“Pop by for creative food, cool tunes and a mix of playful and serious wines. A main design feature of Bar Outro is thousands of vinyl records, played on a mighty impressive sound system,” writes dining reviewer WENDY JOHNSON.
It’s strange to begin a review of a new establishment by referring to its demise, but Bar Outro is only with us for a “moment of time”.
The name is a play on “outro”, the final section of a song that signals its end. Bar Outro – a wine bar and listening lounge – is temporary because the building it’s housed in, on Lonsdale Street, will eventually be knocked down and redeveloped.
In the meantime, pop by for creative food, cool tunes and a mix of playful and serious wines.
A main design feature of Bar Outro is thousands of vinyl records, played on a mighty impressive sound system. Listening is easy…
The wine list is extensive, expensive and requires serious study. We passed by the $5445 (not a typo) 2013 Salon Les Mesnil Blanc de Blanc champagne (France) and instead began our Outro experience with cocktails, loving every sip of the Native Dry Martini created with two types of gin, dry Vermouth and zesty lemon verbena ($24).
The menu is designed to share (except for the $35 cheeseburger). With lovely flatbread ($20), we enjoyed a small dish of super-smooth artichoke and cannellini bean dip ($5) and a vibrant green, punchy and acidic Dragoncello (tarragon) salsa ($5).
A masterpiece was the duck liver parfait with an intriguing hazelnut praline for added texture ($16). The balance was perfect and the parfait rich, creamy and decadent.
For fun we road-tested the chicken skin butter ($5) but wouldn’t again. While the crunchy bits of chicken skin were tasty, overall the dish lacked the savory, umami flavour we assumed would feature.
From the “small” section of the menu, we indulged in one of the best Vitello tonnato I’ve had in Canberra, with pretty Jerusalem artichoke chips decorating the thinly sliced veal. It was excellent ($28).
From the same section, we applauded the charred prawns, with intense prawn bisque and fried basil ($22 for two).
Moving to the menu’s “large” section, we ordered the tender, juicy chicken ballotine with apple puree and tarragon jus ($43), another admirable creation by the team in the kitchen. The stuffing was savory, the jus superb, and the mash heavenly. It married perfectly with an inventive baby gem lettuce salad featuring a perky dressing ($14).
Back to the wine. A few options are available by the glass, and the 2023 Lethbridge Chardonnay from Geelong was delicious ($24). The list’s many categories will attract serious wine aficionados, with most bottles over $100. The “white wine, lightning and limestone” section, for example, starts at $109 and tops off at $1050. The “macerated red, rose and chilled red” section starts at $119 and rises to $199.
Bar Outro is from the talented team behind Terra (Civic) and Recess (Griffith).
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