Garden Bar, George St, Sydney

Garden Bar, George St, Sydney

Tuesday 24 April, 2007

The last I visited Garden Bar I had an encounter with the Maitre'd that did not impress me. I have returned twice since then and avoided him at all costs. But today's experience bordered on surreal.

I arrived to meet an old work buddy at 12.30pm and was greeted by the Maitre'd like an old friend. He welcomed me back and for a moment I thought he was almost going to hug me. Even though there weren't any free tables inside the Garden Bar area he was going out of his way to try and secure something for me. I told him not to bother as we were happy to sit at the high tables with stools in the main bar area.

Once settled we checked out the lunch menu that offers a range of Thai and Aussie meals e.g. curries, pad thai, burgers, steaks and fish & chips. I opted for the Chicken schnitzel - crumbed chicken breast schnitzel with chips, coleslaw with peppercorn jus for $13.50 and my lunch buddy selected the Steak sandwich - grilled minute steak with roasted tomato, rocket, herb mayonnaise with chips for $14.50. After ordering our meals at the bar we were handed a buzzer to take back to our table.

Within 10 minutes the buzzer sounded and I jumped up to collect our meals from the kitchen just beyond the Garden Bar. The staff who man this section have a good system in place. They already have large trays out for the meals and direct you to collect cutlery, napkins and complimentary Minties from the side bar. Once you do this the meals are waiting on the tray. The plates are large and you will not go hungry at the Garden Bar.

My chicken schnitzel was very good - the chicken breast was thin and the schnitzel coating was light and crisp. The peppercorn jus came served in a small dish on the side. The schnitzel was laid on top of a bed of thin chips which also benefited from the peppercorn jus and the coleslaw was presented on a lettuce leaf.

Our experience at the Garden Bar today was very good.........let's hope it stays that way.

Garden Bar, Establishment - 252 George St, Sydney - (02) 92403000

http://www.merivale.com/establishment/gardenbar#