Waitress turns dessert to custard

It has its good and bad points but it takes until dessert before my cup runneth over at Paddington restaurant, Nota.

Moody dining: Nota, Paddington.

When the waitress asks “May I?” and, after getting the nod, pours vanilla anglaise over our fruit crumble and keeps going even when it’s running down the side of the dish and pooling on the serviette beneath, it sums up our night at new Paddington restaurant Nota. There’s a lot that’s good going on here but also things that set my teeth on edge.

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The dessert, a juicy, autumn melange of nectarine, plum, apple and peach chunks topped with a rubble of crunchy, buttery shortbread crumbs, is served piping hot in its metal cooking pan. It’s robust, delicious comfort food. But if you really liked the custard and wanted a bit more you’d have had to suck the serviette or lick the plate.

Spilling over with goodness: Nota’s house crumble.

The restaurant, in the heritage-listed shopfront in inner-west Paddington that housed long-time French tenant Montrachet and, then briefly, another Gallic-accented enterprise, Margo, was opened in March by chefs Kevin Docherty and Sebastiaan de Kort. The pair met when they were working at Javier Codina’s long-time Spanish operation, Moda, and there are nods to this shared history in the vaguely European-inspired food. However the pair tread their own path, ditching the standard format by offering snacks then share plates grouped into fish, meat and vegetables as well as chef’s selection menus. Prices are reasonable.

Savoury churros ($9 for two), look like teething rusks, each topped with an Ortiz anchovy and drizzled with honey. They’re crisp and appealing, with other snack possibilities including a tempura monkfish sandwich, blinis or toasted brioche with confit pork and jamon.

Suburban style: Paddington’s Nota.

Orange roughy ($32) is well-cooked and lolls in a shallow pool of champagne veloute with a handful of pipis strewn about, and a couple of small outcrops of caviar.

Sirloin ($36), nicely pink and rested, arrives in a cast-iron pan with roast potatoes, bone marrow sauce and a watercress salad, while a half-serve of muted smoked eggplant agnolotti ($11) has its flavour ratcheted up with strips of crispy pancetta, and shaved pecorino Romano.

Dessert is the aforementioned house crumble ($12), and a wedge of custard tart ($16) with a base that has lost its crispness and a scoop of decent Pedro Ximenez ice-cream.

The interior has undergone a makeover and has an appealing white, black and tan palette, with an expanse of exposed brick and a line-up of mirrors to build the Euro vibe. The original substantial bar gets a workout with a schmick cocktail selection that kicks off with a Nota sour; a 15-strong, mainly Australian, wine offering including off-the-beaten-track minimal intervention choices and all are available by the glass. Stone & Wood Pacific Ale and Peroni Leggara mid are on tap, with a wider craft selection available.

Not everything’s perfect – the music is too loud and hip hop may not be to all tastes (as one diner commented online: “We love music … but it was too much to account for; and no, we’re not elderly.”) and service varies from emotionless and efficient to friendly and flaky – but oddly, despite that, Nota feels fresh and the sort of place you could pop into for a drink and a fish sandwich at the bar, or a mid-week meal of warm lamb salad ($26) as much as the full dining experience.

NOTA

224 Given Terrace, Paddington

nota.restaurant/

BOOK 3217 6116

OPEN Wed-Thur from 5pm, Fri-Sat 11am-3pm, 5-10pm and Sun 11am-4pm

MUST TRY

Warm house crumble

VERDICT

Food 7.5

Ambience 7

Service 7

Value 8

OVERALL: 7.5