The Tilbury Hotel

PROFILED BY DEGROOTS MEDIA

Attracting the successful and good looking youth of Sydney who find it a bit of a stretch to frequent Woolloomooloo Wharf’s pricier venues, The Tilbury Hotel has got it made. Placed in the centre of the hotel’s hub of bars and courtyards, the restaurant lures hungry guests into its comfortable surrounds. The dining room is dressed in neutral tones but is brightened up with the colourful people and their glasses of wine; rose at lunch, crisp whites in the dying light and deep reds when the lights are dimmed. The wine list here is quite extensive with about 100 on the menu and 150 on the reserved list.

While this restaurant is set back a little from the Woolloomooloo Wharf – renowned as an epicurean paradise – The Tilbury’s cuisine manages to keep up with the elevated standard nearby, sporting a terrifically refreshing Italian menu. Fritto misto of John Dory, zucchini flowers and parsley aioli is the perfect entree to begin with, after, of course, a white peach martini in the open air patio. Fettuccine with mud crab, tomato, harissa, saffron and creme fraiche, and the slow-roast Kurobuta pork belly with red cabbage, roast pear and calvados are hot main course options. Engage yourself in an Eton mess, which closes any meal sumptuously with a muddle of strawberries, vanilla cream and crushed meringue. After dinner, wind down with a slice of cheese and a port or kick on with your friends upstairs.

Annabel Wise