Jones the Grocer, Sydney

Although it was a sad day when Becasse and Quarter Twenty One closed in Westfield Sydney, I was also excited to see what was going to open up there. One day I walked past and Jones the Grocer had popped up in the space, and it was a bakery, a food store and restaurant all rolled into one.

Angle hair pasta with blue swimmer crab, chilli, rocket, garlic and grana padano - $19

Sir D and I had dinner there one quiet weeknight and we were seated near the windows which looked down onto the Pitt St pedestrian walkway and into the windows of the Virgin Active gym. It almost made me feel a little guilty eating our entrees while people were boxercising vigorously next door, but once we dug into our meals I was pretty sure we had the better deal.

Barbecued free-range quail with spinach and apple salad and bois boudran suace - $21

We tucked into quite a large serving of angel hair pasta with picked blue swimmer crab meat with a simple chilli and garlic sauce, as well as barbecued quail with a light salad of baby spinach and apple matchsticks.

Duck leg confit with French lentils, apple and spinach salad with grape seed dressing - $36

The spinach and apple salad made a reappearance with the duck leg confit. This was a large duck leg which had been confited until the meat was easily shredded with a fork. The skin had also been crisped up nicely and while it was quite salty, it went well with the accompanying salad.

Slow-cooked beef short rib with roast eye fillet, mushrooms and red wine sauce - $35

We were getting rather full so my eyes widened when this hunk of meat landed on our table. The beef short rib was a huge portion of slow-cooked meat which fell off the bone easily. And if that wasn't enough, there was also a small roast eye fillet hiding under the tumble of mushrooms! Needless to say, we struggled to finish this and I think this could potentially be shared between two.

Chips cooked three times with tomato and fennel ketchup - $7.50

Yep, if we had known how big the servings were we probably wouldn't have ordered these chips as we... but they were cooked nicely with fluffy potato innards and an interesting tomato and fennel ketchup.

Glazed lemon tart with confit citrus and creme fraiche - $12

I don't know how we found room for some dessert but I decided to go for something a bit lighter with a glazed lemon tart. This was also a pretty big serving - it looked like 1/6th of a full tart! - but I loved the brulee top that had a nice crack when I whacked my spoon through it. The tart crust was a little thick but the lemon curd was just the right amount of sweetness for me.

Warm sticky date pudding with salted caramel sauce and vanilla bean ice cream - $12

Our waiter implored us to get the sticky date pudding and we were so glad we did! It was served warm, sticky, and gooey and made even sweeter with the salted caramel sauce. Thankfully, the scoop of vanilla ice cream offset the sweetness a little bit. If you're a sticky date pudding fan, this one's definitely for you!

Penguin says Feed Me dined courtesy of Jones the Grocer and Cav Con.

Jones the Grocer
Level 5 Westfield Sydney
Cnr Castlereagh & Market Streets
Sydney NSW 2000
Ph: +61 2 8072 7755
Open Monday-Saturday, 8am-late; Sunday, 8am-7pm


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