The brief: to find a quietish (as in not a rackety din) restaurant, within 20 minutes of where we all live that allows for BYO wine and with mains $30 and under. We had exhausted my list so I went a hunting and asked friends. Some that live in Balmain (dubbed the Insular Peninsula) suggested their local favourite, Bistro Bruno.
Bellini $14
Queen Viv, Miss America, Mr NQN and I settle into our table at Bistro Bruno. Miss America hails the call for a bellini, the special drink of the day and lies back and takes a sip. “Excellent” he says. We dither over the menu until we come up with a suitable combination of goodies.
Linguine pasta tossed with sauteed prawns, chilli, chorizo, flat leaf parsley, olives and garnished with“al forno” garlic breadcrumbs, entree size $19
This seafood linguine was lovely with gutsy flavours from the seafood, olives, chorizo and strong in garlic with nice crunchy breadcrumbs that stayed crunchy until the very end. There were four prawns and a big handful of sliced chorizo which I was pleased and greedily eager to see.
Salted duck and pink lady apple arancino served with red cabbage and cafe au lait sauce. $17
The responses for this arancino ball were mixed. Queen Viv loved this dish and Miss America liked it but felt that the duck flavour was masked with the cafe au lait sauce. The arancini comes as one quenelle with the crunchy risotto rice and another quenelle of red cabbage. I didn’t get to try much of this.
De constructed quail Pan roasted breast, confit leg, and chipolata served with etuvee of leek, potato latke, quince glaze and jus.$18
Etuvée is cooking vegetables in their own juices after cooking them in a little oil and they are soft and flavoursome and shaped like a latke (potato pancake). There are three pieces of quail here: a pan roasted bread, the confit leg and a short fat chipolata sausage. I particularly enjoyed the confit leg and pan roasted breast as it was soft and juicy. The sausage has a slightly gamey flavour to it.
Mille feuille of crab brandade with a radish and baby leaf salad, ratatouille dressing $18
Queen Viv’s mille feuille comes with a very thin crisp pastry and brandade, which is a paste made of bread, oil and usually done with salt cod is done here instead with crab. We find the flavour of the crab a little lost in the brandade -salt cos is a more robust match to it whereas the resulting flavour is a bit more like mashed potato.
Fish of the day pan roasted, served on saffron mussel risotto with warm pepperonata, smoked garlic and dill aioli. Market Price $32
My warehou fillet comes out pan roasted served on a rich saffron mussel risotto, strips of pepperonata and a lovely green shaded smoked garlic and dill aioli. It is and enormous dish, the fish beautifully and simply cooked with much of the flavour action happening underneath in the rich risotto which is heady in seafood stock and mussel and the flavoursome aioli and pepperonata.
Fettuccine pasta tossed with sauteed forest mushrooms, pancetta and bound in a parmesan egg yolk sauce $25
However I’m completely in love with Miss America’s mushroom and pancetta fettucine. It comes with an egg yolk which is broken and swirled through the pasta carbonara style. I spy some chestnut and oyster mushrooms among others and a generous amount of pancetta. The whole dish brings out the best flavour of the mushrooms and I swap my main for his.
Grilled beef tenderloin on smoked tomato relish with a saute of green peas and speck, potato puree $30
Mr NQN’s order of a medium rare tenderloin comes out perfectly cooked. The tenderloin is as the name suggests a tender cut. It comes with an intriguing smoked tomato relish and we like that the accompaniments are a little different that the usual.
French Fries $7
Sauteed Boy Choy $7
Chilli and lime brulee served with coconut ice cream$14.50
Queen Viv hones in on this brulee as she loves brulees. After a satisfying crack the brulee underneath is smooth and silky and with a beautifully strong lime zest aroma although we don’t get much chilli. It is served on a smooth and lovely coconut ice cream on shards of toasted coconut.
Belgium chocolate mousse laced with French meringue, nougatine, mirrored on creme anglaise $14
Perhaps not the most photogenic dish, it is a generous amount of Belgian chocolate mousse. I didn’t find any meringue but there were some scatterings of nougatine on top and it sat on a pool of creme anglaise. The mousse was light and airy and a fitting end to our meal.
So tell me dear Reader, is BYO a big consideration when you dine out?
