bloodwood

there's been a lot of hype and chatter about this place, so after an afternoon at the oh really! gallery, it was a shot to see whether we could score a table. luckily enough we did, even though it meant being seated downstairs in the dungeon so there was a little loss of ambience.. all the dishes are designed to share, so after contributions around thetable- we settle with some fried bean curd rolls, crispy chicken wings and the much foursquare promoted polenta chips with gorgonzola. the fried bean curd rolls were a favourite and resembled a fried dim sim with a crispy outer and a meaty ball of crab, pork and shitake mushroom on the inside. the not so favourite were the chicken wings with yoghurt remoulade, and the hyped up polenta chips, but i was told i was being a minimalist with the gorgonzola sauce. grilled milk fed lamb the mains roll out and the smell is amazing. the fish special of the day included a poached fish (sadly i am absolutely horrendous at remembering a

what's the bloody fuss about. the food and cocktails are creative and interesting. the service was good. the decor, i think, was trying way too hard to be industrial chic and not hard enough to be comfortable (those chairs pinch!).

would i go again?only if i didn't have to wait more than an hour for atablei was told would be ready in half that time!

it’s been more than a year since bloodwood popped up on my radar: my first couple of visits were drinks-only affairs while a drop-in over the december festive season sadly saw them closed for a week or so. but post my dinner visit recently, i’ve been wondering: where has bloodwood been all my life? and indeed, where have i been when i should have been in their mezzanine dining room all this time? bloodwood, king street, newtown the industrial chic fit-out reminds me a little of another venue but suits the space and newtown down to the concrete ground. the front bar area is cosy, as too the open kitchen we pass before heading up a few steps to thetablesettings for couples and fours in the main dining area. polenta chips, gorgonzola sauce we order their signature polenta chips as we pore over the very approachable wine list, with plenty of options by the glass. the 2009 font de michelle font du vent cotes du rhone is an affordable choice that has an almost abruptly short length, no

normally not one to leave a review.. but i have never received such bad service in my life. i turned up with 10 guests for my birthday last friday only to be rudely told ourtablewasn't ready and we had to wait on the street. when i came to ask for an update i was told i was "wasting time" by asking. the woman had the worst attitude i have ever experienced from someone in hospitality, and i was extremely embarrassed at the way she spoke to me and my guests.

after waiting 30 minutes on the street and spoken to like we were a frustration to them, we decided to leave and i had to bring my guests back home and order pizza.

if you were running late a simple call or email would have saved a lot of pain. bloodwood you ruined my birthday with your horrible hospitality and i will never ever be back.

my partner and some friends walked in around 9pm for a late dinner - this place was packed. we waited for atablefor around 10-15 minutes but were well looked after in the time - we were given the beverages menu and our drinks arrived promptly. the menu is designed to share which is a wonderful idea and was extremely cost efficient. everything that arrived on ourtablewas well thought and delicious out and the staff were super helpful. i have been keen to visit this place for a while and it was definitely worth the wait. highly recommend!

went to bloodwood on a saturday night with some girlfriend's. we seemed to have arrived at the time they start getting busy 6-6:30pm. we requested atablefor 3ppl and was told to wait at the bar, we ordered some wine and everything was really good. but once we where seated everything seemed rushed and the waiters where very pushy and constantly reminding us that they needed thetableby 8:30pm.
although the food was great. we ordered the semolina chips, scallops, fried chicken, pork belly with crab & the burramandi .... everything was yummy but the disappointment was really in the service and feeling rushed we didnt stay for dessert althought we initially had planned to.

bloodwood? how about bloody lovely? i don't really have anything negative to say, which sux because i really prefer to balance out these reviews with a bit of a barbed comment here and there. so that's annoying.
the wine (chardonnay) recommended by our waiter was lovely. we had a drink at the front bar and then moved up into the restaurant when outtablebecame available. perfectly timed. our waitress was helpful with the ordering. we had the witlof salad, calamari, prawns, oxtail and barramundi. all were lovely. maybe wouldn't order the prawns again. they were still very enjoyable but the other dishes outshone them.

