East Village Hotel
Walking through the streets of Darlinghurst it is hard to believe this trendy suburb was once filled with razor carrying gangs, bloody street fights and buzzing brothels. In the heart of ‘Razorhurst’ was the Tradesmans Arms or as we now know it, The East Village Hotel, the latest destination for Secret Foodies.
The Village may look like a sophisticated and relaxed place for a Friday night dinner but almost a century ago it was a bloodhouse and brothel run by “the most ruthless woman in Sydney”, Matilda (Tilley) Devine.
Now decorated in sleek, sexy décor and frequented by friendly, eastern suburbs locals The Village was once home to clientele including prostitutes, pimps, pickpockets, muggers, bookies and drug dealers. Luckily none of whom joined us for dinner. Though with 42 guests and the largest Secret Foodies ever, anything was possible!
Upon arrival guests were not met with razor gangs but a delightful cocktail with ingredients including Kettle One vodka, guava juice and rose water created especially for the event and named the Kettle Rose.
After a quick introduction it was time to begin the three-course meal.
Entrees
For entrée the first dish was organic scotch egg, black pudding, porkrillette cakeand whisky hollandaise. This dish caused quite a stir, one guest squealed with excitement over the flavours of her egg while another guest squealed as hers exploded into her lap!
According to Head Chef, Adam Spencer there is always one person that gets an exploding egg. A drink in hand our egg coated guest said it was the highlight of her night!
Those who weren’t dodging eggs were eating butternut pumpkin gnocchi with salsa verde and burnt butter. This flavoursome dish left us all delightfully anticipating the main course.
Mains
Mains arrived soon after with the roast blue eye trevella with charred corn mousse, braised shallot and pork crackling and the Char grilled Stockyard rib eye, roasted bone marrow and horseradish ketchup. I had the fish though tried the meat dish and was left guarding my breath all night from the powerful horseradish.
My fish was perfectly cooked and I enjoyed every mouthful. The pork crackling on top was an unusual finish. Certainly different, though I don’t think it added to the dish in any way.
Deserts
The desert was incredible. Adams experimentation with flavours is commendable. Mixing popcorn, peanut butter and caramelized banana together to create a trifle was delicious. As was the warm sticky toffee chocolate brownie, date puree and creme fraiche sorbet.
Adam Spencer
After desert Adam Spencer joined our guests to answer our foodie-fuelled questions.
Adam Spencer started his career at the Savoy in London at 18, he has worked in 5 star boutique hotels and was previously at the Australian Youth Hotel in Glebe. He describes his cooking style as simple, rustic gastro pub food served with finess. He uses fresh produce and is not one for fancy exploits.
I thought the food at The Village Hotel was delicious and they had a good selection of wine to match. Adam was delightful so were the undercover foodies.
But enough about what I think lets see what our foodies had to say…
xxMs Darlinghurst
234 Palmer St
Darlinghurst
NSW 2010
Phone: (02) 9331 5457
Category: All Restaurants, East
A great setup and delicious food. The highlight was definitely meeting so many new people at this foodie event… closely followed by the truffle oil chips!
Great venue, loved the room – the most amazing perspective of the city scape.
The food was nice and simple but fabulously cooked. Small portions, large plates – very elegant. The deserts were very inventive. The fish was my highlight – perfectly cooked, although I was a little turned off requesting a pescatarian meal and seeing pork crackling on my plate. Great evening though with a great bunch of people.
It was everything i thought it’d be. Relaxed, great set-up and great food. Had to bail before dessert as the afternoon was filled with farewell drinks for a collegue and ordering a bottle of wine seemed to make the time between courses feel longer than they were. I loved the beef but in hindsight i should’ve let the other guy win the ‘i want the beef fight’ as it sounds like the fish was the winner on the night. Can’t wait for the next one. Thanks again to @msdarlinghurst
I too have eaten at The Village and what an experience it was. Relaxing atmosphere meets five star dining without the snobbery, mixed with attentive service and a ridiculously amazing cocktail list.
I will definitely be back there for their Friday night roof top experience… I hear its one not to be missed…
I have to admit, I was immediately concerned by the ‘alternate’ drop of the two menus and of course I ended up receiving the dishes I wouldn’t have ordered for every course – however, I was pleasantly surprised by all of them!
I tried (and enjoyed) black pudding for the first time and absolutely loved the addition of crackling to the fish. I was a bit disappointed by the last course as I wasn’t sure the brownie and the sorbet went together but they were both delicious on their own.
We ended the evening in the bar downstairs which had a lovely atmosphere and more great wine – highly recommend. Another magnificent evening thanks to Miss Darlinghurst! Such a pleasure to meet new people who love food as much as I do!
The venue was perfect for a gold winter’s night. The staff were very friendly and my favourite dish had to be the ice cream with peanut butter, banana & toffee popcorn.
I really loved the concept of Secret Foodies, and was not disappointed! I didn’t swap my dishes, I had whatever landed in front of me and was very impressed, especially the main, trevalla with corn mousse really caught my attention. The dessert was awesome both visually and to devour!
I quite enjoyed the chat with the chef, that made the evening quite special.
Great food, great venue, and great company, two thumbs up from me!
Great night had by all. Fantastic vibe, exceptional food and the company was sublime. An absolute MUST DO if you want to stretch your comfort zone and meet some new & interesting people. We’re hooked !
I WENT TO TE VILLAGE TODAY AGAIN FOR LUNCH AND THE NEW MENU DOES NOT DISAPPOINT..THE ONLY BAD THING WAS THERE WERE TOO MANY GOOD DISHES TO CHOOSE FROM… I RECOMMEND THE BABY CHICKEN TAGINE…SOOOOOOOOOOO AMAZING..THANKS ADAM (THE CHEF) FOR A GREAT LUNCH