REVIEW: Vintaged Bar & Grill

Wine, a way to open the wine and a cow! What more could a person want?

I have a miniseries of Sydney restaurant reviews that I am so looking forward to sharing with you but I must not cheat. I have one more Brisbane review before we get to that but what a pleasant restaurant it is. My lovely lady friend and I decided to catch up before my Sydney break and chose to have a classy little catch up at Vintaged Bar & Grill.

Vintaged is located in the Hilton on Elizabeth street. I'm always a little hesitant to eat at hotel restaurants. They can seem a little naff and stuffy. And dated. And uninspired. But when I checked out Vintaged menu online, the menu offered a lot of fresh takes of classic dishes. Plus they had a lunch deal for a main and a glass of wine for $25. A meal AND wine? Sign me up.


This is the cool bar area in the lobby area of the restaurant.

Once we arrived at the Hilton and made our way up to level 6, we stepped into a spacious atrium with a funky bar area. The ceilings extended high into the building, which kinda gave me vertigo when I looked up. In an awesome way. The restaurant itself sat on the other side of the lobby where the ceiling came much lower, the lighting was dark, intimate and warm.


The warm space inside Vintaged.

We were seated and since I was on my lunch break, we ordered straight away. We both went with the $25 lunch special as who could pass that up and the selection available was really varied! My fair dining companion chose the Bavette Steak with Creamed Potato and Young Carrots and I went with the Barbecued Ocean Trout with Tahini and Cous Cous Tabbouleh. We had a pinot noir and a sauvignon blanc from the Bay of Shoals Winery...which were delicious! I drink wine cos I'll drink anything but I very rarely can tell the difference between a $20 bottle and a $100 bottle but this wine made me actually ask after the label. So that's good.


Salty capsicumy spread and char grilled bread. Yummers!

Soon after we ordered, we were bought some complimentary sour dough with a capsicum and anchovy spread. I'm so easily impressed, bring me free food and watch me smile. The bread was lovely and crispy with a chargrilled taste. The capsicum and anchovy spread had a pleasant salty taste, obviously from the anchovy. Salty is always a good idea.


Action shot like a pro.

The mains came out shortly after our delightful free bread and they looked appealing! We had both wondered what a bavette steak was, and my guess was it was a word for petite but apparently not as the steak was a nice size with a good dollop of creamy, smooth mash. The side of mushroom sauce was also generous. For your information, a bavette steak is another word for a cut from the flank. I've read it was the flap cut. I don't think flap steak sounds very nice, hence why they call it bavette. Clever.

I find that Ocean Trout is the best type of trout. Wait...are there other types of trout? River trout? I reserve my decision til I've had both!

My ocean trout was also really nice. It was cooked really well with a nice flakiness and slightly pink inside. The cous cous was delightful and the schmear of mayonnaise was pretty and tasty! Is there any better combination to be? The trout had a nice crispy skin but for some reason it was placed so the skin was on the bottom. It's probably over-pedantic, but it might have been cripsier had it not been placed on the moisture of cous cous. After I had finished the fish, I felt satisfied but not heavy and I didn't feel weighed down for my return to walk. The wine certainly hit the spot too.

Could totally get white girl wasted on all that wine...

As we paid, I asked if I could take some photos of the kitchen and the helpful hostess suggested I take a photo in the wine room. It was very impressive with glass walls and up to 1,000 bottles inside! Vintaged offers wine tasting and pride themselves on their extensive Australian boutique collection.

The open kitchen...also, they're not guarding that bread. I could have totally fit that into my purse.

I really enjoyed my workday lunch at Vintaged and was impressed that we were in and out within 45 minutes. The meal was great value and I returned to work with a happy tummy.

Food: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Price: 4/5
Atmosphere: 4/5