Agent 284 - Boutique Spaces and Value Cuisine on Smith St.
Agent 284 is a great new addition to the dining scene on Smith Street with its standout character and ambience, excellent cuisine at value, and engaging staff. The experience extends to the upstairs Cocktail Gallery as well as another Gallery downstairs that is opulent and attractive for boutique launches and events. Agent 284 connects with a trend to name restaurants after their street address - and also carries a hint of Maxwell Smart Agent 86. I dined there one evening with my wife as a guest of Agent 284.
The fit out at Agent 284 is fabulous with exposed brick walls, elegant artwork, wallpaper imported from Germany, an impressive bar area and funky lighting. The restaurant is spacious with a large indoor area as well as limited outdoor seating. This place pumps on a weekend for breakfast.
As you can see the fit out is modern and ambient...
We enjoyed some Jalapeno poppers to start - and soon found Agent 284 is generous in its portions and engaging in its service. These croquettes essentially were tasty with smoked cheddar and imaginatively served with smoked cheddar and natural yoghurt and cracked pepper. The croquettes were wonderfully crisp on the outside, although my preference would be for some extra creaminess inside.
These Avocado quesadilla's were also refreshing and tasty served with sour cream and home made tomato relish. The prices for these dishes are very reasonable.
For the main I chose the 14 hour slow cooked Pork belly with roasted chats, cabbage, baked apple, baby carrots and drizzled with a pipsqueak cider juice. This was a large portion of pork indeed. The pork belly was tender from its 14 hours of slow cooking and the vegetables were a great accompaniment. I enjoyed this dish and felt the baked apple was superb with the pork - although I still would have liked a thicker sweet sauce to the jus.
Agent 284 serves an excellent Beer battered barramundi with wild barramundi strips rolled in a batter of Little Creatures Light Ale, served with thick cut fries and homemade tartare. The fish was sublime preserving the taste of the barramundi and the batter was light. Agent 284 has one of the best bowls of thick cut fries going around it must be said. These were perfectly cooked.
By this stage we were felling like we'd eaten substantially. This is the kind of place you can settle in for the evening rather than eat and go... The service here is top notch with an engaging Manager Daniel and a cool and friendly waitress who also plays in a punk band. The Wine list features a variety of regions and excellent Aussie wines.
Looking at other options on the menu I would like to come back another time for the 300G Rib eye steak or the Lamb back strap.
The dessert was outstanding - Jagermeister brulee with butterscotch sauce.
This was so good...
As was the Baked blueberry cheesecake...
Agent 284 surprises with its attractive spaces. Daniel gave us a tour and we discovered this great room down the stairs from the restaurant. Classy booths, top audio visual equipment and modern fit out make this a great option for functions, events and boutique launches...
Then we were also surprised by the Agent 284's classy upstairs gallery area with its artwork, grand club chairs and chesterfields. A great area for cocktails or to hire for a function.
Agent 284 has an impressive cocktaill list including this popular Jack and the Beekeeper cocktail.
Agent 284 is a welcome addition to the Smith Street precinct with eyecatching spaces, killer value breakfasts, and engaging staff and cuisine.