East Village Hotel - A Roof Top to Delight in Darlinghurst

East Village Hotel Darlinghurst has a lovely Winter Garden-Themed Rooftop with 4000 starry fairy lights and heaters galore to warm you up. Inspired by European Winters, the rooftop of East Village Hotel is incredibly inviting. I stop by on date night with MW.

East Village Hotel is located in Darlinghurst, a short walk from the main strip of Oxford St. It's a cold and windy night when I arrive but the heaters up there are warm enough although there are blankets as well if you are still cold. There are fairy lit trees and also some winter special eats to warm you up and warm winter drinks to match like mulled wine, warm mead and cognac hot toddies. 

A must order is the Blue Blazer ($19) which is a spectacular show so you should head to the bar to watch. The cocktail making process lives up to it's name for shizz.

I chat to the staff and they tell me that this is one of the most popular cocktails at the moment made from martell VS cognac, triple sec, sugar and orange peel. I watch the blue flames erupt in long strands. It's interesting how humans are fascinated by fire.

So below if the final product on the left - the Blue Blazer was incredibly warming, sweet and has a strong hit. It's not a cocktail for those who can't handle their grog though. MW and I both really enjoy the Blue Blazer.

We also order the Queen Bee ($19) which is a sweeter and lighter cocktail made from 42 below manuka vodka, St. Germain elderflower liquer, regal rogue lively white vermouth, pineapple, lemon and honey. This one will certainly be a hit with the masses having sweet tones with depth in flavour from the elderflower liquer and vermouth.

It feels almost like xmas in the Sydney winter. I couldn't resist but order some of East Village Hotel's winter special dishes - the highlight is definitely the Honey Glazed Ham Board ($19) which has hand carved honey glazed ham with spiced pear chutney and sourdough bread. The honey glazed ham is sweet and subtly smokey in flavour - it perfectly complements that spicy pear chutney. I really like the chutney and end up eating it with the sour dough.

The staff also recommend the Broad Bean Bruschetta ($14) which has mint, goats curd, pea tendrils and for a bit of zest - lemon and capers. This is a nice dish to share as it's filling and flavoursome. The creamy mix of goats curd and broad beans is nice with the mesh of saltiness from the capers and the lemon. It's got a nice contrast in flavour.

It's time for another round of drinks on this starry lit up roof top. We also order the Mulled Cider ($10) which has cloudy cider, martel VS cognac, amaro montenegro, and ginger honey. This drink has to represent Winter - it's so comforting. It's warm, inviting with those honey tones and with a mild alcoholic hit. It's so lovely and I highly recommend.

I also try the Birds of Paradise ($18) which has havana club 3anos rum, rondo aperitivo bio, regal rogue, wild rose vermouth, passionfruit and crawleys real falerum. This cocktail is a very fruity and sweet cocktail - perfect to relax with.

MW is still a bit peckish so we decide to share a salad. We order the Mexican Burritto Bowl ($19) which has chipotle chicken , guac, black beans, brown rice, sour cream, shreadded lettuce, grilled corn and coriander. It has all the flavours that you would expect and I take a few mouthfuls of the corn, guac and sour cream. There's noticeably no tomato in this dish that I could see which was odd.

To finish off the night we order the Hot Doughnuts ($12)  with cardamam sugar, orange and honey syrup, chantilly cream. I find the doughnuts a bit dense and too doughy but MW seems to enjoy the texture. The chantilly cream is a nice touch which attempts to cut through the dense and crunchy doughnuts.

Summary: Whether it's date night or a hang with a group of friends, make sure you head to the roof top of East Village Hotel for a magical night of winter warmers. I highly recommend ordering the Honey Glazed Ham board, the mulled cider and the Blue Blazer from their special winter menu. 

Price: $20ish for mains

Location: 234 Palmer St, Darlinghurst (Just off Oxford St)

Weekend Food Escapes dined as guests of Push Play Media. All photos, opinions and words are my own.