D2D and I are both quite familiar with The Little Snail in Pyrmont. I’ve only gone about 3-5 times, but D2D says he has gone so many times that he has tried everything on the menu!
(This later turns out to be a lie – if you haven’t tried the vegetable mains, you haven’t tried the whole menu…)
The Little Snail
- Website: http://www.thelittlesnail.com.au/
- Address: 50 Murray Street, Pyrmont
- Open: 12-3pm and 5.30-10.30pm daily
- Call: 02 9212 7512
- Bookings: online
- Menus: online
Located at the end of Pyrmont Bridge, The Little Snail is a fairly convenient walk from the Sydney CBD area. Inside, there’s an downstairs and upstairs, waiting lounge and bar seats. I’ve always sat upstairs, but this time we’re downstairs and we come early at like 6pm, even though I’ve booked for 6.30pm…
We’re using a $75 Groupon voucher, which is a 3 course dinner for two, plus drinks. Usually the 3 courses dinner is $60 pp. The 3 course lunch is $38 pp and an a la carte menu is also available.
When we arrive that early, the restaurant is basically empty but they’re already open (opening at 5.30pm for dinner). Maybe it’s the rainy weather, but the view from the ground floor tables is rather lackluster, facing out onto road streets and commuters.
Our drinks (cocktail and mocktail) – very sweet. Usually $15.
Entree:
This is D2D’s favourite entree here: a flavoursome seafood soup with garlic bread. Great for a cold rainy day.
I think almost every time I come to The Little Snail, I always order the escargot entree. You get a dozen big snails in this super buttery sauce.
For those who haven’t eaten snails, it’s not really a big deal. They taste kind of earthy – and you can liken them to eating oyster, mussels etc.
What is a bit special is the little snail pinching equipment you get to use. There’s a clamp that lets you grab hold of the shell and a small fork that you use to grab the meat out of the shell.
Main:
D2D gets the steak – what he always gets. The steak is quite thick, but quite tender when cooked medium rare. Next to it is layered potato, all sitting in a red wine jus.
For my main, I order the seafood platter. This is pretty much exactly what I ordered last time I was here (snails and seafood), but you can’t fault something that you know is good! The highlights from this platter are the prawns and grilled salmon.
This was very filling and you may struggle to finish it off. It also comes with a side of salad and is served on a bed of lettuce (there is a lot of lettuce).
Dessert
Blue cheese! They give you quite a bit of cheese, and we only finished two of the three slices they gave us. It would be good if we were given more crackers/bread etc though, as otherwise the blue cheese is far too strong/creamy to eat by itself I feel.
We also get warm sticky date pudding, which is D2D’s favourite. It’s really good and even though we’re quite full from entrees and mains, we polish this off anyway!
There’s a cool little engraved snail on each glass panel looking out onto the streets of Pyrmont!
The service that night was a little poorer than usual. The host waitress was noticeably cranky (with all tables) and had an attitude of just plonking down our cutlery or food without a smile or word. She seemed to be in a rush (despite the restaurant not having that many tables that night), so perhaps they are a bit understaffed? For a restaurant like The Little Snail, you would really expect a bit more.
But this was just our most recent experience. I have to say on prior visits, I haven’t noticed any bad service. This was likely a one-off and perhaps due to the gloomy weather that night.
Let’s hope it clears up soon!
What else is around:
- The Star – casinos, restaurants, Gelato Messina
- Australian National Maritime Museum
- Harbourside Shopping Centre and Darling Harbour
