On a regular catchup with D’s parents, we found ourselves visiting Lloyd’s Bistro in Lidcombe. The restaurant is inside the Dooleys Lidcombe Catholic Club.
2018
It’s around Easter when we visit, so the Easter bunnies are out to play. At Lloyd’s Bistro, you go inside to find an empty table and bring the table number with you to the counter to place your order.
I go for the Chicken Parmigiana ($19.00), ‘house crumbed tenderised chicken breast, topped with ham, mozzarella cheese and Napolitana sauce, served with chips and salad’.
I always have reservations when it comes to chicken breast, but it was surprisingly tender and succulent with none of the string squeaky texture that I dread. The cheese and sauce created a taste much like a pizza if the base were swapped out for chicken, but it also meant that the crumb on the chicken lost its crunch. The chips were a tad undercooked.
D gets the Dooleys Fish and Chips ($13.00), ‘battered hoki fillets with chips, salad and caper aioli.
These were rather average fish and chips. The fish is juicy but the batter lacked the audible crispness that we love. As with the chips above, these were also undercooked.
D’s mother tries the Thai Beef Salad ($15.00), ‘julienne carrot and cucumber tossed with bean sprouts and a spicy Thai dressing’.
The beef here is very tough and chewy despite being cooked to medium.
His dad gets the Grilled Atlantic Salmon ($25.00), ‘served with crispy chat potato, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, rocket and a balsamic glaze’.
This may have been the best dish of the four with D’s dad enjoying the fish and well roast potatoes.
Lloyd’s Bistro offers a large menu featuring food from lots of different cuisines, but we’d be more satisfied spending (less) money at restaurants specialising in those cuisines.
We’re not particularly fond of Lloyd’s Bistro, but D’s mother wanted to try the steak on their usual menu. Luckily, we visited between 8-17 October when they offered a German menu.
This is the Smoked Salmon and Reiberdatschi (member, $18.00), ‘smoked salmon, rocket & apple salad on warm potato rostis with a horseradish cream’.
The soft and savoury notes of the smoked salmon pairing well with the slight bitterness of the rocket and the gentle sweetness of the slices of apple. That said, there were some fibrous rocket stalks that would’ve been better left off. While the combination of smoked salmon, rocket and apple worked well, the rostis let down the dish, as the potato tasted like al dente vermicelli — undercooked with far too much bite and none of the moreish flavours of roast potato.
For D, this is the Wiener Schnitzel (member, $23.00) ‘crumbed veal schnitzel, fried egg & potato salad’.
The presentation of D’s dish is pathetic, but thankfully, the veal schnitzel tasted better than it looked. It had a light, crispy crumb despite the veal being on the dry side. The potato salad was strong on the onion, alas.
Essentially, visit Lloyd’s Bistro for a relaxed conversation with good company but not for the food.
2019
D’s parents are particularly fond of the variety of food offered at the Dooley’s Catholic Club in Lidcombe, so we’re back at Lloyd’s Bistro to celebrate a birthday.
This is the Mixed Seafood Grill ($27.00 for member, $32.00 for guest) with 2 skewers of marinated prawns, scallops, calamari and octopus, a grilled barramundi fillet, served with chips, salad and caper aioli. D enjoyed the tang from the aioli but thought the seafood was a touch overcooked with the prawns being particularly tough, while the chips weren’t as crisp or fluffy as we like.
This is the Spaghetti Marinara ($23.00 for member, $28.00 for guest) with prawns, calamari, mussels, garlic, white wine, tossed in a rich Napolitana sauce’. I enjoyed the richness of the sauce with the seafood being tender and just cooked through with the exception of the mussels, one of which was almost raw and the other so small as to be almost nonexistent. I also prefer my spaghetti a tad more al dente.
This is the Prawn Linguine ($20.00 for member, $24.00 for guest) with prawns, garlic, fresh chilli, Napolitana sauce, extra virgin olive oil, fresh basil and Parmesan. D’s mother enjoyed the gentle spiciness of the sauce, but the prawns were tough from being overcooked.
This is the Sticky Date Pudding ($8.00 for member, $10.00 for guest) with warm sticky date pudding, vanilla ice cream and butterscotch sauce. The pudding is incredibly dense, but it did have a decent date flavour that paired well with the ice cream and sauce. The toasted bread cubes added crunch but were a rather odd addition.
This is the Tiramisu ($8.00 for member, $10.00 for guest) with espresso and liqueur soaked sponge fingers, mascarpone cream and chocolate. This dessert surprised us with the overall flavour and texture. The sponge fingers were soft without being soggy and had a healthy espresso and liqueur flavour without being boozy, while the mascarpone cream added a welcome lightness that we don’t usually expect from cream.
Lloyd’s Bistro is located in Dooleys Lidcombe Catholic Club, 11-15 Church St, Lidcombe NSW 2141.