Salmon and Bear, Zetland & Newtown

Hearty meals that make you feel right at home

Located 6 Defries Ave, Zetland & 226 King Street, Newtown, Sydney

Salmon & Bear is one of the newer restaurants that we’ve visited, only having been there since 2015. It must be doing something right, for it’s already opened up another busy branch in Newtown.

The restaurant was inspired by the wildlife of Canada, in particular, the way the bear snatches fish out of the water at that particular season. It’s a way of reconnecting with the wild whilst it’s at its most fresh. The interior decor was wooden and with a slightly dimmer lighting that’s highly reminiscent of a cabin in the woods. It was very homely and immersive. At the Zetland branch, there’s both indoor and outdoor seating — the tables were massive and a great size for fitting the dishes, which were predominantly of the seafood inclination. The Newtown branch only features indoor seating and as you walk in, it feels much like stepping into a cosy Alaskan cabin. Given its prices and presentation of the dishes, it’s a restaurant that falls somewhere between the corner fish and chips store, and a high end restaurant — sort of midrange.

Fish tacos are one of the staples of American cuisine, particularly in the coastal cities where access to seafood is plentiful. We’ve tried a number of different types of fish taco, ranging from those with a soft soggy shell to a hard crispy shell. This shell was somewhere in between: it was sort enough to not have a crunch, but firm enough so as to not imbibe much of the fluid within. I think we prefer this type of taco shell because of its versatility and the fact that it does not detract from the actual hero of the dish. Interesting, the fish components were the battered and fried variety. There were three types: sticky soy glazed salmon, crispy fish (Hoki NZ) and crispy prawn and corn. Each of the tacos were served with a salad consisting of cabbage, salsa verde, picked pink onions, coriander, lime and sriracha mayo. I think out of the three, the salmon had the most unique flavour because of the additional soy glaze, which shone through to suppress the spiciness of the sriracha mayo. That’s not to say that the others weren’t as good: they were also both very good versions. If you prefer a more spicy iteration, then the crispy fish (Hoki) is the way to go. The prawn and corn was also a very interesting flavour: both prawn and corn, rhyme beside, are a classic combination, and work incredibly well in the context of the taco. As you will see later, the coriander helped to enhance the overall flavour of the fish and salad.

A Grizzly Plate consists of a fish, a sauce and 2 sides/salads. The fish is uniquely cooked using a Mibrasa charcoal oven, which added an extra bit of smokiness and warmth to the fish. For our fish, we selected a barramundi — a really safe and typical fish, and a blue eye cod — something a little bit different. The fish were quite starkly contrasting. The barramundi was a very smooth and evenly tasting fish with a nice crispy layer of skin. This fish was paired with lemon herb butter sauce, which was rubbed on, infusing the smooth meat of the fish with an even smoother texture. The hint of acidity from the lemon was subtle.

“The fish is uniquely cooked using a Mibrasa charcoal oven, which added an extra bit of smokiness and warmth to the fish.”

On the other hand, cod is a flakier type of fish, with a milder taste compared to barramundi. I think that cod exemplifies the philosophy of the restaurant better, but its texture can be somewhat divisive and contentious for people who prefer a smooth texture of fish. Being a flaky fish, it was paired well with a dipping sauce. In this case, we went for the yogurt and dill, which had a razor sharp taste. It was quite addictive.

For sides, we ordered sweet potato fries and chive mash. The sweet potato fries had a nice and thick and crispy skin, and were paired with a spicy peri peri dipping sauce. The chive mash was also quite addictive. The chive flavour was reasonably subtle, and the mash was smooth throughout, without granules of uncooked potato.

For salads, we ordered the corn cob and roasted veg. The corn cob was also cooked in the Mibrasa oven, with an additional glaze of miso butter. Again, the theme of the restaurant was apparent with the use of miso, enhancing its juiciness. To cap off the sides and salads, we got some roasted vegetables. These were seasonal ad consisted of, among other things, eggplant, pumpkin, and zucchini. One of the best aspects of the roasted veg was the fact that the vegetable were diced and roasted to a nice level of softness, allowing of easy and rapid consumption. The presentation was quite lovely and the fish stood out as the heroes of the dish overall.

Poke is a traditional Hawaiian style sushi salad. This dish had a couple of interesting elements to it. Firstly, coconut rice was used: a long yet thin type of rice, which is quite different to the medium and thicker rice used in Asian cooking. The coconut rice had a texture that resembled that of the the sesame and seaweed crumbly bits that garnished the plates. The corn salsa consisted primarily of corn, capsicum and onions all diced. It wasn’t quite a salsa in that it didn’t come with a rich sauce; it was more of a side of salad mixed in to taste, which was great. Again, the fish was lovely and fresh, and the curing brought out these flavours wonderfully.

The two desserts on the menu were Bear Treats by Gelato Messina: two custom flavours that were made especially for Salmon & Bear. The bear component was a chocolate gelato cookie sandwich: two pieces of soft chocolate chip cookie sandwiching a nice and thick glob of chocolate gelato. The salmon was a paddle pop of strawberry gelato (a nice salmon pink colour) dipped in “white” chocolate (that was also red). Both were delicious — simple flavours that capped off the meal wonderfully.