East Village Hotel, Darlinghurst
If you’ve been trying to find the perfect retreat during these cold winter nights, then look no further. East Village Hotel Darlinghurst has unveiled a Winter Garden-themed rooftop adorned with over 4,000 fairy lights.
The Winter Garden, created on the hotel’s Terrace Bar, resembles a European-inspired winter market complete with lanterns and enough heaters to melt the coldest of hearts. Patrons can wrap themselves in snowflake-print blankets or canoodle by fairly-lit trees while sipping Martell cognac hot toddies, warm mead and mulled wine.
Few will be able to resist East Village Hotel’s impressive Winter Escape menu, heavy with the season’s most tempting traditional treats. It includes a range of festive favourites from honey-glazed ham with spiced pear chutney, beef bourguignon and crostini, to bratwurst, currywurst and more. There are also grazing options, bowls & salads, pasta, sweets & cheese, burgers, and the standard pub classics.
Everything on the grazing menu works well if you’re sharing or as a starter. There’s the roast vegetable dip, crisp free range pork belly, steak tartare, spanner crab roll, karaz kebabs, and more. But on our visit, we opted for the grilled haloumi skewers (honey, lemon and oregano) and fried prawn cakes (thai style with warm sweet chilli sauce). We found these to be the perfect snacks to feast on while waiting for our mains to come out.
The first main – the Mexican burrito bowl – followed. This ample-sized dish was filled with chipotle chicken, guacamole, black beans, brown rice, sour cream, shredded iceberg, grilled corn, and coriander. It was as plentiful in flavour as it was in portion. An absolutely delicious dish which had us licking the plate clean.
The next main was the Buddah bowl. Yet another flavourful dish comprising of fried chick peas, sweet potato, ginger brown rice, roast pepitas, spiced cashews, cavolo nero, pickled veg, chilli, houmous and holy basil. Just scrumptious and perhaps the best option on the menu for vegetarians and those with a gluten intolerance.
The mains are plentiful so you won’t be walking out of here with an empty stomach. To wash it down, we highly recommend the mulled wine which we found to be the ultimate winter-warmer. There are also some mouth-watering cocktails available: Gin & Juice, Bloody Mary, Rondo Spritz. But our favourite was the Coffee Cocktail (Martell vs Cognac, Tawny Port, whole egg, and nutmeg) – the perfect concoction!
Inspired by some of the extravagantly decorated European Christmas markets, the rooftop itself is very warm and inviting with some amazing views of the city skyline. It’s a great place to visit after work for a warming cocktail, a sweet or savory pretzel or a full meal with all the trimmings.
East Village Hotel
234 Palmer Street, Darlinghurst
www.eastvillagesydney.com.au
