Sydney certainly has been seeing an influx of diner-style restaurants opening up everywhere, including Jazz City Diner, Hotwheels Burgers, and now the Phoenix Diner. This is located in the newly revamped Lansdowne Hotel, located right in between Newtown and UTS. It’s a three-storey building that has seen an inner transformation, and the second floor is where all the foodie action happens.
Kirin Ciders – $8 each
We kickstart our meal with two Kirin ciders which I have never seen before – Fuji Apple+Mikan and Fuji Apple+Ume. The Mikan (mandarin) tastes pretty much like the name, an apple cider with some sour hints of mandarin. The Ume (plum) is my preferred one though – the plum undertones leaves the cider not as sweet or artificial tasting as the Mikan one and is overall a nice drink.
Raging Bull – $13
Shortly after, our food starts coming out. First is the Raging Bull – Italian meatballs with ricotta, slow roasted tomatoes and a capsicum sauce. The meatballs are tender and juicy, and the sauce and cheese make it a great combination. Hearty comfort food, and definitely one of the better meatballs I’ve had in Sydney.
Moonshine Gumbo – $16
Next is the Moonshine Gumbo, which is served in a jar and accompanied by a salad, corn and some maize flatbread. The gumbo is quite thick, tomatoey, spicy and full of seafood including prawns, mussels and clams. The seafood is plentiful and I’m surprised by just how much they managed to squeeze into the jar. It definitely beats Jazz City Diner’s gumbo.
The Big Cheese – $14
The last dish we get is The Big Cheese pizza containing wood smoked cheese, mushrooms, asparagus, garlic and truffle oil. I was a bit sceptical at first as I usually prefer meaty pizzas but this one blew me away. It was super tasty with lots of garlic and cheese giving it big flavours, and the truffle oil adding a fragrant layer. The asparagus also added a crunchy texture and this pizza just ticked all the boxes on so many levels – big thumbs up.
I’m surprised I haven’t been here earlier – The Lansdowne’s Phoenix Diner is a hidden jewel with amazing food and affordable prices to match. It’s a great place for the many UTS/USyd students to stop by in between classes and I’ll definitely be back again soon to try the other menu items.
Excuse Me Waiter dined as guests of The Lansdowne
The Lansdowne Hotel
2-6 City Rd, Chippendale NSW 2008
Ph: (02) 8218 2333
Impressed by the asparagus on the pizza but not a huge fan of truffle oil. Will have to check this out soon!
It’s super fragrant! But truffle isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Either way, you can’t go wrong with a cheese pizza mm
Oooh, can’t wait to try the Kirin Cider (it’s new on the market!). Pizza and meatballs aren’t exactly diner classics, but looks like an interesting menu
I haven’t seen the new ciders at many places yet! It’s worth trying – quite big though. The same size as Rekorderlig.
There’s also some other diner type foods like burgers and hot dogs, but we weren’t feeling like something with too much bread
Interested in the Kirin Cider! I’ll defs have to make a pit stop some time to see how asparagus on pizza fares 🙂
Those ciders sound yummy. Haven’t seen there anywhere.
It was our first time seeing them too! I prefer the Ume one, especially if you want something not too sweet 🙂
love comfort food, those meatballs look superb
They were really good! And if it’s not filling enough, there was also the option to add spaghetti for only $1 extra – so cheap!
would love to try that gumbo dish! used to come here back in uni for the $5 (and eventually $6) steaks which were pretty good too. will pop by next time friends are keen for a drink or two
I’d be all over the moonshine gumbo…..and the prices seem pretty reasonable. Was it spicy at all?
It was surprisingly quite spicy! But even if you like it even spicier, there was tabasco sauce on hand to help you out