Rita's Bar and Kitchen - Balmain, NSW

Sixfoot &. S.

Classic pub grub in a beautiful setting. Woodfire pizza has beautiful crust and great toppings. Well cooked steaks with fresh chips. Fish and chips are generous portions. Only downer was the banoffee dessert which lacked a little finesse in the presentation.

Sarah C. (.

Rita’s Bar and Kitchen

Rita’s Bar and Kitchen can be found within the Cat and Fiddle Hotel, Balmain. Inside the heritage style pub you’ll find the best of both worlds. There’s both the bar with tartan floors, beers on tap and gaming space as well as the Hampton’s style restaurant called Rita’s. Rita’s has a high glass cathedral style roof providing bright light to the venue, mosaic tiled bench tops and white chairs, and a vibrant wallpaper.

The restaurant provides a casual dining space and relaxed atmosphere, which makes Rita’s suitable for a catch up with friends, a date or even an outing for the whole family.

The menu also supports this, being so extensive that you can have a fine dining meal, shared plates or a pub classic. Options for kids too, and plenty of dishes to satisfy those with dietary requirements to cater to vegetarian, gluten free and dairy free diners.

The menu is innovative, with a Mediterranean influence and the presentation of the dishes is high class. Evidence of this can be seen especially through our first dish, the stunning Western Australian Octopus Carpaccio with fennel, skordalia, saffron aioli. A light starter, beautifully flavoured and it worked well in the terrine style arrangement.

We followed this with the roast beetroot tarte tatin, using orange beetroot in a honey glaze, sitting atop crispy pastry with goat’s cheese and pine nuts. Again, a superb dish in all regards, a little savoury and a little sweet for good measure.

Another one of the small dishes we enjoyed was their Balmain bug, certainly appropriate to have on the menu given the location. The bug was cooked in a herb butter sauce, making for a light and fluffy flesh, softly flavoured and easy to pull from the shell. It was topped with extra of the buttery sauce and smoked salmon pearls and bottarga.

From the larger plates, we opted to share the
450 g wood fired lamb shoulder, a good chunk of the lamb, served with the bone in and the meat was tender, falling softly from the bone and perfectly paired with chimichurri sauce. We recommend ordering a side, and our choice of the Zucchini, rocket and pecorino salad was perfect. Now it might sound like a basic dish, but whatever they did to this was amazing. Not normally a fan of rocket, the combination with the pecorino and lightly cooked zucchini was brilliant.

We were satisfied and full after all of this, shared between two, but there’s dessert on the menu too if you’re into your sweets, even an affogato.

Whilst you’re here, be sure to get a drink or two. Whether it be a beer, wine, cocktail or one of their many gins, there’s something to please everyone. Their French Martini was excellent, delicate flavours and topped with dehydrated raspberries, providing a nice touch. We then selected a Gin and tonic, opting for the Applewood Alpine gin, with notes of macadamia, vanilla and wattleseed, flavours that shone through.

The whole experience was topped off with a high level of service. Cameron was friendly and super knowledgeable on all aspects of the restaurant’s history, menu and drink list. He promptly took our order, continued to check in and provided for excellent hospitality.

We would like for thank all involved for a great dining experience and we highly recommend a visit.

Kylie M.

Yum! Pizza was so fresh and wood fired. Tuna crackers were great and a different touch on a dish, do try.
You can sit outside with your dog too which is good

Ingrid N.

Walking into Rita's Bar and Kitchen, next to the Cat and Fiddle Hotel was like walking into a beautiful oasis.

The décor was so beautiful from the tropical greenery to the blue and white tiled wooden table tops.

The food was absolutely delicious, the cocktail menu was extensive (the Lavender Lady gin cocktail was so refreshing) and the service was friendly and efficient.

The best dish I ordered was definitely the woodfire slow cooked, melt-in-the-mouth, falling-off-the-bone Victoria Lamb Shoulder For 2. It was the BEST LAMB EVER!

Accompanied by a fresh fig and feta salad, duck fat potatoes and salsa verde this is a total must order dish!

Other dishes we enjoyed included the salt n pepper squid and Balmain bugs, we were in Balmain after all!

And the perfect finale to our gourmet meal was the exquisite rich chocolate tart with seasonal berries. YUM!

I highly recommend visiting at Rita's Bar and Kitchen in Balmain.

Suan Y.

New modern look. Sunday lamb roast for $30 is delicious. The pizzas and burgers are generous portions too. Nutella pizza was a hit among the kids. Service was a little slow but it's understandable under current restrictions. Plenty of seating available. No pets allowed (only on pub side).

Yoanita P.

Enjoyed my brunch at this chic and elegant restaurant located in Cat & Fiddle Hotel, Balmain.
The food is flavourful and satisfying with beautiful presentation in every dish. Here’s what’s on the menu:
🍖 Roast Porchetta with Dutch cream potatoes. The Pochetta is so thick, juicy, and delicious! Love how crispy the skin is, and the gravy is so yum!
🍖 Victoria Lamb Shoulder for 2, slow cooked in woodfire, and my gosh! The lamb meat is so tender, succulent, and perfect with the fresh salad and delicious Salsa Verde!🔥
🦑 Salt and Pepper Squid with grilled lemon and aioli. It’s crispy and light. Love that it’s not too greasy.
🦞 Balmain Bug with herb butter sauce, smoked salmon pearls, and bottarga. It’s tasty and succulent, love the simple herb butter sauce.
🧁 Dulce de Leche Molten Lava Cake with salted caramel ice cream and pink fairy floss.
Perfect dessert to end the brunch!

Peter M.

Nice enough pub restaurant with a good selection of food and casual atmosphere. Service was a little slow but staff were friendly. The food was ok for a casual pub restaurant with nothing to complain about.

Fraser B.

I’ve had some good meals here lately, but tonight was a special treat. Every morsel was moreish, the imagination going into this menu + the execution was really outstanding. Well done Rita!