It is Friday 11 June 2010 on an awesome winter afternoon and the first stop on my schnitzel tour of greater Sydney has taken me to an old time favourite. The Buena Vista Hotel in Mosman (76 Middle Head Road) shot to fame about 6 years ago when they re-did their pub-style bistro, with a new bar and slick hot plate for the ‘grill your own’. While the bar failed to live up to the hype (except for 50-somethings, trying to look late 30-somethings on Friday evening drinking slushy cocktails for $7), the food went through a bit of purple patch with the offer of two-for-one mains. Sad to say, they realised that making money on two-for-ones was only really possible when people wanted to stick around and drink. Consequently, the quality slid and the price went up gradually (arguably outstripping inflation). However, as a first stop, I thought I would revisit my old schnitzel stomping ground... and I was pleasantly surprised.
The schnitzel comes out relatively quickly and immediately looks great on the plate. A good size, shape and served with a moderate amount of fries. The chicken is clearly breast, has an amazing porcelain white look and is tender and moist. The flavour and tenderness of the chicken is beautifully juxtaposed with the crispy golden texture of the perfectly salted crumb. The schnitzel is a consistent thickness of 1.5-2.5 cms throughout, making the chicken tender from edge to centre without the need to cut away crumbed, and often chewy, edge. One of my favourite things about the schnitzel experience at the Buena Vista, is the salad bar but moreover the sauce bar. Many places offer a variety of similar looking salad bars with your Greek-salad (with oversized chunks of salty feta), your potato salad, pasta salad and vegetables. To this end, the Buena is no different. However, moving from salad to sauce, from health to heart-attack and you get to the dark corner of the bistro... the sauce bar! Here you will find a selection of hot sauces (pepper, mushroom, gravy and diane) that look like they need a good stir and your usual spilling of tomato, sweet chilli, mustards and tarter. Finally a sauce bar that isn’t afraid to let you sauce your own, so for those shy-types not wanting to make a scene and seem like a freak for harassing the bar girl for more sauce, you can sauce away in anonymity till you have what more closely resembles a mixed sauce soup, with chunks of chicken on your plate. One word of caution, do not be afraid of the slight layer of film that builds on the hot-sauces... try and think of it as the sauce marinating itself.
Overall, I cannot fault this schnitzel experience. From amazing chicken, to a place that serves delicious crispy ‘fries’ and not chips to the condiment kingdom, you will not be disappointed. The only letdown is the price tag. Although it is deep in the heartland of merchant bankers, a plate of fried things with salad and day old sauce should not be $22. However, take advantage of their two-for-one mains on Monday – Friday, midday till 3pm.
Rating – 18/20.
You are totally random. Love it!
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