Big thank you for making my birthday dinner so special and memorable! Amazing food, wine and impeccable service - it more than made up for our poor prior birthday experiences at other Sydney restaurants. Thank you to all at Balcon by Tapavino especially Joseph and all the staff. Cannot recommend this restaurant enough!
Thank you for a wonderful evening...Food was delicious, staff were efficient, attentive and knowledgeable... basically turned up and let our server do all the hard work of choosing our menu.
Try the Er Boqueron cerveza con agua de mar, very interesting Spanish beer!
Amazing service and delicious food ! The wine selection they have is fantastic , we will definitely be back again and I highly recommend Balcon!!!
Really tasty Spanish tapas with modern twist. Nice atmosphere, modern decor, friendly waitress with good menu suggestions. Excellent food and wine
I had a quick lunch at the bar, the food was amazing, I felt it up to the sommelier to pick the wine as I don't know much about Spanish wine, and it was amazing.
Juay dropped in for a wine. Great atmosphere and attentive staff. Worth a look.
Phenomenal food, wine and service. Sensational night with a big group, Thank you!
Great food and impeccable service. Thanks for a great evening.
Excellent food, fabulous wine and beautiful decor! Had such a good experience!
Wonderful, fresh flavours, lovely, attentive staff and a relaxed feel. Thank you for a great dinner! :)
Great atmosphere, perfect service and delicious food. Love it!!!
Sensational food and wine! Staff were very knowledgeable.
Bitesandstamps - Kamellia
+5
Made a booking for a Friday night on The Fork as they had a 30% off the food bill special. Despite that we were told we would have the table for only 1 hour and 40 mins when I made the booking, we stayed for over 2 hours and were never once rushed or asked to leave. While I understand the reason for the time limits on bookings during COVID-19, it’s nice to not be rushed when dining out every once in awhile.
The service was absolutely impeccable, they recommended a divine bottle of Spanish red wine, and were so attentive to refilling our glasses that we were done with the first bottle before we even finished the entrees.
All the dishes came out in a reasonable time, and were so delicious. My favourites were the flank steak, the grilled WA octopus and the Spanish donuts. Will definitely be back when they have their full menu as there were many things I wanted to try that they didn’t have on their current COVID-19 menu.
Rating 3.5 Impromptu catch up after work on a Monday night, so not too many dining options around this part of town. Lovely place, but pretty quiet, service was a bit slow. The food were a mix bag, really enjoyed the mushroom carpaccio, and pate. The lamb shoulder were bit overpowered by the whole mustard seeds on top, also a little bland in the middle of the roast. Overall the food were still high quality, worth giving another go.
Balcon By Tapavino is the kind of place where you'd happily spend a lazy Friday afternoon. Order some share plates, a glass of wine and graze your way into the weekend.
Menu and service can’t fault.
😱Lizzie’s first impression: I have come here a few times and it’s changed abit. I loved it exceptionally the first time but the second was almost a let down.
🍩Lizzie enjoyed: I really liked the fried potatoes they were seasoned well and cooked until they were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I also like the jamon with melon- delicious. The croquettes are delicious and full of cheese. The octopus was yummy and fresh but really didn’t need the potatoes with it.
🍅Lizzie did not enjoy: the chorizo pancake really wasn’t my type of pancake - I don’t like how it’s cooked chorizo instead of in a sausage so wasn’t used to the flavour.
🥇Lizzie rates overall: a great place for tapas and they also do happy hour which is a plus
Balcon is a Spanish Bar with food, delicious tapas style food. It’s a mix of traditional and food with a modern twist. The restaurant itself is impressive, the showcasing of all the wines makes you go ‘wow’. Unfortunately, the service on the night was slow and not helpful. The food, however, was tasty. #tapavino
Went to Balcon on a Tuesday afternoon for lunch and was absolutely delighted by the experience!
The staff are lovely, warm and attentive - loved the recommendations!
We had the figs with blue cheese dressing and a beautifully cooked steak with delicious tender peas and tomato which was a treat for the stomach - packed oodles of flavour with every mouthful and left us totally satiated at the end of the meal without feeling like we had overeaten. Being the dessert fiend that I am, it was hard not to try everything on offer but in the end I settled on the selva negra which is a chocolate tarte with brandy soaked cherries and olive oil ice cream. Like the entree and main, dessert was, like dessert should be - the icing on the cake that was the rest of the meal - perfection!
