Le Pub, Sydney CBD

Back in my uni days, I used to check out Red Eye Records at least once a week at their old King Street store. Next door to Red Eve was St Patricks Tavern, which operated as an Irish pub. Years later, Red Eye Records moved to York Street close to QVB (thankfully still open) while St Patrick's Tavern closed down due to renovations and new management under Gallagher Hotels. In October last year, Le Pub opened in that same spot with a focus on delivering French bistro cuisine. While Le Pub still retained that noisy pub-like atmosphere especially on Friday and Saturday nights (and the pokie room is still there), it was the food that takes the venue up a notch especially after winning the 'Three Schooner' Award at Sydney's Good Pub Food Guide 2013.

While I walk past Le Pub fairly often, it was CC who suggested to check this out one night after seeing the menu. When I saw the logo for Le Pub, it immediately reminded me of the Paris Metro train station logos. When we were given our menus, we were indecisive. Really indecisive. Everything on the menu looks good to try and it didn't help when the waitress said that the Beef Bourguignon pie might be too big and the Confit de Canard (duck leg confit) would be too small. Bonus points for the staff being incredibly patient with our indecisiveness.

When we saw snails on the menu, we knew we had to try these sneaky little buggers. It was a while since I've had snails so there was a slight trouble with getting the snails out of the shell using the metal tongs. They were tasty though I think it really needs more garlic and herb butter so I can dip the toasted baguette bread. I guess for me, the garlic and herb butter was what I like the most when eating snails.We did think that the toasted bread was crustier than what we usually get.

Escargots de Bourgogne - snails, garlic, fresh herb butter and baguette ($15.00)
 

Lamb neck with quinoa and herb crumb sounds fascinating and slightly healthier in my books so after much debating, I decided on this dish. Although one of the lamb pieces needed a bit of effort on the knife; the rest of the dish was quite tender, full of flavour and beautifully presented. Also, the quinoa crumb gives the lamb a crunchier texture. Would have liked it if the quinoa stuck to the lamb instead of falling everywhere on the board but that would be pretty hard.  
 

Collet D'Agneau - lamb neck with quinoa and herb crumb, cauliflower puree, shaved cauliflower and pea salad ($26.00)

After much decision making, CC decided on the seafood dish of Pan fried Barramundi fillet with Potato Dauphinoise, Sous vide onions and Caper Veloute based on the recommendation by the waitress. CC gave this dish a thumbs up for the crunchy and flaky skin and the soft fillet. Personally I am a big fan of green salsas and from what I've tried, it worked well with the barramundi fillet.  

Poisson du Marche ($28.00)

We were quite full but we knew we had to try the desserts from checking out the menu. CC had her eyes on the Pots de Creme and we were definitely pleased with that choice. While it looked like a creme brulee, it didn't have that hard toffee top. The custard was so luscious, sweet and creamy. I wanted to have more of it but that will make me too greedy since I have already ordered another dessert. We were quite puzzled on whether the flowers on the almond praline were edible. Despite that, the crunchy almond praline was perfect to have with the creamy custard. Definitely recommend this dessert.

Pots De Creme - Honey Pots De Creme with Almond Praline ($16.00)

My choice was the Tarte Au Chocolat Cacahuete, which is a chocolate and peanut brittle tart with edible chocolate soil and magic gold dust...yes edible magic gold dust! I loved this dessert as well as it has everything I loved - chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate! It was fun cutting up the tart especially when the knife hits the bottom so you can taste the creamy, rich chocolate mousse with the flaky chocolate and peanut tart. There was so much to take in with this dessert from the chewy nougats to the caramel sauce. I enjoyed mixing everything on this plate together just to excite and test my tastebuds. As for the 'magic gold dust', a highlight for us was when I accidentally blow into the nougat coated with lots of gold dust while I was talking. Soon it was flying everywhere on our plates like Tinkerbell sprinkling lots of dust so we can fly! I tried to blow into it again but it didn't work. Wished we had taken a photo of this.

 

Tarte Au Chocolat Cacahuete ($16.00)

While most of the food didn't seem to be traditionally French (except for the snails of course), it was still delicious for us. I reckon the food was basically French cuisine with a twist - and we loved it. The desserts were a hit for us that night and we're keen on coming back to try the confit duck and the beef bourguignon pie. In fact, we were already talking about coming back here just last week so another visit will definitely be happening soon.

Le Pub
66 King Street, Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9262 3277
http://www.lepub.com.au/