The Village, Potts Point

A fresh new bar has popped up in Potts Point on Kellett Way, a little alley off the main street. The name evokes images of a cosy, homely kind of place but the modern vibe of the bar is evident as soon as you walk through the courtyard into the black walled interior. There’s daily specials scrawled in white on the ceiling and framed black and white images of Marilyn Monroe on the wall, mixing up elements of vintage and contemporary design.

Today I’ve been invited to sample The Village’s Ladies Lunch menu which is offered on weekends for those of the fairer sex to get together and catch up with their friends for $39 per person. Our table of female bloggers start off with a refreshing glass of Pimms cocktail (very addictive) as we tuck into their antipasto plate with prosciutto, olives hummus and toasted bread.

Pimms cocktail

Antipasto plate

Soon enough, we were presented with their lightly battered salt and pepper squid. This was incredibly moreish when dipped in the creamy aioli and the entire plate disappeared in a flash.

Crispy salt and pepper squid with rocket, lemon and chilli aioli

Enticing looking Sicilian arancini balls were up next. They were quite nicely crumbed on the outside, with a lot of soft rice filling on the inside but were a bit blander than I expected, even with the tomato sauce layered on top of it.

Sicilian arancini balls with spinach and smoked mozzarella

This was followed up with a slice of the Margherita pizza with its thin and crispy base. It was nothing remarkable but still helped pad our stomachs.

Margherita pizza

A bowl of leafy greens was presented to us to balance out the fried stuff; this was the roasted pumpkin with baby spinach leaf salad. The pumpkin was mushy and sweet, just the way I like it and the greens were made more appetising by the vinaigrette and pine nuts sprinkled throughout.

Roasted pumpkin with pine nuts, baby spinach and marinated feta

Our last savoury dish of the meal was the simple dish of assorted tomatoes with mozzarella. I preferred the bite sized cherry tomatoes in this dish rather than the larger wedges of tomato, but wasn’t a huge fan of the mozzarella. In fact, this was not a particularly exciting dish flavour wise.

Tomato with mozzarella, fresh basil, olive and balsamic

We waited awhile for our desserts but when they came, everyone oohed and aahed over them – a delectable warm chocolate fondant as well as an apple and berry crumble. The fondant is one of my winter guilty pleasures, and this one was among one of the best I’ve ever had – a perfect crunch on the exterior which gives way to chocolate gooey innards. The vanilla bean icecream which accompanied it was amazingly smooth and intensely flavoured which I loved. The berry coulis was not even needed for this dish because the vanilla and chocolate flavours were already so glorious on their own.

Warm chocolate fondant with vanilla bean icecream and berry coulis

In contrast, the apple and berry crumble was not quite as well done – the crumble was a bit dry and overcooked so it was slightly too crunchy even when eaten with the vanilla bean anglaise sauce. The softened pieces of apple and berries were also a bit too tart for my liking.

Apple and berry crumble with vanilla bean anglaise

Overall, I had a pleasant experience at the Village –  their Ladies Lunch has been put together carefully to appeal to sophisticated women depending on seasonal produce availabilities. I’m keen to go back to try out their various daily specials like their half price food on Tuesdays and 2 for 1 cocktails on Wednesdays. It would be nice to check out the place at night time too, because even during the day it has a buzzing atmosphere and apparently Leonardo Di Caprio and Joel Madden have been spotted there too.

Excuse Me Waiter dined as a guest of The Village

The Village
1 Kellett Way
Potts Point NSW 2011
Phone: 8084 6057