The Heritage Room by Rovollo Sydney Restaurant Review

The Heritage Room is the newest restaurant by Rovollo restaurant. Located right next to Rovollo at 25 Martin Place in the middle of Sydney's CBD, Heritage Room by Rovollo is a 50 seater wine bar with snacks as well as substantial dishes. Plus their signature dish, a delicious schiacciata sandwich with two types of fillings.

Stepping inside The Heritage Room is like being transported to a romantic little wine bar in Italy. There's a retro feel with fluted wooden tables, tapestry backed Bentwood chairs, archways in burnt sienna and glowing lights that resemble draped tablecloths. This is combined with deferential service, an in house sommelier and a Tuscan inspired menu. Esper Group's Executive Chef Cami Feliciano pops her head out from the kitchen to say hello.

Being a wine bar, Heritage Room's wine list spans almost 250 labels including rare old world wines. They also have a happy hour from 4pm - 6pm Tuesday to Saturday with $4 oysters, $25 charcuterie boards and $12 spritzes, negronis and glasses of wine.

We start with cocktails. My choice, the Strawberry Boulevardier, is rich and intense with Cacao Bourbon, bitter orange, strawberry Lambrusco syrup and PX Sherry while Mr NQN's Lime Leaf Gimlet has fresh and tangy flavours made with lime leaf gin, lime marmalade cordial and fresh lime.

Our first dish is a kingfish crudo with passionfruit, mango and chilli which has a burst of summer in every bite. The fruit really brightens and sweetens up the kingfish to make it more luscious. Suddenly I want to add passionfruit and mango to everything.

We also order some salumi: the wagyu cecina and lonza (cured pork loin). The wagyu cecina is meltingly soft and silky with paintbrush streaks of fat while the lonza is edged with fat and a milder choice than prosciutto.

To this we add the Pecorino Toscano. This is a fantastic combination of flavours and the cheese is served with breadsticks, muscatel grapes and honeycomb.

The crisp pickled peach, which looks like a large green olive, really brings all of these elements together to give you a salty, rich, creamy and piquant sensation in every bite.

The next item is probably the signature dish at The Heritage Room: it's a sandwich filled with their 8 hour Chianti braised short rib on the house made schiacciata bread charred over embers. It comes with potato chips dusted with grated pecorino and two sauces: a Tuscan fonduta with sweet sun-dried tomatoes and salsa verde. The crispy soft bread holds up perfectly to the meltingly soft braised short rib. The two sauces, one herby and one sweet, help to balance the richness of the short rib. We each eat our halves murmuring with satisfaction. There is also another filling for the schiacciata bread of flame-kissed mortadella, stracciatella, roasted tomato and arugula or rocket.

Then comes the wild boar ragu on torn green cavolo nero or Tuscan kale lasagne sheets with a generous sprinkling of pecorino Toscano. The ragu is smoky so this adds to the richness of the dish. This is a dish for the depths of winter or for spring days that turn inclement.

My main is for spring time. It’s a 150g/5oz swordfish steak that is chargrilled and served in a brown butter sauce and tiny, peppercorn sized liliput capers with half of a juicy, charred lemon on the side. That squeeze of fresh lemon juice combined with the brown butter makes the most divine sauce that seasons the swordfish perfectly.

To pair with the mains we have the orange and purple Dutch carrots with chives and butter. I also dip the carrots into the sauce of the swordfish.

There are two desserts on the menu: the tiramisu and the sfoglia which we choose. This is a very pretty dish that comes in three parts on a tray. It starts with puff pastry with an almond filling shaped in a flower with petals made out of sliced strawberries. On the side is an elderflower & Vin Santo consommé with finely diced strawberries. You tip this over, scoop out a petal and pair it with the yogurty charred lemon gelato. It's a light, fruity dessert and perfect to end the meal on.

So tell me Dear Reader, do you prefer ordering snacks at a wine bar or having a full meal? And what is your favourite wine bar snack?