{Sydney Eats} New hidden gem, Foley Lane

On a recent Friday night I was surprised to find available seats at the small bar and restaurant, evading the usually tricky ‘no bookings’ curse of queuing and listing and waiting. From the enticing menu featuring Spanish favourites with a creative injection (priced from $4) we ordered:What do you get when take a nautical, art deco style corner building tucked off busy Oxford Street, add a cool industrial style fitout, serve a blend of great Spanish and Australian wines and feature a ridiculously good menu of tapas? The gorgeous, pint-sized temple to tapas perfection, Foley Lane, that’s what!

+ chicken tostada with avocado and coriander
+ spanner crab and piquillo croquette
+ braised longaniza and pimento
+ scallop ceviche with chives and macadamia
+ patatas with paprika alioli
+ cabbage with mint and feta
+ calamari with rocket sauce and chilli
+ morcilla with poached egg, mahon and truffle oil

…then for dessert, the churro with manjar (i.e. a sugared donut stick dipped in dulce de leche, caramelly goodness). Magical.

The entire meal was perfection, punctuated with heavenly wines (we stuck to Spanish) from cava to tempranillo. The service was ultra-friendly, the space inspiring and the food, all so good. The smoky, spicy potatoes was one of the simpler dishes but one of my favourite, and I’m going to attempt to recreate the cabbage, feta and mint salad – so refreshing and the perfect dish to offset the richer meat dishes (like the heartstoppingly rich morcilla).

I highly, highly recommend seeking out Foley Lane before there are queues winding their way around Taylor Square, I can see it already.

Foley Lane, 371-373 Bourke Street, Darlinghurst, www.foleylane.com.au

Image: Foley Lane

Update: Foley Lane has now closed