Just Opened: Linla, Darlinghurst

Linla is a brand new Taiwanese bar and restaurant serving fun dishes and clever cocktails. Find out what to order (and what not to miss) at this busy Bourke Street spot in Darlinghurst!

It's Saturday night when Mr NQN and I arrive at Linla on Bourke street in Darlinghurst. Linla is a brand new Taiwanese restaurant and bar that takes up space where Dead Ringer sat for many years. It's early days yet, but it is proving very popular with crowds, as we watch many people being turned away all night long because they don't have bookings.

The owner of Linla is Taiwan born Sydney restaurateur Charles Chang who is also behind Moku in Darlinghurst. Linla is the Taiwanese word for "Cheers" or "Bottoms up". The Head Chef is Montien Thipwongsa.

We are seated in the outdoor terrace under the heaters on this cool Autumn evening. The food here is fun and is inspired by Taiwanese food, particularly the kind that you get at night markets in Taiwan whether it be shaken Taiwanese fried chicken or black pepper buns. There is also a really well priced set menu at $66 a person. We end up going a la carte because some of the dishes I really wanted to try weren't on the set menu.

Cocktails are a big thing at Linla as Charles is a mixologist and former Top 100 finalist in the Diageo World Class Competition. Currently, they sell around 300 cocktails a night and they are creative with a culinary approach to them. We try the Pine & Bloom cocktail with pineapple mead, elderflower, dry vermouth and MSG saline which Mr NQN absolutely loves because he loves mead. The MSG saline is addded in tiny amounts to bring out the flavour of the pineapple and floral notes.

I see lots of the MI-Bubble bubble tea cocktail going out so I order one and it's basically like a delicious boba tea but with aged rum, earl grey, English breakfast tea, black sugar, milk, Milo and tapioca pearls. This cocktail was featured in Red Book as a must-order and became so popular that they often sold out. Not wanting to disappoint people, they've employed somebody to make sure that there is enough fresh boba to meet demand.

Also for non drinkers there are a range of sparkling teas that are really refreshing. They come in different tea varietals with a light effervescent quality and they're also not very sweet at all so they have an appealing dryness to them which goes well with food.

Our first bite is the beef tartare on a shallot pancake, which is hand-cut chunks of M6 Wagyu eye of round beef with soy sauce, white pepper and yuzu olive oil and a golden daikon pickle, which is strong and bold, on top of a quartered shallot pancake. Although we love the flavours, the only thing I would say is that I would have loved the pancake to be hot and crispy, whereas it's actually a bit on the colder side.

My favourite bites are the pork and prawn dumplings that come as four sizeable dumplings in a tom yum beurre blanc sauce with chilli and makrut lime oil that you simply have to drink to finish every drop of.

We also try the black pepper dumplings that are pan-fried and piping hot with a coating of white sesame seeds. The pork is combined with eschallots and plenty of black and these are best dipped in the black vinegar-perfect for a chilly Autumn evening.

We also love the idea and execution of the sticky rice arancini balls studded with Taiwanese pork sausage, house made salted radish, pickled cucumber and sitting in a pool of garlic soy glaze.

One of the must orders is the Taiwanese night market fried chicken that comes with Szechuan salt, garlic chips and crispy deep fried basil with a pot of confit garlic mayonnaise on the side. The idea is that you put all the chicken and the seasonings in the bag and shake it up well. We just need to add a little bit of salt and pepper to finish it off, and we dunk each piece in the mayonnaise for a satisfying hit of juicy, crunchy chicken.

The XO calamari and mushroom fettuccine is all about rich, gutsy flavours from shrimp paste and chilli jam with the addition of cream cheese to give the sauce a creaminess to balance the strong XO sauce.

The item that features in a lot of photos of Linla is the Fairy Bread Bao with vanilla ice cream nestled in a soft steamed bun and dipped in hundreds of thousands. Whilst this is great for the 'gram, make sure you do not miss the other dessert.

The miso dulce de leche is much more complex and interesting. With kinako (roasted soybean flour) honeycomb, miso dulce de leche, chocolate cremeux, and calamansi jelly squares this is creamy, jelly and crunchy in each bite, with a wonderful range of textures and flavours.

So tell me Dear Reader, have you tried much Taiwanese food? What do you think of the cocktails and food here?

NQN and Mr NQN were guests of Linla but all opinions remain her own.

Linla

413 Bourke St, Surry Hills NSW 2010

Phone: (02) 3820 5694

Tuesday to Saturday 5:30 pm–12 am

Closed Sunday and Monday

www.linla.com.au