The Vintage Café - The Rocks

Historic = ●

Distinctly average = ●
Dismal = ●
Food rating: ● (how we voted. red - 0, orange - 3, green - 4)
Delightfully eclectic. The Vintage Café serves a creative blend (fusion? – no, too

Flaming Todgers

wanky – even for this blog) of Spanish, Portuguese and Mediterranean food. We were never really sure what was coming next. Not because between seven of us we managed to drank enough to kill the entire population of Paraguay, but because being a Mediterranean themed restaurant (owned by South Americans) the order of food has a relaxed attitude – and that suited us fine. We had a sample of both Tapas & Petisco plates (food served in traditional clay dishes to you and I). Of note: The
Fish with Piri Piri sauce had a surprisingly flirtatious kick to it that alarmed at first then quickly faded. Delicious. The wonderfully, theatrically presented Flame Portuguese Chorizo (aka the Flaming Todger – see photo) looked better than it actually tasted and the Seafood Paella - Crab, Prawns, Calamari, Mussels, Fish, Chicken & Chorizo was astonishingly tasty, despite the crustacean limbs sticking out disconcertingly.
Service rating: ● (how we voted. red - 0, orange - 0, green - 7)
Our delightful host was attentive, friendly, incredibly personable, a little chubby - but all charm. He chose the food for us and a jolly good job he did too. The food and drinks were relatively slow to arrive to begin with, but then they didn’t seem to stop! Plate after plate emerged, was consumed and then quickly replaced as if by magic. Bottle after bottle emerged, was consumed and then quickly replaced as if by magic. Just the way we like it and just the way it should be! Bravo!
Atmos rating: ● (how we voted. red - 0, orange - 2, green - 5)

Mo.

The Vintage Café boasts live Bossa Nova and Jazz. We had a man on acoustic guitar. Great in theory, but either he didn’t play for very long, was far too quiet, or we just missed him altogether. But, as ever, the true magic of the atmos was organic and came from the SupperClub patrons themselves. What a splendid bunch! Topics of conversation ranged from ingeniously posed ethical and moral dilemmas to the ramifications of removing door knobs for security purposes. Cunning and stupid in equal measures it would seem.

Finishing the bottle.

Moët, sangria, red wine and tequila shots also helped the evening along.
Overall rating: ●
Go there. It’s good.

www.eatout-sydney.com.au/Inner-Sydney/The-Rocks/Restaurants/The-Vintage-Cafe.html

The search for Sydney’s best restaurant continues...