Four in Hand, Paddington
I’ve been debating with myself about posting this dinner: the restaurant was pretty dim and the photos didn’t turn out as well as I had hoped, but on the other hand… it was a pretty epic dinner and I really wanted to share it with you.
As you can see, I’ve bit the bullet haha so apologies for the photo quality – I tried!!
We were celebrating M’s birthday dinner at Four in Hand and I didn’t think I was late until I saw that everyone was already seated, waiting for me to arrive. Embarrassment aplenty.
It wasn’t long after I was seated that the pig was carried in – I felt even worse, feeling as though I had held up the dinner. Ugh, I hoped not!
Mmmmm suckling pig
The wait staff carved up that succulent beast up and served up the pieces on thick wooden boards.
But first, we were served an amuse bouche.
Amuse Bouche
We had a fish soup with citrus and basil. It was pretty nice start to our dinner – light and zesty.
As we finished our amuse bouche, the wait staff brought out quite a few accompaniment dishes; I was kind of surprised how many there were!
Mash Potato and Fillet Kidney
There was the absolutely fantastic creamy mash potato with thinly sliced onions, leeks and microherbs. I’m not the biggest fan of slightly raw onions, but this mash was so good, I didn’t mind them at all! The texture of the mash potato was perfect and made me wish I could bring a pot home for later.
The fillet kidney… I tried a small piece and, just like liver, it’s not something that’s quite to my taste. Interestingly, I noticed that more than a few of us were a bit too squeamish to try it, though the few ate it made quite dent in the dish.
Black Pudding, Coleslaw, Leeks and Carrots
I also gave the black pudding another go and while the hearty flavour was quite (surprisingly) nice, I couldn’t get past the grainy texture. It frustrated me a bit, not being able to eat what’s been provided, and wished I wasn’t so squeamish (nor have such an over-active imagination).
I really liked the coleslaw though; the combination of crunchy texture, tangy mayonnaise and salty pancetta was a brilliant.
The carrots and leeks were well-seasoned and I really liked how the sweet carrots weren’t super soft – they still had some substance to them (super soft carrots are kind of weird to me).
So organised
I was about to take a picture of my plate when I realised it wasn’t all that great looking in spite my presentation efforts. I glanced over at G’s plate and took a sneaky shot of hers while she was pouring pork jus over her suckling pig. Hehe score!
The suckling pig comes with salsa verde, apple sauce and pork jus. I tried all three and I couldn’t decide which tasted better with the pork – they were all so good in their own way.
The Spread
I loved how communal the dinner was. The fact that we were in a private room and had to pass around the various accompaniment dishes (or very nicely asked someone to fill our plate with something) just made the whole dinner experience more intimate and cosy. It very easily felt like we were in a holiday house totally living it up and having tremendous fun.
Only we didn’t have to cook a single thing – nor clean up afterwards.
Nor would we have wait staff discretely restocking the dwindling pile of suckling pork or carrots. Hehe… if we did, we would definitely be living it up!
Dessert
Dessert was naturally M’s birthday cake, though A couldn’t help but order a sneaky dessert from the menu.
The White Chocolate and Fennel Sandwich with Dulce de Leche ($16) looked gorgeous and he polished it off quite quickly.
We had our slice of birthday cake with tea and coffee with an accompaniment of decadent dark chocolate truffles. Bliss.
Four in Hand is located on the corner of what seems like a quiet, leafy neighbourhood of Paddington and the actual restaurant is upstairs. The food we had was delicious and fresh, while the wait staff were efficient, friendly and attentive without being obtrusive.
I’d love to come back to Four in Hand to try their a la carte menu – if this dinner was anything to go by, I wouldn’t be surprised if their other dishes is just as amazing.
[Edit: The cost per person was roughly $119.]
Four in Hand
105 Sutherland Street
Paddington, NSW, 2021
Ph: (02) 9326 2254
Web: http://www.fourinhand.com.au/
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By squishies
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This article was written on 12 Jul 2012, and is filed under Dinner, Modern Australian, Sydney, East.
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There’s absolutely nothing wrong with your photos! Try using an iphone 4 in a dim restaurant. haha That was me a few posts back. Gahhhhhhh! Look at that piggy! Your review is very similar to what everyone else has been saying – an amazing place to dine.
Tina @ bitemeshowme´s last [type] ..Flour and Stone, Woolloomooloo
Lol awww thanks Tina :3 that’s so sweet of you.
Yeah it was awesome!! Oh goodness just thinking about it makes me salivate haha
ooh suckling piggeh! the food (and your photos) look great. I’m really keen to try out Four in Hand now – I wonder if I could round up a group just to get the pig hehe
Jacq´s last [type] ..Cafe Lyon, Lindfield
Thanks Jacq ^_^
Hope you’ve managed to round some people up! It’s definitely worth it.
I think your photos are fine…I used to worry about dark photos too but now I think “meh” especially if you’ve got a great piggy story to tell.
Miss Piggy´s last [type] ..House, Surry Hills
Thanks! And yeah, thought an epic dinner deserved at least a post… hehe
Haven’t been here for ages. The desserts are my faves!
joey@FoodiePop´s last [type] ..Review – Sixpenny (Stanmore)
I love four in hand! Have had epic meals there and the whole pig… Love!!! Can’t wait to go back
Thanks for sharing… I love to try the White chocolate and fennel sandwich look delicious… definitely have to go there when I am in Sydney
Trini´s last [type] ..Bibimbap (Korean Mixed Rice)…비빔밥
ok, that pig has officially given me some serious food envy! but then.. i saw the blood pudding…. my have food in the world! Glad you guys enjoyed
I love four in hand! It’s one of the best “meat” places that makes meat looks amazingly good on camera and delicious of course!
I live just around the corner from the Four in Hand and I love it there! All those side dishes look delicious, but nothing could match that gorgeous piggy!
Yummm… the last time I bought a suckling pig like that was for my mum’s birthday… probably about 10 years ago… and about 10 times the size!!! Enough to feed about over 50 people. LOL Thanks for the post
New City Magazine´s last [type] ..Depression – Rampant Problem of Today
Went there 2 years ago don’t know why but this place never click with C and me. Maybe is their food style that did not agree with our palette so never went back.
How much was the suckling pig/dinner per person? /hatches plans… heh.
Helen (Grab Your Fork)´s last [type] ..Taste le Tour 2012: 21 Stages of Eating for the Tour de France
Oops! Sorry Helen for the late reply >_< It was roughly $119 pp (depending on drinks, etc)… well worth it!
Your photos look pretty good to me. What a fun night you had and a great experience
Aww shucks Tania ^_^ Thanks!
WOW how incredible is that whole piggeh!
How much would it be p/p?
The dinner was around $119 p/p (possibly a bit more if you include drinks, etc)… oops, just realised I didn’t put the cost in the post. Sorry, gross oversight =P