this place feels unpretentious and accessible but exciting. so there. head along now, you people.

an amazing find.  modern australian that is accessible, with a great vibe and setting and knowledgable staff.

the alcohol selection is plentiful and varied.  the craft beers were excellent and they were able to make a tasty mocktail for a pregnant friend.

the shared dishes were mainly excellent.  the polenta chips are absolutely addictive, one of our party was ready to have the dish to himself.  the dishes to change fairly often but they are well made and give you that farm totablefeeling.  highly recommended for groups and a great time would be had by all.

of all restaurants that offer shared platters, bloodwood is my favorite. we were meant to go to hartsyard nearby but couldn't get atableso decided to try our luck in bloodwood. we ended up having the lasttableright by the door.

i always thought fried chicken was over-rated and those polenta chips looked way too chunky for my liking, so we had angus steak with sticky rice and lamb nuggets to start with. sticky rice was quite common in asian cuisine and usually served sweet. it blew me away when i tried it served savory with the steak and shiitake mushrooms. i didn't think i ever tasted a sauce more flavorsome and balanced. it was a perfect marriage between the beef, mushrooms and sticky rice. what an ingenious choice of ingredients! the lamb nuggets looked more like meatballs and were fantastic too. we then had daily special which was scallops and buck beasts with lentils. usually when two people share 3-4 dishes, it can be hit and miss. but every single dish we had that night was exceptional, it was hard to rate which one was better than others. ultimately the beef with sticky rice and shiitake mushrooms was the winner simply because of the unusual combination of ingredients and impeccable execution.

as our dinner drew close to an end, it started pouring down outside. inside of venturing out and risk being drenched, we decided to try dessert and cocktails. i am so glad we did because the trifle was unbelievably good and my cocktail was amazing. i couldn't be happier and every single part of the dinner was perfect. i rarely give a restaurant such a high praise and i have tried a lot of restaurants. bloodwood impressed me with ambience, service, and most importantly food. i am happy to come back anytime and can't recommend it enough.

great food scary intimidating service

first impression of bloodwood was awesome. trendy little spot with an interesting menu and loaded with 'cheery' hipsters. on arrival we were told there would be a wait, but not too long, so we had a drink in the downstairs bar. all good. enter scary waitress. amanda. the hard sell was put on. hard. we felt very pressured into ordering some small dishes downstairs as suddenly we were told there was a huge wait for tables. anyway when ourtableeventually was ready we decided to stay on the bar stools. at which point amanda cheered right up. woo hoo no tips lost.
food was great, though i have to say the shine was massively taken off by the obvious territorial battle going on between the upstairs and downstairs wait staff. we had been looking forward to bloodwood for a while and for a place that you can't book they should take better care of the front of house experience. amanda got her tip, we were scared not to. :-) we would go back for the food but probably wont for fear of the staff.

we took our overseas guest to bloodwood to rest our feet and feast. i was happy to see that they were able to seat us at short notice on a saturday night. it was quite early to be doing dinner for most... but in saying that the place was quite booming and already half full. don't be fooled from the entrance, there's a lot of seating upstairs and downstairs towards the back of the restaurant.

we started off polenta chips with gorgonzola sauce. this dish was faultless. the chips were crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.... and that sauce... i could have drunk a cup full. perfect start to the meal and best polenta chips i've had.

we then moved onto the charcuterie board with beef cheek jam, cured meats, bread and pickles. most of the cured meats were quite ordinary as was the pickles. the only interesting element was the beef cheek jam... served cold and tasted like a pulled pork paste of some sort. it was a great dish to have on thetableas it provided things to nibble on while we waited between dishes.

