thought it was going to be a mock tail. it was a pre mix and they didnt even fill up my entire glass they only filled it half way. i paid $17 for this drink called the yuzu and flowers. call me broke but i was hoping to get a bit more action maybe some mixing and shaking. nah. the guy whipped out a bottle and just poured a pre mixed drink into my glass. when he stopped i thought the bottle had run out and he went to get more… NO! that was it. he had to move it towards me to signal he was done. i am in shock. bro. did i just...

What looks like a classic bar and pub upfront opens up to an amazing restaurant upstairs with an open roof in a completely different vibe, quite the unexpected find! The food was way beyond typical pub fare, we’re talking proper restaurant-level dishes.

Kicked things off with an excellent crispy potato topped with scallop tartare, a must-order! We enjoyed their side dishes, especially the roasted eggplant with a miso twist and the addictive fried Brussels sprouts seasoned with yuzu and thyme (you know I can’t resist Brussels 😍). The thin-cut fries were seriously hard to stop eating. But the real standout? Butterflied king prawns grilled to perfection with a lemon myrtle butter sauce.

They’ve also got a super creative drinks menu with funky cocktails like Peanut & Raspberry Aussie Gin, and their signature Skin Contact Chardonnay & Pineapple.

Next time you’re heading for drinks in Darlinghurst, check them out...