Latest news with #BarrenjoeyHouse
The Age
23-05-2025
- The Age
This landmark guesthouse is one of Sydney's oldest restaurants. Is it still worth the drive?
I like to think there's a sliding-doors universe where Barrenjoey House is still an ambitious destination diner with mousse-filled fish, but the current operator – The Boathouse Group – has largely focused on dolled-up versions of pub and cafe standards instead. A sign on the footpath advertises 'Tuesday Steak Night' and 'Wednesday 2 For 1 Pizza'. There's salt-and-pepper squid and beer-battered barramundi. You can order from a young floor team or via QR code. So why are we here? Because there's not many other places to eat in Palm Beach, and the suburb is one of Sydney's most popular daytrip spots. It's important to keep checking in on the old guesthouse. (Also, my parents were catching the ferry from Ettalong and wanted to meet up for lunch.) Current Good Food Guide report: 'Pretty good!' Considering the group is called The Boathouse, it would be nice to see more wild and local-ish seafood offered, rather than farmed Murray cod, New Zealand salmon, kingfish and barramundi. Also, I'd be happy to never see 'beetroot carpaccio' on a menu again, especially with 'kaffir lime oil'. (It's now called 'makrut lime' for reasons that shouldn't need explaining.) A team-up of pureed apricot and lamb is also a few decades out of date. It's a bloody good lamb rump, however, pink like a winter sunset and capped with charred, submissive fat. Sherry jus and fried saltbush provide interest next to the fusty puree. Chef Justin O'Bree's salt-and-pepper squid is hard to fault (crunchy coating, well seasoned, tubes the right side of al dente) with a lone lime cheek, coriander and side pool of chilli sauce.
Sydney Morning Herald
23-05-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
This landmark guesthouse is one of Sydney's oldest restaurants. Is it still worth the drive?
I like to think there's a sliding-doors universe where Barrenjoey House is still an ambitious destination diner with mousse-filled fish, but the current operator – The Boathouse Group – has largely focused on dolled-up versions of pub and cafe standards instead. A sign on the footpath advertises 'Tuesday Steak Night' and 'Wednesday 2 For 1 Pizza'. There's salt-and-pepper squid and beer-battered barramundi. You can order from a young floor team or via QR code. So why are we here? Because there's not many other places to eat in Palm Beach, and the suburb is one of Sydney's most popular daytrip spots. It's important to keep checking in on the old guesthouse. (Also, my parents were catching the ferry from Ettalong and wanted to meet up for lunch.) Current Good Food Guide report: 'Pretty good!' Considering the group is called The Boathouse, it would be nice to see more wild and local-ish seafood offered, rather than farmed Murray cod, New Zealand salmon, kingfish and barramundi. Also, I'd be happy to never see 'beetroot carpaccio' on a menu again, especially with 'kaffir lime oil'. (It's now called 'makrut lime' for reasons that shouldn't need explaining.) A team-up of pureed apricot and lamb is also a few decades out of date. It's a bloody good lamb rump, however, pink like a winter sunset and capped with charred, submissive fat. Sherry jus and fried saltbush provide interest next to the fusty puree. Chef Justin O'Bree's salt-and-pepper squid is hard to fault (crunchy coating, well seasoned, tubes the right side of al dente) with a lone lime cheek, coriander and side pool of chilli sauce.
