Riley St. Garage is a sleek, modern “garage” in Woolloomooloo, Sydney, serving hip Australian food. The restaurant had a smart casual vibe, with a giant bar in the middle of the restaurant. It was very dimly lit with a soothing ambience.
There was a lot of cocktails on the menu and we had a great time dining here, if ya know what I mean 🤪. Here’s what we ate…
There was a lot of cocktails on the menu and we had a great time dining here, if ya know what I mean 🤪. Here’s what we ate…
entrée
To start, we had a dozen oysters. The flavours were natural, the smokey soy truffle and the mignonette. We had one of each and we all voted on the smokey soy truffle as our favourite oyster. The scent hit really strong and the oyster tasted like a creamy truffle, mmmmm 🦪. It was a very unique take on a classic starter! The oysters were all very fresh in its chilled shells.
This was the grilled Japanese sweet corn, shichimi, with shiso butter. It tasted like a pastry. The outer batter was thin and crispy, and not too oily. The filling was a rich, creamy sweetness (from the corn and butter) with a mild savoury aftertaste (thanks to the shiso paste). It was a really nice side dish.
This was the spicy tuna maki, takuan, scallion, tenkatsu. Maki is a Japanese style of cutting fish into bite-sized pieces. The tuna was fatty, fresh and well seasoned. It was not that spicy, just had a little kick, perfect for my basic tolerance. The tenktasu and the fried takuan (pickled daikon radish) added a crunchy depth to the bite, enhancing the tuna flavour.
This was the crabmeat, taco, avocado, aji Amarillo, tobiko. It was really innovative and delicious. The fresh and creamy seafood, with the crunchy taco shell, was fun to chew. The buttery texture of the avocado brought everything together. We loved the seafood take on a classic Mexican-inspired dish.
We got some crispy fried calamari, with chilli garlic mayo as a side dish. It was a thin layer of batter, well-cooked calamari with bouncy texture and a creamy sauce that satisfied our taste buds. It was very good and simple.
main course
This was beef skewers, pepper in red wine teriyaki. The egg yolk was a beautiful golden colour. Its runny texture added a creaminess to the beef balls. The teriyaki brought a subtle sweetness to meat. We kept wanting to double dip our beef back into the sauce 🤤. The beef was tender, juicy and savoury. If we go back, we would definitely order this again.
This was half a kg or 600g of lamb shoulder, with barley miso and garlic labneh $44. Cooked medium-rare, the pieces were tender and melted in our mouths. The stench of lamb was lingering but it was not too overwhelming. The miso and garlic paste paired really well with the meaty texture. This would be a great dish to get for a large dinner group because the four of us just finished it 🤣.
This was two types of seasonal mushroom, wafu teriyaki, puffed rice​. I don’t eat mushrooms lol but Mick said it was really good, savoury and well seasoned. It came in a stone pot so every bite tasted as hot and delicious as the first one.
service
The service was great. Nothing else to comment there.
review
Overall, we enjoyed our dining experience at Riley St. Garage. Like we said, there was a soothing ambience, making this restaurant a perfect dinner spot for a date or a large group of friends.
The only downside is the parking. The restaurant is located around the corner from a major Sydney street so if there was an event or a crazy weekend on, parking might be difficult.
But the main thing is the food was delicious. On their google page, it does say they serve mainly “Australian food” but from the menu, and from what we chose, it felt heavily inspired by Japanese cuisine. We loved it, regardless, and we would come back to dine again.
​Thanks for reading! Happy eating 🤤
The only downside is the parking. The restaurant is located around the corner from a major Sydney street so if there was an event or a crazy weekend on, parking might be difficult.
But the main thing is the food was delicious. On their google page, it does say they serve mainly “Australian food” but from the menu, and from what we chose, it felt heavily inspired by Japanese cuisine. We loved it, regardless, and we would come back to dine again.
​Thanks for reading! Happy eating 🤤
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Wow, superb weblog layout! How long have you ever been running a blog for? you make blogging look easy. The whole glance of your web site is great, let alone the content material!!