Jones the Grocer made its name as a gourmet food emporium in Woollahra and has now branched out to the food court level at Westfield Pitt Street, occupying the corner near the express escalator from Pitt Street mall. I have walked past the store many times without realising that a full scale restaurant and kitchen was in motion behind the walls, as from the front of the store it looks like a high end deli with a bakery display.
I was quite pleased to find out about the existence of the restaurant at Jones the Grocer as it gave me another lunchtime dining option which wasn’t too unreasonably priced either for a proper restaurant, considering the average price being charged for Westfield food court fare next door. Once you step inside the restaurant, the chic decor of the restaurant whisks you away from the hustle and bustle of the food court outside, with an open kitchen on show and plenty of sleek black metallic trimmings being used throughout the softly lit interior.
As we only have limited time during our lunch breaks, my friend and I quickly decide on a couple of mains and thankfully it’s not too long before our dishes are brought out. I have chosen the Angel Hair Pasta which is a winner as the garlic and chilli used to season it bring out the light, fresh flavours of the juicy morsels of blue swimmer crab meat tossed throughout the dish. The texture of the thin strands of pasta reminds me of the egg noodles used in wonton noodle soups and although this is a pasta dish, the combination of the ingredients used in it do strangely evoke the familiar flavours of Asian cuisine in my mind.
Angel hair pasta with blue swimmer crab, chilli, garlic, rocket, grana padano $22
My friend also opted for a pasta dish, choosing the Orrecchiette which featured the largest shell shaped pasta discs I have seen so far for this particular type of pasta. The slow braised beef was quite soft and tender, falling apart on the fork and had infused a bit of a caramelised flavour to the brown sauce coating the orrecchiette pasta.
Orrecchiette with slow braised beef, madeira, shaved black truffle $21
We enjoyed our quick meal at Jones the Grocer and despite its name, there is a lot more to this store than just premium groceries. Its heritage as a gourmet food emporium has translated well into an upmarket restaurant setting and quality of the dishes, together with the modern vibe of the place makes it a good choice for a corporate meal. Next time I’ll be back to try their whimsical looking Mushroom Cappuccino which we saw being served and is apparently a mushroom soup served in a cup with a cloud of froth on top.
Jones the Grocer
Shop 5018, Level 5 Westfield
Cnr Market & Castlereagh St, Sydney NSW 2000
Phone: (02) 8072 7755
thats sounds like a fab winter lunch and id be happy to pay that price for something that nice looking!
their takeaway cakes at the front are pretty good too
I had no idea they had a restaurant too! Thanks for posting this…looks great!