Rainford Street Social, Surry Hills

Last week we had the pleasure of attending a media event at Rainford Street Social thanks to an invitation from Jessie at Cav Con PR. Rainford Street Social is run by the same owners as those at the famous Toko Restaurant just one block up the road, they’ve done a good job at creating a bistro or small family restaurant and I loved the great interior decor and the emphasis on shared meals for the menu. The focus of this particular event was the launch of a new winter menu which was showcased on the night.

One of our first entrees was the Sweet Pea & Jamon broth with slow cooked egg (above). I absolutely loved the slow cooked egg as did Miss K, I found it was cooked perfectly but I found the soup surrounding it to be a little too sweet and watery for my own taste, Miss K on the other hand loved the whole dish and finished it before I even got half way through it!

The first dish of the night was a single mini meatball slider with melted swiss cheese, the meatballs (beef I believe) seem to be a signature dish of sorts and I really liked the flavour and texture of it. It was a good start since we were hungry and was served very promptly when everyone had arrived and taken their seats.

We’re not very big wine drinkers but I actually liked this Chardonnay quite a bit – unfortunately I didn’t catch the name of it, Miss K isn’t normally a fan of wine at all but ended up drinking more than usual!

I’m sure you’ve realised by now that this was no ordinary meal, this was another entree that was served as part of the tasting menu. They sure kept us fed that night, a lot of people were worried they wouldn’t be able to finish it all (not a bad thing)! I’m actually quite a fan of these meatballs and loved the tomato fondue and melted swiss cheese served on top so I was happy when I saw them being served again.

Our first main of the night was a vegetable lasagna, this was actually my favourite dish of the night because of how amazing the filling was despite having no meat. I’m normally not a fan of vegetarian meals but this was delicious, the filling included tomato, eggplant, cheese and bechamel baked in layers of lasagna sheets.

Miss K is a big fan of duck confit, she was pretty excited to see this on the menu as was I. The duck confit was very tender and full of flavours (as expected from a confit dish) which combined well together without being overpowering. Compared to the dish we had at Felix I would to say this was juicier and cooked perfectly.

Along with our mains we were also served some sides which were very popular with everyone on the table. The cauliflower cheese was my personal favourite (melted cheese!) and Miss K really enjoyed the pumpkin which was grilled very soft and smothered in delicious aromatic yoghurt.

When dessert arrived I was surprised to see that this was also shared, I really like the sharing aspect of Rainford as it makes dinner feel more like a social affair. The chocolate torte was my favourite dessert of the bunch, you can never go wrong with chocolate and whipped cream in my eyes!

The majority enjoyed the banana cream pie over the other desserts and I have to agree it’s a very well made dish. The ice cream melted very quickly so people quickly rushed to get their share, I really liked the cream pie section which I could probably best describe as a banana cake with a gooey texture that tasted amazing. Definitely the people’s choice for dessert.

This was a dish that everyone anticipated but I feel was outdone by the banana cream pie which everyone was raving about. I think that’s a bit of a shame because the cheesecake was actually a very well made dish and very unique in that it was served almost literally ‘upside down’ as you can see. It was the lightest dessert of the three and really made for a refreshing and delicious finish to the night.

Overall I would have to say that Rainford Street Social does a really good job at creating a unique and interesting dining experience. The service was top notch and we all enjoyed the idea of a shared dinner, Rainford Street Social does a very good job at being an affordable, warm and welcoming family bistro.

Miss K and Mr C dined as guests of Rainford Street Social and Cav Con.
All views and opinions expressed are our own.