The Public, Cammeray

The Public in Cammeray is a pub on Miller Street in Cammeray. While the location has had several iterations (a Belgian beer cafe one of them) it has new owners and offers a cut-above pub style food at reasonable prices with great burgers, schnitzel and a divine beef cheek ragu rigatoni.

While in the past reviews have been mixed about the food at The Public, it has new ownership and a new interior and menu. Full disclosure Dear Reader, the owners Harris and Arthur Stamos are friends with my friend Valentina but I was under no obligation to post or review anything and we paid for our meals in full.

Between the six of us we ordered 4 entrees and 5 mains to share. Valentina and I go to the counter to order and when they tell us the total I almost do a double take at the prices as they're so reasonable - maybe I need to eat at pubs more often...

The food arrives in a timely manner. The jalapeno and corn fritters come four to a serve with a side of coriander yogurt. They're crispy, hot and fresh and really tasty with a mild level of spice from the jalapeno and juicy corn inside.

While there are potato wedges and fries on the menu I cannot resist a potato scallop because they remind me of my childhood and you don't often see potato scallops on a menu. They come dusted in rosemary salt with a generous amount of aioli and I'd order these again in a flash. The batter is crisp on the outside and the potatoes have a good bitey texture inside.

The dips platter is generously sized with three types of dips: a hummus, a red capsicum dip and a basil pesto. There's also delicious pickled onions and beetroot and grilled sourdough and flatbread on the side. The capsicum dip is my favourite with a nice amount of chilli heat to it although the basil pesto with deep fried basil leaves is also good. At first I think there's perhaps too much bread (and seriously, you often have to ask for more) but it all ends up being eaten.

The only entree that I didn't overly go for were the whiskey smoked chicken wings. They were fine but I didn't go for the flavour and prefer spicy hot wings.

At first Lutz isn't into sharing mains but acquiesces as long as he can get the schnitzel. This is a solid version with tender chicken breast and a crunchy crumb with shoestring fries and a pot of dressed salad.

The squid ink tagliatelle is house-made and perhaps needs a bit of reworking as the pasta is quite thick and chewy and falls apart when eating. The grilled prawns in a white wine and cherry tomato sauce are generous though and well cooked.

Everyone's favourite main is the braised beef cheek ragu rigatoni. The beef is so flavoursome and soft in texture and the pasta is al dente and it comes with shaved pecorino and fried basil on top.

There are three steaks available: rump, eye fillet and rib eye. The steak comes out pre-sliced so it's easy to share although the slice that I got was a bit gristly. There are a range of sauces available with the steak (mushroom, red wine jus, peppercorn and garlic herb butter) and I always tend to go for the red wine jus. We also tried the mushroom and peppercorn just for comparison ($2.50 each). I adored the red wine jus and I would have loved this with some creamy Paris mash as an option too especially once the weather gets colder.

Another favourite main apart from the schnitzel and beef ragu rigatoni is the beef burger. It's a beef patty with smoked cheese sauce, tomato relish, pickled, red onion and aioli on a milk bun and it's delicious and perfectly saucy. All burgers come with fries.

There are two options for dessert: a chocolate brownie with ice cream and waffles with ice cream. I had expected that we might have room for dessert but we are all completely stuffed!

So tell me Dear Reader, how often do you eat at pubs? And what food reminds you of your childhood?

This meal was independently paid for.

The Public Cammeray

429 Miller St, Cammeray NSW 2062
Phone: (02) 9925 0050
Monday & Tuesday closed
Wednesday & Thursday 12–10pm
Friday & Saturday 12–11pm
Sunday 12–9pm
thepubliccammeray.com.au