Glass brasserie: The Mouth reviews Luke Mangan’s Hilton Hotel treasure

Sometimes we don’t want to be challenged, we just want good food — and that’s why this George Street brasserie is so good.

A few weeks back, just as Australia’s borders were reopening, this column found itself having breakfast at a venerable old Canberra hotel whose great claim to fame is being the place where Ben Chifley spent his last night on earth.

What would have been a ho-hum affair the morning was livened up by a pair of freshly arrived late middle aged American tourists two tables away, the long suffering female half of which was married to that great specimen of travel, The Complainer.

By the time this column’s double macchiato hit the table, The Complainer had already summoned the manager to offer up his thoughts on everything that was wrong with the hotel.

Breakfast wasn’t included in his room rate.

The car park needed better signage.

The Mouth’s basic hotel breakfast in Canberra turned into a story for after work drinks. Picture: AAPImage/Tracey Nearmy

And that’s before he got to the woman who checked them in (“yeah, I’ll have a lot to say about her, but that’s another story”).

It was both cringe-making and immensely entertaining, with the manager responding with cool velvet glove, iron fist diplomacy that would have Ukraine sorted out by Wednesday night.

In short, it turned a basic hotel breakfast into a story for after work drinks.

But as this column concludes its series revisiting old favourites and also-rans, let’s not forget that just because a restaurant has a captive audience doesn’t mean it can’t be good.

Luke Mangan’s glass in the CBD Hilton is a great example of this phenomenon.

Yes, again, we hear you saying, so what – this guy’s been around forever, can’t we hear about the latest hip pappardelle puller?

Luke Mangan at his restaurant Glass, at The Hilton Hotel in Sydney. Picture: Richard Dobson

A recent Friday lunch overlooking the QVB though suggested it was worth another look.

A kitchen that had been hit hard — and frankly had felt like it was drifting — during the two years of the pandemic was in full flight.

Kingfish crudo popped with shiso leaves and gentle spices, accompanied by a great Kerri Thompson riesling.

Split grilled prawns remain the best thing on the menu, with that wonderful charred smokey shell thing happening in every bite.

Lunch at Glass was not “on trend” but who cares.

There was no complaining about the food at The Hilton.

A very cheffy and Instagrammable steamed cod with a sort of petit pois and all sorts of greens danced between a rich fishiness that was cut a sharp vermouth cream sauce and pulled together by little bits of bacon.

And a very big T-bone was an exercise in simplicity.

No, it is absolutely not food that is “on trend”, but so what?

Hospitality is about that, and sometimes we don’t want to be challenged, we just want really good food we want to eat.

Not even The Complainer could whine about that.