Loved dining at Balcon and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a dining experience par excellence!
Fabulous food, wine and service. Great venue and outstanding dining experience. Our waiter was wonderful - so friendly, helpful and attentive. Will be back soon. Highly recommended
I’ve been to Balcon for happy hour a few times, they have nice range of wine and decided to try their enticing food menu as well. We ordered chicken liver & jamon pate, braised lamb shoulder, slow cooked duck Maryland and house pickles. The food was also nice, will be back again.
Dropped by Balcon for coffee & dessert! We had the Spanish donuts and the cheesecake special. Donuts were dainty and delicious - fluffy to chew and enough cinnamon seasoning that was just right. Cheesecake was made with fresh cows milk, beautiful berry sauce and sweet crumb - fresh berries all around. We enjoyed it and will be back next time for dinner !
What a place to have food electrifying environment good service good staff interactive people and a great place food is cheap and delicious 😊
This place completely exceeded my expectations. I didn’t expect much as I’ve been to it’s sisters tapavino and born. From the scallop dish to the seafood sliders, beef cheek main with fried chick peas and hummus to the generous antipasto plate with the jarmon meat sliced right infront of you with goats cheese and grilled fig. Definitely coming back. The best from the tapavino chain.
Frank and the team are just amazing the food is really delicious and they are having great selection of wine. The menu look very appealing a very enjoyable place totally recommended. They deliver food very fast
Frank and the team at Balcon are just amazing. The food is really delicious and they have a great selection of wine. Would highly recommend checking them out!
The menu looked very appealing with a large selection of wine also lined across their walls. We ordered the jamon serrano, buffalo milk curd and nectarine as the starter. The nectarine was a refreshing cleanser against the salty jamon and cheese. My personal favourite however, was the chicken liver pate. I’ve never tasted pate so smooth, creamy and silky before! Unfortunately, they had run out of the grilled chicken, which seemed to be the popular choice, so we settled for the braised lamb shoulder. It needed more flavour. We paired this with the fried garlic and rosemary potatoes. Would love to return to try the other dishes. Was actually eager to try the pigs ear schnitzel but this was no longer on the menu.
Lovely Spanish tapas restaurant in CBD.
Very good ambiance with bottles of spirits and glassware lining the walls. Very good service too and helpful in explaining the dishes.
We started with mushroom croquettes, wagyu cecina and anchovies on toast. All were good. First time we had Wagyu Beef cured and served like Jamon. Tasted great! Anchovies were salty, as expected, and really tasty.
Next came Coca Flat Bread. A crispy omelette of chorizo and spinach. Finally, the mushroom paella ( I forgot the actual name) was a superb rice dish. Very flavorful
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So it's Valentines Day. The place is buzzing with young (and the occasional illicit) love. Staff are smiley and welcoming, showing us straight to the table. It's hot outside, so the aircon is very welcome.
We start with a Galician gin with fever tree tonic, with sage leaf & chard of lemon. Served in a magnificent glass, it veritably pours itself down our gullets. So soft and smooth.
Meanwhile we have a good look at the winelist, and a good look is what it takes. Very extensive, EVERYTHING is Spanish (which I suppose is cool), but it's the colour coding/translation which befuddles. I need the Rosetta stone to decipher this conundrum - Dan Brown would be proud. We settle on a very good Rioja, which at $260 should be good. It was.
We start with some pickled vegetables and olives. Yum. Then a salt cod cigarillo and a mushroom arancini thingy. Salt cod is bland, but the mushroom is delish.
Then time for some jamon - the iberico cebo, which contrasts proscuitto leg with proscuitto shoulder, and the shoulder wins, by a Spanish country mile. Utterly delicious.
Then braised lamb shoulder, and a side of savoy cabbage/raisin/almond/manchego. Lamb was beautifully soft and tender, caramelised and able to be eaten with a fork alone. The cabbage was code for 'slaw', but it too was yum.
We finish with "bunuelo", the donuts with coffee cream and banana. Delightful.
Interestingly, the shoulder, slaw & donuts could easily have been from an upmarket Greek restaurant, so similar are the flavours, textures & presentation.
Nothing too serious, this isn't haute cuisine, but really pleasant fare.
