The Oaks Hotel in Netural Bay is an iconic pub and known for its great atmosphere, food, drink and of course the famous oak tree.
It is one of our favourite venues. We’ve been to so many events here, Shakespeare in the pub, cocktail and gin Masterclasses, whisky tastings and wine blending. We always find them to be of great value and love the variety that the venue offers.
The Oaks has opened a new dining centre; Alala’s bar and eatery offering ala carte and a weekend bottomless brunch.
The newly renovated space sees the old sports bar converted into a stunning space with some amazing artworks to bring colour to the light white, wood and sandstone tones.
A chic bar stocked with all the quality spirits is great for a cocktail or two and they certainly have a good cocktail list.
They are now offering a bottomless brunch in addition to their ala carte menu. The Bottomless Brunch is held every Sunday from 12pm-2pm and what could be a better day spent!
For $65 pp, enjoy a shared banquet with your choice of flowing Rose or White Wine. Staff regularly top up your wine and also remind you when it’s ten minutes before the end of service. The wine was quality and our dining party especially enjoyed the NZ Anthony Joseph Vidal Sauvignon Blanc.
For an extra $5, you can also include Mimosas or Prosecco and the Mimosas are the perfect brunch accompaniment.
The shared menu, designed and prepared by Chef Julian is outstanding and perfect for a brunch. It begins with large juicy house marinated Toolunka Creek Olives and Jamon Croquettas with mojo rolo.
These croquettes were amazing – a crispy exterior with a fluffy and cheesy filling with a good flavour and pieces of jamon. We could’ve eaten a few of these!
We then had the amazing scallops served on the shell with a chorizo spice, finger lime and lobster oil. We can see why these are also among the best sellers on the ala carte menu.
Followed up the more substantial plates – a shared plate with individual tartines of two flavours. One, the Pumpkin Hummus with lightly grilled zucchini, almonds, piment d’esplette tartine.
The other was topped with a pea purée, asparagus, baked ricotta and seasoned with lemon Myrtle. Amongst our group, we were split down the middle as to which we liked the most. That’s a good thing as we certainly enjoyed both!
Whilst we wouldn’t normally comment on a bowl of fries, these demand discussion. The fries were honestly the best I’ve had. Crispy and topped with the tastiest celery salt (who would’ve thought! And we don’t even normally like celery) and served with an aioli for the dipping sauce.
There was certainly plenty of food but our group wanted to try some of the ala carte options and we absolutely loved the bresaola and baked Camembert. That stringy hot cheese is mopped up with the crispy bread. We throughly recommend checking out this menu too.
It wouldn’t be a meal without dessert and we love that there’s two options:
⁃ Chocolate crumpet with Pepe saya maple butter, banana and cocoa nibs. The crumpet is like a pudding and presented beautifully with the artistic arrangement.
⁃ there’s also the original crumpet topped with coconut sorbet, macerated strawberries and this one is suitable for vegan diners.
We had an extra dish amongst the group – poached pear, a strong aniseed flavour and the fruit was perfectly poached.
We can’t recommend Alala’s more highly and love that the weekend brunch has some beautiful food to share and accompanied by bottomless wine. Such a great concept and the perfect place to catch up with friends.
Our hostess Ashleigh was outstanding – friendly, efficient, competent and we felt so welcome. She’s certainly a great addition to their staffing team.
With a minimum of 4 guests and a maximum of 10, be sure to gather together an appropriate group and book now.
To book your table (min 4 -10 people)
https://obee.com.au/alalasbareatery/https://obee.com.au/alalasbareatery/
Note ** all dietary requirements are catered for
118 Military Road
Neutral Bay NSW