The Mouth: How much would you pay for a long lunch in Sydney? Review of Fred’s restaurant

Food critic The Mouth heads to Merivale’s restaurant Fred’s in the hopes of staying for a long lunch. Six hours later, they walked out satisfied. Yet broke. So was it worth it? Find out below.

The question “what’s the hourly rate for a good time?” has probably not been asked much in Sydney since they cleaned up Kings Cross.

Nevertheless as the cost of living crisis bites the inquiry is more pertinent than ever.

This is of course a roundabout way of saying that this column recently woke up with a sore head and a slightly bingled American Express card and for a very brief moment wondered whether it was all worth it.

Spoiler alert: It was.

The homely style kitchen at Fred’s in Paddington.

The occasion for this reflection was a six hour lunch with a dear old mate at Fred’s, part of the Hemmes stable that was made great by American chef Danielle Alvarez who has since gone on to other things (buy her cookbook!).

As a place to gossip and conspire over good food and drink it could hardly be beat. Whether it was the loss of the Alvarez cachet or everyone finally listening to the Reserve Wank and closing their wallets to fight inflation, on a recent Sunday it was only half full for lunch.

A shame for all those who missed out, because the wood fires are still burning and the food is still very good.

Chef Danielle Alvarez put Fred’s on the map. Picture: Dylan Robinson

We particularly liked the little fried pigs head croquettes and a poached lobster and avocado salad that benefited from a big hit of chili. A half chicken raised by the Sommerlad folk actually tasted like chicken, a rare thing these days.

Perhaps the best dish was an omelette stuffed with crab and surrounded by a lobster sauce that was presented with some of the sweetest words in the English language: Shall I see if we can rustle up some caviar for that?

All this was washed down with excellent wines (a Lark Hill gruner veltliner and a rarely seen Pierro chardonnay) and later topped off with bergamot gimlets in the front bar.

A sample of lunch at Fred’s.

More than the food, though, what we loved was that it was comfortable and friendly in a subtly American way. Our waiter immediately suggested a gin and tonic or champagne when we sat down, a thoughtful gesture for both patron and proprietor that is too often ignored (regular readers will recall our waiting half an hour to even order a drink at Le Foote).

Service was warm and professional but it never felt like the busboy was going to pull up a pew for a chinwag.

The room, meanwhile, is a bit American farmhouse, Martha Stewart via New York’s Gramercy Tavern via Sydney. Tastefully done up with a little art (dog paintings!) and distressed mirrors, there was none of the crap-on-the-walls virus that sees every “French” bistro owner turn their joint into a Gallic Irish pub.

The bill? Well, look. It wasn’t cheap. For two, and with tip, it came in around $1200.

Which is about $100 an hour per person and compared to plenty of other pleasures, very good value for money.

— The Mouth is an undercover critic and bon vivant who pays his own way around Sydney and beyond.