Balcon by Tapavino in Sydney! ✨🍹🍽 Arguably there’s no country on Earth that is as synonymous with celebrating food & wine 🍷 as Spain 🇪🇸!
Balcon by Tapavino’s obsession of all things Spanish takes it up a notch with this contemporary take on the rustic and refined dishes from Northern Spain.
Come visit and enjoy each moment and taste! ✨🍴🍷
Awesome! Great variety of excellent dishes, wines and beers with a superb ambience and impressive interior design. A very enjoyable place. Thoroughly recommended.
Balcon really delivers good food, wine and service in a beautiful and relaxing setting. Pate and Jamon are my go to starters and rely on them cheering me up with a glass of Spanish white (waiters are helpful at pointing them out). Slow cooked lamb was perfectly cooked and filling for 2.
Does My Bomb Look Big In This
+4.5
"This is a two visit spot,” explains Lucie Cox, our proactive and very attractive waiter. She’s a career waiter, moving over from neighbouring Chophouse, and she’s excellent at her craft. By taking control of our meal, and quelling our F.O.M.O. (fear of missing out) with her two visit comment, we get precisely the right amount of food because we don’t try to jam in too much. Like the rest of the engaged floor team, Lucie moves quickly and we’re rapidly triple parked and eating in a jam-packed restaurant on a Wednesday night. We dull the memory of the busy workday with large icy balloons of gin – Numero O ($22) and an even better Gin Mare ($22). They're each matched to botanicals and presented with Vichy Catalan tonic water on the side. The Gin Mare's accompanying rosemary and whole black peppercorns creates a very classy G+T.The restaurant we're in is called Balcón, which, along with more recent sibling Born, is an offshoot of the ever-popular Tapavino sherry bar. I suspect owner Frank Dilernia might have got sick of turning people away, for while I returned to...
Food and service were amazing. Really helpful and welcoming staff. The scallops, oh my goodness - best I ever had. The lamb just melted in my mouth. The coca would definitely have to be one of my favourite. Highly recommend this place.
I would say a very confident menu with the offerings that just push the boundaries just a little bit like Ox Heart and Pigs Ear - it always makes the foodies swoon...
An interesting selection of Tapas...the "scallop salchichon" were we having Vegan Gluten Free Scallop Tofu...? So confused....but hey no regrets!
The oysters were definitely the highlight of the night - you've got a good supplier Tapavino!
The dessert was a close second, an interesting mix between a creme brulee and a tiramisu with the use of chocolate soil and Pedro Ximenez jelly. Not sold on the poached pear...it's rather on the "crunchy side" but hey sprinkles of pear that were soaked in a bit of liqueur yeah I'm good with that. Could of been a better eating experience!
Much like our other fav Born, we're always interested in every dish that's brought out, curious to try everything on the menu and everything is well executed. Maybe not our most favourite Spanish offerings that night...subject to review at a later date!
Good food and service. Impressive wine selection. Tapas are a bit pricey but innovative and fresh and tasty. Desserts were pretty, tasty and different. Will be back again soon!
A great selection of beers/wines/spirits. The service was attentive and friendly and the atmosphere was nice. The food was quite pricey and a bit slow. A nice place for people who are after a nice drink.
Very beautiful interior, friendly and very well informed staff and amazing food! The steak was too die for. We had the parfait for dessert and it had the perfect combination of flavours, light and not too sweet. Their extensive wine list is really impressive, wine lovers will definitely go crazy over the list. Will definitely be back!
Balcon is the new sister restaurant of ever-popular Tapavino, nestled among the new restaurants and bars that are cropping up on Bligh Street in the CBD. This stylish eatery is much more spacious than Tapavino, with a sleek bar that runs down the length of the restaurant as well as an outdoor balcony space from which it draws its name, but the menu is still set up for sharing.
Very delicious food here. We had ham and melon, beef cheek and steak. Lovely wines. All very good. Some staff were better at service than others. Would return
Balcòn by Tapavino; Serving great Spanish food and wine. We loved Tapavino and were excited to visit Balcon by Tapavino and it did not disappoint. This restaurant group is creating some of our favourite restaurants and dining experiences. With a new restaurant called ‘Born’ soon to be openened in Barangaroo, which we have added to our list of restaurants to visit.
