Bowery Lane, Sydney CBD

Apologies again for being absent on the blog lately. Aside from work, lots of personal commitments including farewells, birthdays, housewarmings and an anniversary has happened over the last few weeks. Even long weekend was busy! Of course, that hasn't stopped me from exploring loads of foodie places that I will hopefully update on the blog when I get the chance. One of the places I've been over the last 2 weeks was the ever-popular Bowery Lane. Not only is this restaurant about 5 minutes from my workplace, it's one of those restaurants that is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Recently we were there for CC's birthday where we got to sample a wide range of dishes on the $55 set menu due to our large group. Sadly there was no epic soft shell crab action since it wasn't included on the set menu. The price didn't include drinks but that didn't stop us from ordering lots of beverages. I couldn't remember the actual name of the first drink but it reminded me of an 'old fashioned' whisky beverage that KT always ordered whenever we're out for drinks. Strong stuff but does the stuff when life gets you down.

Another cocktail I liked was the Charlie Chaplin, which had a sweeter taste that was less stronger than the first drink.

Artisan sourdough with butter

Because a couple of friends were running late, we had to wait for the bread to show up at our able even though CC said that we're all happy to be served. So by the time the bread and butter arrived, we were grabbing it to satisfy our hunger cravings. My fave was definitely the soy and lineseed bread which was most likely sourced from Sonoma Bakery.

Marinated Sicilian olives, orange, rosemary, chilli, garlic lemon ($7.00)

I'm quite pleased with the olives here. Some were quite firm, some were on the softer side. Very tasty if you like your olives though it was a tad salty. A couple of friends weren't big fan so I was happy to make the most of my addiction.

Black pepper and lime salt calamari with coriander aioli ($16.00)

I'm guessing it's because there was a large group of us, and because it was a Friday night, the food took a long time to show up. Because of this, everyone got very impatient when I wanted to take photos of food so sorry in advance for the quality of some of the photos. Nevertheless the quality of the dishes made up for all that waiting. Such as the black pepper and lime salt calamari. The calamari was nicely crumbled, which went well with the smooth aioli sauce.

San danielle prosciutto, buffalo mozzarella, fresh fig, witlof, quinoa, rocket, walnut and vincotto ($19.00)

For the health conscious, there was the slightly healthier prosciutto salad. There's even quinoa! Definitely a refreshing combination even with the creamy buffalo mozzarella.

La stella burrata, confit heirloom tomato, radish, lemon, basil, candied olive ($17.00/$26.00)

While burrata isn't one of my fave cheeses (way too creamy for my liking), it looked very pleasing to the eye. The others really enjoyed sharing this dish while I made the most of the veggies on the side.

Braised wagyu short rib, charred onion, roasted garlic, dijon ($62.00 to share)

Since the party consists of two full tables, the main dishes were served alternatively so I missed out on a couple of dishes including the king prawn pappardelle and the whole roasted field mushrooms. We did, however, ended up with a lot of meat. Such as this epic wagyu short rob. Luckily it was made to share and none of us were vegetarian. The short rib was tender and succulent while the sides were well matched in terms of the balance of flavours. Especially once we get too overwhelmed by the meat.

Slow cooked lamb shoulder, smoked eggplant, lemon garlic dressing, watercress ($57.00 to share)

By this point everyone was so hungry from all the waiting that they didn't bother eating for the camera to eat first heh. Despite the less than appealing shot below, the lamb was incredibly delicious. The game taste was not too strong so this will please those who were more wary of this fatty meat, although the side ingredients also helped a bit. 

Burnt carrot, smoked yoghurt, toasted sesame seed

Shoestring fries, chilli salt

Baby cos, green peas, beans, mint, aioli

We also got a decent range of sides to share whether you are keen for greens or up for crunch fries. The burnt carrot with yoghurt and sesame seeds seemed like an unusual combination which surprisingly went well with the table. French fries were a reminder of Maccas fries but with a bit of spice (and was rather addictive). But damn those greens. Girl's gotta have some greens and CC LOVES her greens heh.

Jar of cookies and cream - honeycomb, vanilla, dark chocolate

Now this was the dessert I've been looking forward to all night after spotting it in countless reviews in the past. While we all sadly had to share this dessert (seriously...), CC got her very own cookies and cream jar along with a candle. It looked so adorable and it was full of lots of sweet goodies. The ingredients tasted so good together that I seriously didn't want to share it with anyone. I'm sure the others will agree with me on that.

Strawberry shortcake - vanilla bean ice cream, macerated berries 

I didn't think this would top the last dessert but it also exceeded my expectation despite its simpler presentation. Was sweeter and fruitier in comparison to the cookies and cream jar, which is equally pleasing.

Despite the lengthy wait to get our food (most likely because of our large group), it was a delicious experience. It is located in the heart of the CBD so it is a convenient spot if you want to have a work outing with your colleagues or a catch up with friends at night. Will definitely return again to get the desserts and their famous burgers and even try their breakfast dishes if I wake up early enough.

Bowery Lane
1 O'Connell Street, Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9252 8017

http://www.bowerylane.com.au/
Mon-Wed: 7:00am - 10:00pm
Thurs-Fri: 7:00am - Late
Sat:5:00pm - Late