North Shore foodies bitter about having to cross the bridge for so many of their favourite dining experiences just got a bit of a reprieve, with Matthew Kemp and Lela Radojkovic of Randwick's Balzac crossing the bridge to spread some culinary love. The savvy restaurateurs' latest venture, The Burlington, has echoes of their last venue, Two Rooms, which they regretfully closed in 2007. Like Two Rooms, this restaurant is all about accessibility and flexibility; the prices are gob-smackingly cheap for the quality and almost all dishes are available in both entree and main sizes. This means that diners can sample small portions of several dishes - without having to filch off other people's plates.
The menu features elements of Spanish, French, Italian and English cuisines, designed by Kemp and executed by head chef Chad Muir. Between them, the two chefs are producing such dishes as air-dried tuna with cherry tomatoes, sherry vinegar and cumin; grilled calves liver with slow-roasted red onion and balsamic; and pork belly with morcilla and chickpeas. In line with the principle of flexibility, the wine list not only features wines by the glass and bottle, but also in small and large carafes.
Open
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Breakfast
Lunch
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Dinner
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Late
Mon-Fri noon-3pm Mon-Sat 6pm-10pm
Modern Australian
Entree: $15-$18
Mains: $28-$52
Dessert: $14-$17
Payment accepted: MasterCard, Visa, Diners Club, American Express and EFTPOS
Licensed. Wine is available by the glass.
This venue accepts bookings. Group bookings are supported.
Gourmet Traveller Feature Review - "The Burlington at Crows Nest is a boon for North Shore diners who no longer have to cross the bridge to enjoy Matt Kemp's European brasserie-style dining."
2009 Gourmet Traveller WINE Wine List Guide - "A newcomer to Crows Nest, Burlington sets a high standard, offering three or four ‘tastes’ of every wine on its compact wine list: by the glass, 250ml, 375ml and bottle."
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All reviews and ratings are the expressed opinions of our users, and in no way reflects the opinions of yourRestaurants, its staff and its affiliates.
Posted by:
lunchtime
|
2 July 2008, 6.13pm
A place to go back to
Call it south of the harbour snobbery but it is hard to find good food served well in nice surroundings in places north of the Harbour Bridge Toll Gate. It's probably no coincidence then that The Burlington hails from Randwick. Lunch for 4 was served in the limited luncheon time frame and all the meals were simply great. We were seated close to the kitchen and every other dish that passed looked equally delicious. The advice from staff was spot-on and with dessert included we saved on taxi fares as everyone had eaten so much they all insisted on walking back to work. I can feel this place becoming a regular.
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Visit: Wed 2 July 2008
Mealtime: lunch
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Posted by:
Edinburger
|
24 March 2008, 10.07am
Teething troubles in the kitchen?
I was looking really forward to this one. The restaurant looks great - nice simple set up, rustic/modern I suppose you would call it, but with touches of elegance that make the room a nice place to dine.
The staff were friendly and informal, which is exactly as I like it to be when I'm out for dinner.
The wine list is excellent in both scope and price an everything on it is available by the half bottle. However, when you order a half bottle it comes in a carafe and you don't get to see the bottle. Fine if you know something about wine but maybe a little unsettling if you don't and it's always nice to have a read. Not really a big deal though.
The menu is fantastic. It's obviously been put together by somebody who loves food and it's always a good sign when you could say 'bring me anything' and not be disappointed.
I started with the ham hock and pork cheek terrine and my wife went for potato tart with mackerel. Both were excellent, the terrine especially so, and were just the right amount for a nice starter. I hate it when you get surprised by a vast heap of food at the beginning of a meal.
To go with this we had a half bottle of the pinot blanc, which was grand, but poured directly into my glass without me being offered a sniff or taste. I think it should be up to me to decide if the wine is corked or oxidised and not the waiting staff, and, while I'm sure they would have replaced it had there been a taint it's easier all round if I'm allowed to comment before two full glasses are poured.
For main I ordered the wagyu calves liver with balsamic onion and my wife went for the 500g ribeye with bearnaise and chips. The ribeye was ordered 'very rare' and the liver, on advice from the waiting staff, was ordered 'medium', when I would usually go for medium rare, but I figured they know their ingredients.
Now for me this is critical. A rare steak and a medium steak are not the same meal. And the steak we got was medium. It had obviously been left on one side too long as when it was cut it was cooked to the middle from one side and just seared on the other. We did mention it and I'm sure had we become indignant it would have been replaced but there were only two of us and that kind of ruins the evening. On the plus side it was a nice bit of meat, it's just a shame to see it over cooked.
Unfortunately the liver suffered from a similar problem. The whole point of liver is that it's creamy and melts in your mouth, if it's over cooked even a little bit then it becomes grainy and loses that sweet creamy texture. One piece that came out was thin and one piece was fat. They had been cooked for the same length of time, which obviously meant that one was perfect and one was ruined. I must say the bit that was done well was excellent, but that was only 50% of my main course.
To go with the main we had a bottle of tempranillo that was excellent and pretty good value. It was a couple of degrees too warm, but nothing to get upset about.
I'm afraid the main courses kind of spoiled things and we passed on dessert.
Maybe I should have made more of a fuss? I mentioned that both mains were overcooked again at the end, which should have been evident from the fact that only 50% of each was eaten, and I was thanked for the feedback but not offered anything off the $185 total (which, had the main courses been as good as the rest would have been great value and $95 of which was wine).
All in all it wasn't a bad meal and certainly had the potential to be excellent, but with these things you usually remember the bad more vividly than the good.
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Visit: Thu 20 March 2008
Mealtime: dinner
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