Danks St Depot, Early dinner club
8 April 2009
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I’ve been to Danks St Depot for brunch before, and it’s a definate hit. But how does it stack up as a dinner venue ? especially with this new ‘early dinner club‘ ?
The idea in principle sounded great, so we promptly made a booking to see what kind of treats $35 would buy us :
After the crash of the American stock market we have decided to embrace our inner peasant and bring to you the ‘Early Dinner Club’. Every Friday and Saturday evening at 6.00pm, Danks Street Depot will open its doors and set the communal table with shared platters and step back for you to help yourself and enjoy.
In true Danks Street Depot style the menu will be created on the day in response to the best seasonal produce. Platters of shared food will be placed on the table, including starters, mains and dessert
Communal dining seems to be a term being thrown around lately. For those who have dined at yum cha, communal dining wouldn’t be new. However for a restaurant like Danks St Depot, communinal dining as a new concept works surprisingly well. The dishes are placed at certain parts of the long table and everyone just helps themselves to the food. A few new friends are met, interesting conversations are joined and exited and everyone is having a good time over good food and wine. What more can you ask for ? Life is good.
Tomato and goats cheese bruschetta
The first of our three courses consists of a gorgeous array of colours. The bread is slightly burnt but adds a bit of depth to ensure that the goats cheese doesn’t over power everything else. Plenty of basil, capsicum, tomato and goats cheese awaited us.
Lamb Ragu Pappardelle
Check out how thick the pappardelle is! This was a simple dish, but very well cooked. The thick pappardelle was al dente and did a great job in soaking up all the fine juices from the the lamb ragu which had a fantastic ‘home cooked’ taste to it. This would be the perfect comfort food on a cold winter’s night.
Pan roasted Hapuka served with an Braised Fig, Radish and Fennel Salad, drizzled with an Oxheart Tomato dresssing
Since we had a vegetarian (Teresa) in the group, she was offered the alternate dish. I must say, it was a pretty damn impressive alternate dish.
Bread and butter pudding
A simple bread and butter pudding was the perfect anecdote for finishing the night. The pudding was soft and moist on the inside yet a tad crunchy on the outside, a very nice contrast of textures which went well with the butter sauce on the bottom.
The dinner food at Danks St Depot has a simple and home style taste to it. This is actually quite a refreshing way of eating out, as I’m slightly sick of all the fusion type food I’ve been having lately. The service is attentive and snappy, not too bad considering they had to attend for a long table of 20 and the rest of the other patrons in the restaurant. I’m not sure if the food would bring me back to the ‘early dinner club’, but the price certainly would.
Update : Was there enough food ? Well, it depends how hungry the people around you are. There was enough bruschetta for one per person, but for the mains I was fortunate enough to go for seconds and thirds because I was surrounded by girls who didn’t eat as much. I’d say that I left the dinner being ‘not hungry’ rather than ‘full’.
Danks St Depot
Shop 1, 2 Danks St
Waterloo NSW 2017
Phone (02) 9698 2201
Fax (02) 9698 2151
Ahh I’ve been so curious about this one so glad you’ve given us all a preview. I don’t mind sharing plates but often wonder if it’s more awkward with strangers. The fish looks amazing btw – presume Teresa got plenty of jealous looks her way!
Helen’s last blog post..Chefs of Merivale Gala Dinner
What a great idea! Was there enough food or did you leave hungry? I have never been to Danks St Depot, sadly, but I just checked out their menu and it looks really tasty (though a bit pricey for a cafe, but I guess that good quality produce is expensive). The food looks delcious
lili – pikeletandpie’s last blog post..Happy 100th* Post, Have a Pama Cocktail
oh that lamb ragu pappardelle would have been absolute bliss on some of the horrible rainy nights we’ve been having of late. did you feel like you had to take a politely rationed serve of whatever was on show, or could you eat what (and as much as) you liked?
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I’m all for value these days so the price is looks good to me. Only thing is, was there enough food? I love Danks St Depot so would be interested to try.
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Mmm that thick pappadelle does look the awesome! I am not too worried about the sharing cos in my family we have to fight for food to get some haha
but that shot of the portion does look quite small…
FFichiban’s last blog post..Taste of Sydney 2009 – Centennial Park, Sydney.
This is an interesting idea. Communal dining with people you didn’t know would certainly be an interesting way to meet people. Did you talk to them much? The food looks like it was good quality even if the portions weren’t huge.
That ragu dish looks really really lovely. I don’t know if I’m that huge a fan of communal dining. Guess I’m just not social enough. I love Danks St Depot, although the last meal I had there was a bit sub par, and the coffee I had was one of the worst I’ve ever had (I’ve had good coffees by them before).
That papardelle is speaking to me saying come hither things! Great pics, I like the first photo particularly.
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[...] I’ve had to cut this luxury out of my life. We’ve posted about Danks St twice before: For the early dinner’s club and of course, for brunch. This place is a personal favourite of mine and after a recent Christmas [...]