Four in Hand Hotel

HALF fine dining, half a relaxed local, the Four in Hand offers a little something for everyone. And while the elegant dining room is a two-chef's-hat experience, there's plenty of charm to be found next door. The English-style bar, with polished high-rise timber tables and long wooden bar tops, has long attracted locals.

Sometimes it's local footy heads, squeezing in like sardines whenever a match is screened, downing schooners long into the night. However, it's also a winner as a quiet after-work watering hole, being close enough to Oxford Street yet far enough away to escape the drone of passing trucks and buses.

But the real gem here is the bar food, which is some of the best you'll find in Sydney. Not surprising, really, given the boys in the kitchen are also behind the delights sent into the formal dining room. But, bizarrely, you can always find a table on this side of the building. The top-notch, value-for-money grub also comes out at an impressive speed.

We've been recommended the salted cod and chorizo croquettes ($6 for three, $12 for six) in the past but nobody told us how ingeniously they were plated. Served in an empty egg carton, the grazing dish is a mouth-watering starter, both aesthetically and on the taste buds. We take happy snaps of the dish on our mobile phones before we even try them.

Another standout is the tempura scallop balls with aioli ($12). They're light, juicy and packed with flavour. Naturally, since aioli works with just about everything, the dip pairing is also welcome. Crab and spring onion on grilled bread ($12.50) finishes us off and, between the two of us, we're full.

But we've come on Monday night, which is trivia night, so we're not finished yet. To ensure we're right in the thick of the action, we shift from our table to stools at the bar. As groups of beefy young blokes with chiselled jawlines enter, we're sure we made the right decision. We don't win at trivia but by the end of the night, it doesn't matter. Good food, good wine and new friends make for a quite rewarding Monday night.

105 Sutherland Street, Paddington, (02) 9326 2254

Source: S, The Sun-Herald