Last minute trip to Sean's Panoroma

5pm meetings on the Friday before your long weekend are almost un-Australian, but drinking beer at these meetings is essential and the more you talk idle chit chat the more points you get. But an hour is still enough, after my last meeting of the week I jump in my car to take the easy traffic free journey home during school holidays. Its amazing how good it feels to just be able to drive home, I’ve been known to send e-mails and have two conversations going at once on both phones just to get through the traffic, but anyway I’m losing pace on my story.
When I got home Simon said he had made a booking at my favourite restaurant in Sydney, Sean’s Panoroma. Things were getting even better, I washed my face put a jacket on and we walked down to the restaurant.

Your table is never ready which is fine because you can sit in the ‘bar’ the tiny small room next to the restaurant. There is always a table of people who didn’t make a booking and have been relegated to the ‘bar’. I would argue that it isn’t really a bar as such, but whatever. You can hear their conversation, as there is no people talk buzz to dilute the sound. Funny how sometimes other people’s conversations can be excruciating, almost like watching an episode of Faulty Tours, nothing is going right. English folk holidaying to Australia and not being able to relax enough to enjoy themselves. Secretly wising they were back home in bleak Sheffield eating beans on toast in front East Enders.

What am I talking about? Dunno, but by the time our table was ready I was wanting to eat the basket the bread came in. The bread…… oh that bread, it comes out in a mountain and you think to yourself that is way too much bread for two of us, ten minutes later there is nothing left and you are pushing your fingers into the sesame seeds left in the oil tray.

I love how the menu is simple, there are only a few choices and its all written on the chalk boards so you don’t have to negotiate a massive list. Too much choice is bad for us, and I want to eat what is best today, not yesterday.

We ordered the roast pork and the beetroot ravioli. The pork came out with the most evil crackling that melted in my mouth I wanted to waltz into the kitchen and demand for more. In Mexico they sell Chicharon on the side of the road topped with salty white cheese and salsa of course, I can stop at 10 stalls in a 4-hour journey and still be hungry for the stuff.

The ravioli was like a tale of perfection, filled with roasted red beets and topped with roasted mini orange beets and a pistachio sauce. I’m not a massive fan of art on your plate but it did look remarkably pretty.

We drank the Wairau River Riesling, too sweet for me so Simon polished the bottle off himself, luckily he was happy to oblige. No dessert but we did ask for take home bread that was wrapped and added to our bill. You can’t go wrong here, the service is always 100% although we do miss Karl who made lots of ginger beer and would call us when it was ready. If you ever go to Sean’s Panoroma be sure to ask if the ginger beer is ready, it’s better than anything you have swished down your thirsty gullets, ever.