Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre is located in a repurposed power station in the heart of Liverpool and is a cultural facility to showcase a range of exhibitions, theatre, music, performance and events. We attended the opening of the new restaurant, introduced by Director of the Powerhouse Museum, Craig Donarski in late 2017, but returned for a second visit (and certainly not the last).
The Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre has opened a new restaurant called "Bellbird dining and bar" open 7 days a week from 10am - 3pm, offering seasonal dining and using farm fresh ingredients, the restaurant is promoting sustainability, seasoning their foods with an array of the plentiful herbs and vegetables from their own garden.
At the opening, we sampled Hawkesbury River Oyster, Eco Farmed Pork, bruschetta and much more, with ingredients being sourced from their own garden or artisan suppliers from across NSW. Drinks were on offer from South Western Sydney Brewery; Stockade Brew CO. and wines from Artemis in the Southern Highlands.
We were genuinely impressed by our restaurant visit on our return and we cannot speak highly enough of Bellbird Dining at the Casula Powerhouse Museum. The kitchen is run by two passionate chefs; Cordon Bleu trained Federico Rekowski and sous chef Steven Pham. We consider Bellbird to be a destination dining venue well worth a visit. With everything under $18, many of the ingredients used are sourced from their very own garden on site.
At an amazing price combined with beautiful plating and an amazing display of technique makes for a truly special dining experience. This also evident in the feedback from fellow diners which we witness during our dine. Bellbird is hands down the best value menu in Sydney.
The menu we sampled was super fresh, light and perfect for summer and there is also an extensive menu that caters to vegetarians. The South Coast Kingfish with gazpacho broth was an automatic pick for us on that hot summers day. A beautifully presented dish, a refined broth with a nice spice kick and summer flavour provided by fresh herbs, tomatoes and cucumber fresh from their own garden.
Chef Pham's skill with seafood were learnt from his time at FishFace and clearly on display, with the prawn stuffed squid. This was a favourite, very flavoursome, also beautifully fresh, the flavours from the squid and prawns infusing nicely into the delicate clear broth, again fresh seasonal produce used in this dish.
The zucchini flower had a synergy of flavours, with a noticeable crunch from crisp batter in contrast to the creamy goat cheese filling. Sweetness was provided from the balsamic, honey and beetroot gel, this combining nicely with earthy flavours fom pastel pink beetroot and sprinkle of walnut crumb.
We loved the Gnocchi as a vegetarian option. The Gnocchi was light and fluffy, sauced with sage and nut butter, flavours further enhanced by roast fig, caramelised onion and shaved parmesan.
You can order sides as well, and the fries were nice and crispy with a wasabi salsa.
The desserts were just as impressive as the other meals on the menu. It was hard to choose between the mango sorbet and the olive oil cake. On this occasion the mango sorbet won out. The sorbet had a silky smooth mouth feel, the mango sphere served atop of a coconut gel and sprinkled with roasted white chocolate, which provided texture and a toasty flavour which was perfect o complement the sweetness of the sorbet.
Bellbird is a must visit, a great restaurant with amazingly fresh produce, beautifully prepared and even better, the food is offered at a great price. Not only is this a great restaurant, it is situated in the Casula power house museum. With no admission fee, it is a great place to visit if on a budget. There is also a train station if you don't drive, and ample parking if you do. When we visited the powerhouse had some cool pop art exhibitions, along with a very interesting manga exhibition, and a display curated by Wendy Harmer.
We appreciate the wonderful care and precision put into each dish and we look forward to returning to sample more of the menu! read more
