Blame it on our cultural cringe but it’s surprising how almost any meal can sound enticing when described in a foreign language. In Spanish, for example, Cerdo y Cebollas sounds almost exotic and yet its English translation is … Pig and Onions. Despite reading both translations on Emmilou’s tapas menu (and dining with a pork hating companion) Bar Zine ordered it and … well, let’s get to that in a moment.

Emmilou sits just off Oxford Street on Bourke Street and is an odd cross between a restaurant and a bar, the type of place designed for you to sit down and have drinks with finger food rather than hang out at the bar and mingle.

The cocktails here are the main attraction – or at least, they are for us. The selection is interesting, with old-fashioned cocktails such as the Agave Fizz (Sauza hornitos tequila, organic agave syrup and hibiscus fusion with fresh citrus and a splash of sparkling water) that Bar Zine wishes were on more menus, although our favourite is the Rye Daisy. This is made from Rittenhouse rye whiskey, apricot brandy, falernum syrup and lemon and is a great antidote to a hot summer’s day, especially when you drink it on Emmilou’s balcony. If you like whiskey sours then you ought to love this. (Falernum, incidentally, is a sweet syrup used in tropical drinks. Its flavours can include almond, ginger, cloves, lime and sometimes vanilla or allspice.)

The wine list is also good, offering a decent selection from Spain, France, Australia and New Zealand.

And now we come back to the pig and onions, which we feel should be called pig fat and onions instead. It’s really slivers of twice-cooked pork cheeks, crushed potato chips and queso manchego (a Spanish cheese made from sheep’s milk) and is actually tasty – but there’s far too much fat for one or two people (and this reviewer loves his fat). Now in Emmilou’s defence I’m sure it was designed to be shared but I still thought there’d be more substance to it – and while there may well have been meat amongst the fat (I’m sure there must have been in retrospect) l could barely taste or see it in the dim candlelight, leading me to wish I’d spent my $22 on something else (perhaps another cocktail).

We also order two other meals, namely the tomatoes confitades a los dos quesos (slow-roast Truss tomatoes, white anchovies and sheep’s milk feta) and one of the specials, which is prawns with garlic foam.

The tomato dish is nice and pleases my companion, but whether a number of small tomatoes interspersed with fetta and some anchovies is worth $15 is … well, we’ll leave that up to you. The prawns taste great and the garlic foam works well with them, but for $15 we only receive two prawns (which are dwarfed by the huge dollop of foam) – meaning even if you were to share this with someone there’d only be one prawn per person.

The chef is Chris Cranswick-Smith, whose pedigree includes working overseas in Michelin-starred restaurants in Madrid, Biarritz and London. It’s a resume you shouldn’t argue with and what we tasted shows talent, but the next time I come back I’ll stick purely with the cocktails – I suspect my wallet will thank me for it, even if my liver won’t.

Emmilou, 413 Bourke Street, Surry Hills, phone 02 9360 6991, see the Emmilou website Open Monday to Saturday, 5pm to 1am (the kitchen is open until 1am), Fridays lunch from 12pm.

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Emmilou - Darlinghurst, 1.7 out of 5 based on 3 ratings

 

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