4 In Hand

The proverb is: A bird in hand is worth two in the bush. Meaning be grateful for a small real advantage, rather than the possibility of a greater yet uncertain one. Apparently, this phrase came about from medieval falconry, meaning better to have the falcon the predator, than the two birds he was gunning for in the bush. So I figure having 4 in Hand must really be a good thing. And boy is it evah!

I hesitated and I waited so long to go here because I thought it was an over hyped pub. Well, it is a pub on one side but it also features fine fuss-free dining adjoining but very separate from the pub. M says this is his favorite restaurant in Sydney. He picks it over est. What? Full stop. What just happened? Now I loved it, I will go back and soon, but let's not get crazy, the two are so very different it's like comparing Uggs to Hunters. Their both great when the occasion calls but one is certainly not the other. Besides, one of us could barely dine at est. for what we spent at 4 in Hand.

Not to brag, but we had great service AGAIN. What is going on in the universe? I am convinced it is because I wore my brown boots with black leggings, which is very very Sydney-siderish of me, so now I wear them every time I go out! Literally. Every time. Having people be nice to you is just too wondrous to leave to chance by not wearing my lucky boots. Our waitress was helpful, attentive, knowledgable, she recommended a great inexpensive French wine and you could tell she really enjoyed her job and that helped us enjoy the restaurant.

So you can't live on service alone. But you could on their bread and butter, oh so soft in the middle with a crunchy crust and delicious fresh butter. They serve an amuse bouche which was a soup in a cute teacup that was outstanding, no idea what kind of soup, just know it was great! We had the scallops with bone marrow. To die for. I have always been scared of marrow, not sure why, maybe because it is the inside of a bone? But on fancy thick toast, I say bring on the bones baby. For our main we had the suckling pig shoulder, served on a cutting board, to share. OMG, out of this world. It could have fed 3 maybe 4 people(unheard of to have a large portion in Sydney) and every bite was delicious, including the crackling. I never got the whole pork crackling thing, people here are wild about it and they go on and on about it on all the food shows. I thought, no biggie, it is in essence a fancy pork rind or chicharrones? Right? Wrong. I get it now. After eating it. I get it now. I am converted. I am sold. It was crispy fatty piggy heaven. If you think we could not have possibly had room for dessert, you underestimate us/me! M said "no way I am way too full for dessert," but I paced myself as I can not leave a good dessert alone and I had stalked out my choice before I set foot in the restaurant. I ordered the deconstructed Snickers and M ate at least half despite his protests, it was so decadent and so good. So, after 8 years of marriage and 10 years together, the fact he said no way and made a big fuss about being full and still ate half did not even phase me, it was expected, kind of like how you know which side of the bed your going to sleep on no matter the bed. It did in fact register interest in the table next to us, where the lady called him out! That opened up the conversation and we chatted it up and found that her customer is one of M's customers, what a small world. Then the table next to them starting chatting with us. It was truly shocking. I think that was the largest number of Australians that have ever acknowledged and spoken to me at one time. I loved it. I owe it all to my brown boot black legging combo and the brilliant 4 in Hand.

Second visit update: Just as good as the first time but a few minor chinks in the armor. The dining room was running about 35-45 minutes behind due to an accident on the bridge? We were not seated until after 9pm. In typical Aussie fashion we were not offered anything to soothe this minor scratch, not a drink, not a dessert, nothin. Started with the mussel chowda. Shockingly, it was soo salty and not very good, for me it was inedibly salty M ate it up. Had the 12hr cooked lamb. Amazing! Can't decide if I love the pork or the lamb the best. I have decided the early 6:30 seating is best for this restaurant.

Good: flawless food, superb service, cozy but not cramped, fine food without a stuffy atmosphere

Bad: I can not eat there everyday, oh and maybe vegetarians and vegans would struggle with the menu

Ugly: NONE!!!

Brass tacks: CALL RIGHT NOW AND BOOK! You will love it so much you should go ahead and book your next trip too!