Bistro Bruno
3 Beattie Street, Balmain NSW
Tel: +61 (02) 9810 7707
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33 Comments | Add your own
This IS a nice find, and not too far from home for us too. Thanks Lorraine!
I don’t drink so yeah.
I’d be happy with just the Belgian chocolate mousse I think. LOVE my chocolate!!!
Not for me as I drink very rarely, but my husband loves BYO.
BYO a consideration? All depends who I’m dining with, if its with my wine snob buddies…, definatly!!
Bistro Bruno sounds great too.
I can’t help reading “Bruno”, thinking “Borat”, then picturing a mankini. Heaven forbid! Would much prefer to focus on that chili lime brulee…
BYO certainly makes a meal more affordable and it is something that is sadly lacking in London in comparison to Australia
I could not go past the salted duck! Or prawn pasta, great value for money
I have to laugh about the order of french fries. I think that in USA, we don’t have french fries in restaurants that serve this type of food. And, is Miss America a he? Your outings must be so much fun.
I do like a BYO restaurant. I wouldn’t call myself stingy but I’m not all that happy to pay such crazy prices for a bottle of wine I know I could have bought myself for half the price!
Looks terrific and very reasonably priced, too!
Oh wow.. so many duck dishes! Apart from that bok choy, everything else looks amazing!
Oh that pasta looks sublime.
BYO isn’t a big consideration really, because often you go somewhere on the spur of the moment, and can’t be bothered having to stop for wine or whatever. Also I find that many restaurants charge a lot for corkage etc, so it’s easier just to trust they have a decent drinks list to complement the menu.
Fantastic find, the Mille feuille of crab, fettuccine and the brulee look tantalisingly good. Smashing post will have to take a look at Bruno’s sometime soon. There is also a really nice authentic French place in nearby Rozelle, La Grande Bouffe that I recently visited.
Yes, we always have a good supply of wine at home and hate paying triple at the restaurant.
What an interesting dish of the arancino. I love how crisp the outer looks and am very curious about those flavours.
BYO tends not to be a big issue for me to be honest I rarely consider it.
The seafood dish looks fantastic. I don’t drink much, so usually just have a house wine by the glass. My BigJ wishes he could use BYO for cider, but we haven’t found anywhere that will let us, most places just sell beer but still won’t let him get his little bottle of cider out of the brown paper bag!
the choc mousse looks divine!
Beautiful meal. Wow. Love these photo journey’s. Thanks for sharing.
Oooh, yummy eats, Lorraine! Your fish looks fantastic, as does the mushroom fettucine and Mr NQN’s beef. Cooked to perfection!
Yum! Forest mushrooms…. mmm.
Who needs BYO when I can kick back with a bellini like that?
Insular Peninsula – I would have to say that is def the Northern Beaches
BYO is great as can bring what I feel like drinking and at a generally cheaper price.
Bistro Bruno is a consistently good restaurant, and the staff are really nice. And us Balmainites are not as insular as those on the southern peninsula (Sutherland shire)!
I do think BYO is a lovely thing – it does make eating out more affordable. Often though the cost of corkage per person negates the BYO savings, sigh……..
The mushroom and pancetta pasta looks amazing – I wanted to lick the screen upon seeing it!
For a casual night out BYO is definitely a big Plus for me as we seem to keep stashing away wine so need the excuse of a night out (rather than in) to drink it! Am near the Insular Peninsula so might just try this one – thanks.
I love a good creamy mushroom pasta & that one looks delicious, I would have swapped too
The chocolate mousse sounds great too.
BYO doesn’t often bother me. I’m not a big drinker so generally if I order wine it’s by the glass
Mmm the fettucine and the coconut icecream have my attention!
I generally prefer BYO. Wine lists are usually quite expensive, and I don’t like paying the big markups. I’d rather take a good wine from home!
Some interesting dishes . If we dine locally and it’s BYO we take our own bottle of wine but for somewhere classy , No.
I raced down to the bottom of the post, feasted my eyes on the Belgian Mousse, and then backtracked! You sure know how to tempt, you wicked lady…mmmm!!
Oh not too far from home! Must remember this next for next time we’re ‘in the area’.
Yum that mousse looks delicious. We definitely like BYO restaurants, and luckily in Canberra most of the restaurants are BYO.
It’s especially good when you have great wine at home that you need to have with a great meal.
fantastic find! I’ll add it to my “to try” list
oh and nice use of the term latke!
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