RAWSONS RESTAURANT, EPPING
Rawsons Restaurant was a great find in the middle of The Epping Club. We walked in not quite knowing what to expect – would this be your standard casual-fish-and-chips-style club dinner venue? We were unsure, but excited to find out!
In our time we’ve been fortunate enough to go to many beautiful places in Sydney and the main foyer to this RSL club was up there! It was absolutely spectacular - think chandeliers, a big plush circular lounge positioned in the middle space and a grand piano being softly played by a professional pianist. Before we entered the restaurant we knew this place was going to be different to what we had expected.
As you enter Rawson’s you’re greeted by the friendly staff and seated at one of the many tables they have available in this open spaced restaurant. As we looked around we noticed there were larger groups and also many spaces for one on one personal dinners.
Our meals were amazing! We tried a whole range of dishes and were pleasantly surprised by the way each was perfectly presented in a colourful and very inviting way.
We ate:
Gazpacho: This tiny tea cup of cold green soup was super tasty and refreshing – the perfect way to kick off our meal!
Sesame seared tuna: Prettiest dish of the night with a flavour that matched!
OG house smoked salmon: Fresh, light and tasty – you can tell a lot of effort has gone into the preparation of this one.
Cold oil poached Tasmanian salmon with pickled cucumber and herb cultured cream: Another dish right up there on the pretty scale, surprisingly light despite being cold oil poached and perfectly complemented by the fresh pickle topping! This is one of the menu faves.
The smoked rump cap: Perfectly cooked, delicious red wine jus – a solid choice!
Fat chips: YUM!
The onion rings: Served as an impressive stack, we kept going back for more despite being crazy full and not normally huge onion fans.
Our salad: The perfect side for our indulgent meal.
Strawberry / rhubarb / basil / panna cotta: Amazing balance of textures and flavours! This easily ranks in my top five favourite desserts this year! (Stacey)
Plant pot chocolate fondant with milk gelato: Quirky presentation, incredible flavours – I (Rebecca) inhaled this one!
This restaurant has a lot going for it! Everything we tried on the menu was thoughtfully prepared, tasty, balanced and beautifully presented (yay for Instagram!) but even better – the prices are very affordable given the quality of the food! You would pay A LOT more for food this good in the city, and have a far more painful experience trying to find parking!
The restaurant offers a Chef’s Table room for up to 10 people, where guests are treated to a personalised degustation menu. We met some regular customers who raved about the Chef’s Table – they had been a few times, and had just re-booked it for an upcoming birthday celebration.
Another favourite amongst customers is the dry aged meat cabinet. In fact, this is so popular that it is currently being expanded to cope with increasing demand. The premium cuts of meat in this cabinet are traditionally prepared and then dry-aged for up to 28 days to deliver an end result that is succulent, aromatic and flavour-packed! We are keen to head back and try this one once the cabinet upgrade is complete!
If you’re after a fancier dining experience that feels like a treat, but don’t want to price tag that usually goes with it – Rawsons is for you! The food is impressive, the staff are great and the customers are happy. We really enjoyed our meal and I suspect we’ll be heading back soon enough!
Rawsons Restaurant
45 Rawson Street
Epping NSW 2121
Website: http://rawsons.eppingclub.com/
