My friend and I (V) tried Hideaway, situated on Plimmer Steps. The name of the restaurant and bar really does suit the name as it is a bit of a hideaway from Lambton Quay and the interior has no windows and you have no idea what is going on outside. The interior is nicely presented with enough light. It does remind me of an old skool NZ bar mixed with a dinner/restaurant. The reason is due to the high tables placed in the middle of the room near the bar that if you look at it, you feel you are at a bar. There are a few private booths you can use if you are wanting a private dining experience. However, as there are no walls concealing sound, I am not sure if the people sitting behind you can hear your conversation.
In terms of the service, I am not entirely convinced they have the best people on the floor. The reason I say so, as V and I arrived at 5.20 and weren’t entirely ready to eat dinner. So we ordered drinks and asked for some treble cooked fries, the waitress then repeated the order back to us. However, our drinks arrived and our fries did not. While we were waiting for our fries we then order our food, thinking our fries would come first. However, they did not arrive and we got our food instead. After we finished our meals I asked about the fries and the waitress had no idea that we ordered them.
So lets talk about the food. I ordered the “Down & Dirty” Cheese Burger and a Mac & Cheese for my side and V ordered the Fried Chicken and also the Mac & Cheese. The food arrived in a timely manner (although we thought we were getting the fries first). The burger was wrapped in paper, the Fried Chicken was nicely presented and the mac & cheese look good.
Down & Dirty Cheese Burger
A very nicely wrapped burger. The brioche bun was very nice, however, the bun was not grilled and in turn the sauces were soaked up by the bun. The patty had good flavour, but the patty was over grilled and the patty was slightly crispy and had a slight burnt flavour. No pink meat here! The cheese was very nice and due to the patty being over-cooked for my liking the cheese had totally melted onto the patty. The burger had a good amount of onions and gherkins. There was tomato sauce in the burger and there was a Big Mac like sauce that had soaked into the bun. Overall it was an alight burger, but there are better ones at Bresolin and Five Boroughs.
Fried Chicken
Was very nice and tasty. It was really well cooked and was very moist, that if you bit into it juices would fall out. It was well seasoned and well fried. When I did get to try the chicken it was more on the cold side. However, the skin was still very crunchy and was not even a bit soggy. The dish also was meant to have habanero dressing. However, there was none on our plate.
Mac & Cheese
This was a very nice interpretation on a Mac & Cheese. It uses three different cheeses; raclette, taleggio, and gruyere and beer. When I originally tasted it I could not taste the beer, but eventually I did taste it and it was very subtle but nice. The pasta, was not macaroni, but large penne and was cook el- dente. There was grilled crisp grated cheese on top that gave the dish a bit of texture. Overall very nice.
V wanted dessert and she ordered the cookies and milk, me I did not, but was convinced by V and the waitress that i should try the pecan pie. The dessert arrived and it was crazy!
Pecan Pie
This interpretation of this famous american pie was “sick”! It was so nice but it is a diabetic nightmare. The pie itself was unbelievable. It had lots of pecans on top in a caramel sauce, in the middle was the base and the bottom was this extra firm caramel like substance. Added on top of that was a big piece of hokey pokey and there was white chocolate snow added on top with more pecans. There also was a sauce which was like a caramel sauce but slightly sour in taste. Overall the dish was the best pecan pie I have ever had. However, I was grateful that V gave me her milk.
Milk and Cookies
A classic american dish. The cookies were double chocolate with walnuts. Was very nice as the cookies were warm and freshly baked, but I would not classify this as a dessert for a restaurant or dinner.
Overall this place is good. Good for parties and does have a good lunch menu. It is a good alternative to Bresolin and Five Boroughs, which are all open within a month of each other and serve very similar food. The question is, will it survive. Honestly I am not sure. There were quite a few people there for dinner and drinks on a Tuesday night. Will be interesting if the suits will make this place their local.
Trencherman's Travels 