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A wonderful restaurant that is located just behind the Sofitel Wentworth. Having visited Tapavino previously and loved the food at that restaurant, we were really looking forward to this dining experience.
Offering a variety of Spanish tapas dishes covering light snack like dishes to heavy meatier plates to share. There is quite a choice so there is something for everyone. The wine list is extensive and we were told by the waiter that they had at least 5000 bottles in stock. Now that's quite a selection. The wine list was more like a wine encyclopaedia.
We started off with Jamon Serrano, Chickpea Panissa, Goats Curd. The jamon was plentiful (lucky we love it!) and the panissa (chickpea fritters) provided a lovely crunch to the dish.
Our food journey continued onto Baked Cows Milk Cheese, Salt Baked Potato, Shaved Mushroom. The cheese was oozy and so creamy. The potato was a nice vehicle for the toppings. Mushrooms added a nice accent and flavour.
The Braised Lamb Shoulder, Honey Wine, Olives was melt in the mouth. There was a smoky purée that accompanied it and delicious.
Salt Baked Beetroot, Raw Beets, Walnut Cream had a wonderful crunch from the raw beets and the the cooked beetroot was sweet and went so well with the lamb. The cream gave it a contrast and made it more savoury.
We finished on a high note of 'Balcon Mess'. This was a creation of white chocolate & thyme cream, strawberry, oat croquante, and meringue. This was their Spanish take on the traditional Eton Mess. The highlights of the dish were the croquante which was reminiscent of an excellent Anzac biscuit (most likely due to the oats and syrup taste to it) and the meringues were light and crunchy especially the thin white one which had a sweet herbal taste to it.
The service was lovely and the waiter helped us guide us through the extensive menu.
Thank you to Jennifer and the team for looking after us and to Zomato for introducing us to this restaurant.
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Balcon's menu and wine selection is as complex and provocative as is the history of Spanish Cuisine. From invasions of the Roman Empire to conquests and modified traditions of the Iberian Peninsula, the curated menu of fine dining here is a melting pot of all regions with a playful salute to the usually separated regional and coastal dishes of classic Spain cooking.
The Balcon experience of sophistication is pronounced upon entering the establishment with a versatile ambiance hosting groups, intimate encounters, corporates with service and culinary standards matching the high expectations set, before you have even bean seated.
A staple of Spanish dining is of course, Wine and is one of the core centrepieces here. The wine list presented on arrival is approximately 50 times the size of the actual food menu offering over 400 types of wines from all regions of Spain. This is the perfect destination for the wine lover as much of the cellar is open to guests as its built into the interior design of the elegant restaurant space and open kitchen bar layout. There are also ocassionally on-site wine tastings.
Tapas and Cheese platters are also prominent and the dinner menu - an extension of this - with its decadent main course share plates, capture the essence of communalism in the Spanish eating experience. We had the BRAISED LAMB SHOULDER with honey wine and olive puree – one of the most delicately cooked, tender pieces of prime cut meat I've had in a long time. It crumbled when lightly running the knife along the grain. This dish represents the level of supreme culinary technique, paying homage to the land in which these ingredients – lamb, oil, honey and wine have fed generations of the region back to ancient times! Absolutely stunning dish and highly recommended.
The accompaniments chosen for this meal centred around my dining companion's obsession with cheese. A potato side dish of BAKED COWS MILK CHEESE and snowflake dustings of shaved mushrooms presented in a deliberate volcanic eruption of art. The Cauliflower features cheese from the areas of Spain influenced by the surrounding Mediterranean and cooked as such using shards of MAHON CHEESE and cracked black pepper.
This meal, the service (thanks Ella and Riz) and the myriad of possible meal/side/wine combinations are so cleverly designed with such breathtaking and exquisite execution! This place is definitely the hottest place in town right now!
We ordered the coca flatbread, olives and baked cauliflower to start, followed by the chargrilled chicken fino with grapes & almonds and a side of broccolini with anchovies. Every mouthful was heavenly. The wait staff were attentive and made fantastic recommendations for both food and wine. Personable, friendly staff and the atmosphere is great. We couldn't have enjoyed our evening at Balcon any more and can't wait to come back to enjoy a lazy lunch in the sunshine on that amazing balcony!
