Seeing smash-hit musical & Juliet at Sydney's Lyric Theatre is a joyous night out, and you can amp up the joy factor even further by tacking on a pre-show dinner with all the trimmings. The Porter House Hotel Sydney - MGallery is serving up a special specially-designed pre-theatre dinner menu at their gorgeous Dixson & Sons restaurant for those going to see & Juliet.
The Porter House’s building, which was crafted in 1876, started as a tobacco factory and then a furniture and leather factory. The restaurant, as well as parts of the hotel, have been well preserved, with original beams, brass fixtures and glass displays of archaeological treasures all speaking to the building’s rich history.
Start your night on a high with the & Juliet cocktail, which combines mint gin with hibiscus tea, rose syrup and edible flowers. Then you have the choice of two courses for $75 per head or three courses for $85.
Created by Executive Chef Steven Hartert, the pre-theatre menu features choices of entrées, mains and desserts. For entrée, you have a choice between dishes heroing burrata, beef tartare or crudo yellowfin tuna.
For mains, pick between the snapper fillet with pea salad, almond cream and coastal herbs; the Cowra lamb rump with asparagus, bearnaise and sorrel; or Little Joe Angus beef skirt with broccoli and squid ink.
We’d recommend not skipping dessert – there’s a passionfruit bavarois and mango sorbet with coconut meringue; a peanut chocolate delice with chocolate mousse, salted caramel and chocolate crisp – but our fave is the tart with raspberry mousse and pistachio praline. It’s as delicious as it is cute.
There’s also the option to go for matching wines with each course – and the people behind the Porter House Hotel know their wines (they own more than a few vineyards).
& Juliet is on at the Lyric Theatre until July, so you have until then to find some time for this dinner-and-a-show experience. The show is a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet – but it starts with Juliet deciding not to tragically end her life with Romeo. “As one of the city’s finest heritage hotels, which has been completely modernised inside while retaining the historical features that make it so special, we can see the alignment with what & Juliet has done, by bringing new life to a beloved historic favourite,” says Mitchell Turner, General Manager of The Porter House Hotel Sydney - MGallery.
To book your pre-theatre dinner at Dixson & Sons, click here.