Beckett’s Restaurant in Glebe, Sydney’s Inner West
Set on an historic site in Glebe in Sydney’s Inner West, once home to farm-to-table pioneer, Darling Mills, is now one of Sydney’s most unique fine dining spaces, Beckett’s. The restaurant, brought back to life by a local dentist who invested into repurposing the site into this fabulous restaurant which gives off mid New York classic bistro / Brasserie vibes. The venue also has a sub-terranean private dining space and wine cellar to host intimate, private and group dining experiences.
The dining experience at Beckett’s is elegant,sophisticated and certainly fitting for an upmarket dining experience. The whole experience is well dressed, starting with the entrance; staff at the door are inviting you to come in and show you promptly to your table. As you enter, the senses are abuzz as it is such a special dining space, for there is an in-house pianist adding to the ambience. Taking note of the surroundings; the crisp white clothed tables, velvet curtains and couches, display shelves of crystal spirits and wine bottles, it all oozes class.
Sommeliers are on standby to recommend your wine and the service provided by all waitstaff was impeccable. Their nature, efficiency and explanations of the dishes were what you’d expect from fine dining professional waistaff.
The menu at Becketts is curated by former Bistro Moncur and Bayswater Brasserie Chef Jeff Schroeter who has put together a range of classic European inspired dishes that are prepared to perfection with upmarket bistro elegance.
We enjoyed the Chef’s Journey, a tasting of the favourite key restaurant menu options and the selection was certainly outstanding; opulent, delicious and a highlight of our dining experiences this year. The meals are prepared with a range of premium ingredients and there were multiple standout dishes.
The meal started with a Tuna cevice, fearing a bonito soy and Tomato dressing, a lovely fresh palate cleanser.
Then came scallops and peas in butter with a parmesan crisp. A luscious starter, the beautifully soft, silky sweet translucent flesh of the scallops, combining nicely with the rich buttery parmesan sauce and pop of the peas in each bite.
We were equally impressed with Talmard Chardonnay, pairing perfectly to this dish, with its creamy texture, soft flavours of peach and a slight earthiness.
The next menu item was picked up by the chef from working with French chefs in New York and it was beautifully decadent. Vanilla butter poached Canadian lobster tail with sea urchin was a stellar dish. The lobster was perfectly poached and topped with umami rich sea urchin roe and this was all nicely tied together with the sweetness of the vanilla.
The Fremantle Octopus was prepared the Japanese way, by boiling for 6hrs, then it was charred, providing lovely flavour and a bit of resistance to the bite. This was nicely complemented by the charred eggplant, peppers, ligurian olives and roasted chorizo oil. It looked like a work of art on the plate.
The full blood Wagyu bressaola was a treat, it had a luscious silky texture, the meaty, saltiness from the Bressaola, with the sweetness of the fig, and some crisp texture from the parmesan crisp as well as the elk lettuce providing a slight mustard flavour.
This was paired with the 2019 Granacha Graciano azul v garanza from Navarro Spain, a red with flavours of mixed berries and earthy mineral flavours from the tannins.
The next dish was certainly decadent, the Fois gras delucate. The fois was perfectly prepared, its delicate texture was melt in your mouth and we loved how the richness of this dish was balanced with the sweet acidic flavour of the poached strawberries, which provided the perfect combination and a great contrast and made it feel lighter than it actually was. It was simply stunning in its presentation too.
This was suprisingly served with a white, a late harvest Chenin blank, the sweeter flavours of this wine a great match.
The Escargots en Cocotte, a tasty classic French dish, with the snails baked in a garlic butter, served with grandmas Tomato and sauteed spinach. This version was served like a pot pie and let’s face it, everyone enjoys a pie. A parcel, that needed to be opened to see what’s inside. The dish served this way, made it easier for the diners to eat, less fiddly and delicious. It was certainly impressive.
This was paired with the 2013 cinsault/carignan La Piera Obriers, de la Piera Languedoc, France a beautiful red, with flavours of cherries, currants and star-anise.
Next up was the French onion soup, another classic and always a favourite, the soup had a good mix of sweet and savoury, this is comfort food, served with the obligatory cheesy bread.
This was paired with the 2018 Byrne strathmore vineyard pinot noir. A lovely wine, earthy and meaty on the nose, acidic to start, long lasting mellow notes of strawberries.
The next dish was a standout; the perfectly cooked medium rare Sirloin, MB9+ heritage opal wagyu 400g. This is one of the best steaks we have eaten. Served with a minty herbacious Chimichuri and an amazing truffle sauce, so good, we could have shotted it, but the restaurant was way too classy for that. This came with a side of Potato gratin from the savoy, a big portion, of creamy, cheesy deliciousness.
This part of the meal paired perfectly with the 2019 Sangiovese Arigiano, Ross, Di Montacino, Tuscany Italy. A rich, earthy wine, with dark stone fruit flavours.
The the piece de resistance, especially being a whisky lover, we were very excited by the peated whisky creme brûlée. It featured a rich vanilla flavour, waxy honeycomb and it was beautifully rich and velvety, with plenty of vanilla bean, a touch of smoke and a nice crisp charred shell.
This was paired with an amazing Cognac, the Frapin Fontpino xo cognac superb, with flavours of Vanilla, pear, honey, to drink it was silky, thick syrupy, goodness.
Our experience at Beckett’s was exceptional in every way. It has to be one of Sydney’s most amazing dining spaces, impeccable service and the cuisine was superb, a great mix of classic French with some welcome innovation. This was our dining highlight of the year thus far. We couldn’t recommend it more highly and urge you to book for your next special dinner.
Becketts
134A Glebe Point Road
https://www.beckettsbardining.com.au
Thewhereto were hosted by @beckettsglebe @foodbloggerssydney and @spooningaust