we then tried their miso fried chicken with iceberg and shallot vinegar. i always assumed fried chicken comes with some form of crispy batter... this did not. it was served with a soggy batter much like chicken that was cooked before and then reheated in a microwave. such a shame as the sauce pairing was quite delicious and the chicken itself was not too dry. it was probably the only let down dish of the night.

we then sampled the seared angus skirt steak with garlic sticky rice, bbq shitake and bulls blood. the steak was perfectly cooked... so tender. the sticky rice and shitake had a great earthy element that just complimented the dish well. only slight complaint was the rice ended up being drowned in the sauce... but still delicious.

we had their beer glazed bbq tongue with roast sweet potato and english spinach. the tongue was served more like a pulled pork style.. which i did not expect. the flavours and textures were great. the roast potato was cooked well. unfortunately around 6:30pm the lights were dimmed and eating this dish in low lighting proved to be quite a challenge.

we ended off with their curry leaf king prawns with scallops, tomato and plantain. this dish was just perfection for me. the way they cooked their prawns and scallops were beautiful. the plantain chips still had a nice crunch despite the sauce. a very well executed dish that left me with a smile.

at the end of the night when the bill came... something that seems to be a common theme in restaurants is the waitress standing next to you with the eftpos machine while it asks for a tip. for some reason this time she made me feel pressured to tip, despite them really just bringing the food to thetableand then flocking together to chat while we ate.

as it's not compulsory to tip in australia, i tend not to unless it was already factored into my meal like a surcharge on particular days. i suppose this topic itself causes a division amongst most. anyways what i didn't appreciate was i decided to round up my bill and make that the tip and she scoffed at me... then threw my card onto thetableafter she took $170 from my card. when has sydney become that kind of society??

the place has a cool vibe to it, the food was predominantly great, they had a great drinks menu... but that unnecessary attitude for dessert left a bitter taste in my mouth.

the top line: bloodwood has a bar at the front and an enchanting restaurant at the back with utterly unique dishes that you couldn’t find anywhere else in sydney – lamb nuggets with pistachio crumb and polenta chips, anyone?. the review: please get in early to avoid waiting. the restaurant itself isn’t big, and once a big group of people enter, you’re chances will be slim. we went at 6:20pm and got the lasttablefor 4 on the deck. the menu is one page (while the drinks menu boasts a few pages), but all of the items were creations on their own.

soothing easy service. every dish no matter how strange it reads on the menu are "finger tracing the bowl" delicious. sunday arvos on the deck out the back just the ticket. you could spend the day here.

wine list? not my bag by a long stretch, a bit obtuse and wanky for newtown but you'll grind through. my fave place to go. i choose sat or sun arvos so you don't have to go through the bother of having your name and number taken because there's notablefor an hour +.

left you wanting more. loved it,tableof two couples we ordered the recommended amount of dishes for 4 people which was 5. after we finished we took a vote and chose two extra dishes of the ones we had already eaten the fried chicken and the lamb nuggets won. the servings are portioned out to suit 4 people who get one of each item in most cases so you get only a small amount of each dish which were all moreish. will be back!

came last night as a group of 6. we were told it'd be an hr to hr and a half wait for a table. we knew that it'd take a while and it wasn't a problem so we went over to earls for a drink while we waited. we came back after an hour and a quarter to a frosty reception. we were told it was very busy and it'd be in our best interests to go somewhere else for a drink as there would be a long wait. after having waited 1hr 15 i wouldn't have thought waiting on site and having a drink there would have been a problem but the waiter seemed reluctant to let us wait there. he followed this by saying 'i told you you'retablewould be an hour and a half so it will be ready at 8:45pm sharp'. we made a decision to leave and walked away with all six of us saying that we felt he'd wanted us to leave. no idea why we couldn't wait and have a drink on the premises for 15mins. we've all been to bloodwood a number of times before and absolutely love the food. as a fellow small business owner in newtown i know how important service is and can only suggest they lose the rude front man and treat ppl that who are willing to wait for atablewith a little more courtesy.