What: Babbingtons Bar & Grill
Where: Apollo Hotel, 290 Pacific Highway, Charlestown
Prices: Bread, $7.50 and $8; oysters, $18 to $36; entrées, $15 to $19; mains, $25 to $33; grills, $26 to $30; desserts, $9.50 to $14.50
Executive chef: Trent Weber
Wines: Comprehensive list of Australian, NZ and other wines, a good selection of quality wines by the glass
Hours: Breakfast, Monday to Friday, 6.30am to 9.30am; Saturday and Sunday 7am to 10am; dinner, Monday to Saturday 6pm to 9.30pm
Extras: All $5.50
Vegetarian: Two breads, two entrees, four mains
Bookings: 4943 6733
Bottom line: Entrée, main, dessert for two, about $120 without drinks
How often do we dismiss a hotel restaurant as existing just for the resident guests, or as a popular choice for a wedding reception, office Christmas party or company conference?
Yet, many famous hotels have often spawned equally famous restaurants. After all, the facilities available to the kitchen brigade are often top notch and the dining room is usually designed as the public face of the hotel.
At Babbingtons, carpeted floors, crisply starched table linen, sparkling glasses and cutlery, a pleasant view over tranquil bushland and tables spaced far enough apart for intimate conversation make for a pleasant first impression.
The grill section includes grain-fed sirloin or scotch fillet steaks, boned half chicken, Atlantic salmon fillet or a mixed grill, and a range of accompaniments.
There is enough variety in the a la carte section to suit most tastes, including vegetarian, with entrees ranging from oysters to risotto (entree and main size), crepes, house-made scallop agnolotti, a rabbit and speck terrine and a selection of salads. Mains include duck breast, chargrilled vegetables, vegetarian lasagne, giant Queensland prawns and a very reasonably priced Sicilian seafood platter.
Seafood mezze ($19) comprises three succulent barbecued marinated baby octopus, three juicy chargrilled prawns, two slices of silky salmon gravlax and a crisp seaweed salad. Toasted grissini are replaced tonight with more substantial toasted bread, and wedges of lemon and rather dry lime provide some flavour lift.
The tempura batter on the king prawns ($17) is a delight; crisp and providing just enough cover to protect the prawns. They contrast nicely in texture and colour with a dish of pickled ginger in a dipping sauce and a vibrant green seaweed salad strewn with julienne red capsicum.
Kingfish, the market fish of the day ($29.50), comes with steamed chats in their skins and perfectly al dente green beans. The skin is dark brown and crisp, although softening under the topping of a robust-flavoured salsa verde, which would have been better placed alongside. On the other hand, the flesh, which can be dry if over-cooked, is moist and tasty.
With lamb prices hitting astronomical heights the seared spring lamb fillet must be the bargain ($28) as well as the dish of the night. Served pink and tender right through, the backstrap fillet is sliced on top of a winning combination of roasted, blue-cheese-coated kipfler potatoes with a mound of sautéed silverbeet and a dish of gazpacho of ripe tomato, finely chopped French shallot and charred capsicum to one side.
The dessert selection offers crepes, chocolate mousse, sorbets, chocolate tart and the ubiquitous affogato. But I can't resist the wobbly panna cotta ($12.50), whose ginger and lemongrass infusion lifts it above the ordinary. The slightly limp honey tuile on top is more than compensated for by the intensely perfumed accompanying strawberries and pool of strawberry consommé.
It may not win three stars but for value for money it is "worth a detour", as they say in the Michelin Guide.
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