duke bistro - darlinghurst

duke bistro is a trailblazer of the “dude food” revolution in sydney. dude food is drink-friendly, meaty fare which has evolved out of – and yet far beyond – classic american dishes. it’s a ‘f&$k you’ to the health food movement (because healthy food just ain’t cool) and a fist pound to booze, grease and everything else that mum would never let you eat on weekdays. duke bistro delivers all of this with extra indulgence, making it one of the coolest, most-beloved by yours truly, and an altogether dudacious venue in sydney. 

duke’s ‘hood is darlinghurst, where it chills out above the flinders inn, a pub frequented by eastern suburb hipsters, sporadically tatooed djs, their teeny-bopper groupies and other more made-up babes. you’ve been there too, don’t deny it. and if you thought the flinders was hip, then duke bistro is royally so. the dining space stretches across one side of the inn, with a small bar tucked into the corner. dimmed light bulbs shrouded by red lamp shades hang low over the simple tables, flooding the space with a sultry crimson light. it’s sexy, new, refined and exactly where you want to come with a group of 8 twenty-somethings for a grown up piss up.

trying to secure coolness points by expressing our individuality, each member of our party orders a different cocktail. we can hear the bartenders grinding their teeth as they pour, shake and squeeze each drink, but that doesn’t stop us enjoying the evocatively-named in front of the fire ($18) - rittenhouse rye, herring cherry and cynar and tunneling tijuana ($19) - silver tequila, cointreau, watermelon, jalapeno pepper and agave.

by far the most raved-about duke dish (both by critics and at our table) is the radishes ($15/24).  i was first introduced to this dish late one trashy night out (duke is open till 3am on weekends – booyah!). i was sceptical at first as to how radishes could possibly satiate my booze-fuelled hunger. one mouthful later, i was sold. the fuschia-bright radishes are served submerged in a bowl of luscious dashi-infused, melted butter. the dish is helped by a serving of warmed rolls from victoire bakery in rozelle - perfect for dipping, scooping and otherwise conveying that butter to your mouth as quickly as possible.

if you find that you have left over bread, the soft egg, sweet corn and corn chips is an ideal choice ($12). the soft egg is swimming in a pool of delicious sweet corn. on the side is a bowl of corn kernels (not for eating - noted), which serve as the structural base for the ultra-book-thin corn chips. we break the egg into the sweet corn, and stir it all into a thick cream-coloured dipping sauce which we slather onto the corn chips. tantalising. comforting. dude!

soft egg, sweet corn and corn chips ($15/24)

 i manage to talk the table into ordering the parsnips ($12). i'm keen to see how the kitchen dude-ifies such a decidedly uncool ingredient. the parsnip is thickly shaved and strewn on the plate with radicchio and witlof leaves, and walnuts scattered over the top. but the good stuff is at the bottom. a gooey sauce made from ground chicory and dandelion. it evokes hints of coffee and lends the dish’s flavour profile a pick-me-up.

parsnips, chicory, walnut ($12)

lamb shoulder ($26) is simply presented – a hunk of meat on a plate - allowing the taste and texture of the dish to do the talking. admittedly, the lamb is not cooked as mouth-wateringly as at 4fourteen, but it’s still fall-off-the-bone tender and altogether delicious. the dried olive and rosemary powdered over the top of the lamb are subtly complementary along with the thick, mild goats milk sauce not so generously smeared plate-side. 

smoked pigs tails ($20) is a radicalised take on traditional bier food from deutschland. the meat of the pigs tails is minced and moulded into a phallic cylinder, wrapped in an actual pigs tail (awesome!) and sitting on sauerkraut and pickled onions. it looks like, well, a pig's tail! the flavours are assaulting and delicious, squealing out on my tongue. it has the table oinking about it all night. 

smoked pigs tail, sauerkraut, white beer, mustard ($20)

the final main is the char siu pork neck ($22). char siu is one of the dishes which i insist is impossible to recreate (well) unless you work in haymarket. however, here duke serve up their own (successful) spin on the chinese street food classic. the hefty hunks of pork neck are crisped on the outside (as with traditional char siu), though this cut of meat retains its natural colouring rather than the usual tainting of fluorescent red (though the inside is a perfect rosy pink). it’s served with a brilliantly hued garlic shoot puree and fresh gai lan with garlic shoots and black sesame dressing. 

for dessert the waitress talks us out of our original choices and into milk, milk, milk ($12). if you didn't guess, this dish is milky: dulche de leche caramel, milk panna cotta, meringue and milk crumble. it's an interesting play on textures but in the end everything just tastes like, well... milk.

milk, milk, milk ($12)

 the only dessert of our choosing that survived the waitress’s chopping block is the chestnut mousse, roasted chocolate and whiskey ($12). the rarity of chestnuts on sydney menus is discussed at length and we’re keen to see the way they’re presented here. shaved chestnuts dot the plate around a luscious chestnut mousse. it’s an interesting plate, though i think my palate may need to be exposed to the unique chestnut texture a little more before i fully come around to this one.

  

montenegro ($9)

 the waitress’s second recommendation, and our final dish, is donuts, lemon curd and cream ($12). our server is overly excited to present our donuts in a vintage arnotts biscuit tin. a cute touch. a mason jar full of cream and curd accompanies the tin. we're instructed to "dig deep" to get to the curd on the bottom. the donuts are like soft pillows whose casing has been freshly laundered – crisp and comforting. as i bite through the crunchy covering, the insides dissipate almost instantaneously, like a fleeting dream. the sensation sends giggles around the table. the curd is a god-send in its own right and there are many sticky fingers that are dipped and dipped again.

donuts, lemon curd and cream ($12)

 duke bistro certainly impressed us with its dude-ification of a diverse range of ingredients and classic dishes. every dish was new-age, gut-sticking and totally rad. i tip my flat-brimmed cap to you, illustrious duke! your dude food was just the shtick for this chick!


duke bistro
p: 9332 3180
65 flinders street, darlinghurst
http://www.dukebistro.com.au/