Loved every dish we ordered from this place. My favourite however was the braised ox tail. The flavour of the overall dish reminded me of a big bowl of bone marrow. Ox tail just melted in your mouth, including the tendon, and the potato dumplings were ever so light.
We also had the jamon with manchego, lamb shoulder, cabbage salad, baked potato and the trifle. Our meal was paired with a great wine recommended by our waiter.
Will definitely come back to try the other dishes which I'm sure will just be as delightful as the ones I've had tonight.
Balcon is an offshoot from Tapavino, an old favourite of mine, but is a Step up in all areas. The Spanish wine collection amassed by Frank the owner is incredible and the food is exceptional. Atmosphere is great with the balcony perfect for summer afternoons and the cocktail list is long. I love the beef, octopus, lamb, sardines, the list goes on.....Well done!Charles
Tried tartare with nashi and fennel , prawn with herbs from the sea part of menu and special trout dish that is not on the menu. Prawn was below average and other two dishes were nice but nothing really special or mind-blowing. On the other hand, lamb honey wine with olives and chicken fino almonds from land part of menu were absolutely delicious. Lamb was tender and melt in your mouth with nice rich deep flavour. Chicken was cooked excellently and the sauce was balanced in sweetness and acidity. Lots of wine choices. Excellent service. Very friendly. No issues with recommending this place but will suggest ordering land dishes.
Having only been open a week, pretty impressive streamlined service and staff that were on the ball. Great space and décor and lovely outdoor balcony space, even though it looks onto office buildings. Loved the cabbage salad and beef cheeks, and the "homemade" apple tart (what does "homemade" mean in a restaurant exactly?). There were five of us and really the mains are not big enough for 5 people to share (a spoon each) so would have been helpful if the staff had told us that, I would have ordered doubles. Impressive wine list. Will definitely go back to try again as plenty to tempt on the menu. Prefer it to Mercado.
Matthew Shanahan (Matt)
+5
Each of the tapas dishes tasted wonderful and were beautifully presented.
The service was great and the place had a good vibe from the lunch time crowd and the shelves of wine.
The tented area out the back is a surprise and provides a brighter area with ample seating for larger groups.
It was a very good experience. We came here to celebrate our anniversary. Staff - Heidi very attentive and sweet, also very knowledgeable that were given very good recommendations. We loved all the food that we ordered.
The sangria were nice too . But definitely not the best we had. However this restaurant still get 5 stars with the food and service .
The food here is fantastic. Meats are cooked and seasoned to perfection. Sauces elevate the show to bold new heights and the staff are attentive and engaging.
My favourite was the octopus and potato dish as well as the doughnut.
Everything we tried was a winner.
My friend and I had such a perfect dinner experience here on a Friday night.
We had the mushroom, king fish, octopus, steak, etc.
The service we received was one of the best I have had over the past few years and it definitely made the highlight of the night.
The owner Frank offered absolutely fantastic recommendations on the food and wine and has always been attentive and friendly. We loved Frank!
Georgia also was an amazing staff who helped the overall experience.
Will definitely come back for another visit some time soon. Thank you Balcon team!
Hubby treated me to this amazing lunch for my birthday. The octopus was delicious. Cooked just right and was a good portion.
Another favorite of mine was the mushroom carpaccio. That was divine!
Thank you for an amazing experience.
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These are special times and when the chance to dine with my two favourite people in the world at a top end restaurant in Sydney arrived, I jumped at it. From the moment we walked in we were made to feel alive by the kindness of the wait staff and even though they all wore face masks I could feel their happy smiles. The facade of Balcon, the window that spills on to Castlereagh Street is homage to wine cellar and exposed brick. The restaurant itself extends lengthwise for several tables and has a view of the floors below, something like a mezzanine. We had the usual tapas fair - olives, anchovies, potatoes, bread - all done in that masterful Spanish way. Small plates of food, plentiful glasses of Sangria, red and white (liked the white but preferred the red) all very nice, all very easy. We even indulged in some steak. Rare. Salt crusted. Fantastic. What an indulgence! What a taste! It was K's birthday so they bought out the delicious doughnuts at the end with a candle and Happy Birthday written in chocolate sauce, as befits all such celebrations! Organise this through the website when you book. Or don't. Just go!
Food was excellent! Service was outstanding a little bit pricey but worth it for a special occasion. Would come back thanks for an amazing night.
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