The Victoria Room, Darlinghurst, NSW 26/06/10

My latest trip to Sydney led to a "Grown up Girls" dinner where some friends from high school and I dressed up to the 7s (there is always room for improvement) and headed out for a night of good food, good cocktails and good laughs.

I'd perused the website for The Victoria Room and was impressed by the menu but the ambiance of the place is amazing too. Antique furniture, lamps, beaded curtains, dimmed lights - even with a crowded bar it seemed intimate and private for our girls night out. They don't take reservations - so get in early but when we arrived after 7pm we had no troubles getting a table. Our first task - trolling through the mammoth cocktail list to settle on our first beverage of the evening.

I settled on The Sugar Daddy ".... This is for those who prefer to take their alcohol masked with fruit and juice. Refreshing and light, who wouldn’t want a sugar daddy? Russian Standard Original Vodka shaken with Peach Liqueur, fresh mint, sugar cane and lime juices..."
With the added bonus it was fun to order.



Meals at The Victoria Room are Mediterranean inspired and designed to share. While enjoying our cocktails and perusing the menu we started with a Mezze plate "...Roast capsicum & white anchovie salad, labneh, marinated eggplant,grilled artichoke, kalamata olives, prosciutto & warm pide

The mains were harder to decide on but we settled on the following (to share as prescribed by the menu)

Cypriot style lamb cutlets with gremolata served on oven roasted polenta
Spicy Moroccan style meatballs
Fried haloumi, oven-roasted tomato, asparagus & basil salad
Roast baby chat potato crush with a rosemary & parsley butter

and one of the specials of the evening

Angus Beef on a bed of crushed cannelini beans and a red wine reduction




You'd think we three delicate young ladies would have been full to the brim by the time we'd consumed those treats - but the allure of the dessert menu drew us back in fast.

Lu went for her favourite all time dessert and it proved to be a great choice.

Rich Apple Tarte tatin with double cream





Richele chose a chocolaty treat in

Chocolate & Hazelnut Mousse


I went for something off the specials menu and a twist on an old favourite

Sticky Date and walnut pudding with creme fraiche




Needless to say we walked away from the table - full and happy. The food was sensational, the setting enjoyable, the only let down was the lacklustre service - but I'd still go back again... and again....