When our young waiter Kendall sidles up to our table and says “Hello friends” we know there are good times ahead. It’s the kind of warm greeting that epitomises Australian hospitality and immediately sets the tone for a relaxed, convivial evening at The Rover.

Kendall is as efficient and knowledgeable as he is friendly. He plays a major role in ensuring we have a great time, urging us to look at the framed photographs on the walls of the restaurant and keenly charting its evolution from dingy Irish dive bar to a dapper New York-style cocktail bar and restaurant.

The British-inspired seafood bistro is stage two of the reimagined restaurant, which opened in December after a very considered nip and a tuck. The completion of the upstairs space has ushered in a new life for the bar and restaurant, which has evolved in line with the drinking and dining demands of the Surry Hills community.

While the sister venue to Liquid & Larder’s Grandma’s Bar, Bistecca and The Gidley still riffs on its dive bar roots, with rustic wood tables and exposed brickwork, the space is now softened with plush sage-green velvet banquettes, lantern-style lighting and a palette of butterscotch leather and brass tones.

Kick off with a classic martini from a refined selection of cocktails created by Australian Bartender of the Year Alex Gondzioulis and continue with a few wines by the glass hand-selected by sommelier Kyle Pool to marry well with seafood.

The visual feast continues with the food which nods to both the seafood dining traditions in New England, in the US, and England, where executive chef Pip Pratt hails from.

Seafood is the centrepiece and a good place to start. We try a couple of sweet just-shucked Sydney rocks from Merimbula and Wapengo and a plump Royal Miyagi Pacific oyster, all of which have a great shell to meat ratio.

Look at the specials chalked on the rustic railway timetable board to mix and match your seafood plate, which showcases the best-quality Australian seafood such as king prawns, raw scallops and mussels.

Pratt, (formerly of The Bentley Group), also does us proud with the fisherman’s pie which has a crumbly, crisp crust sprinkled with cured egg yolk that gives way to a filling of creamy mash flecked with smoked trout.

This is one of the most satisfying dishes on the menu, and could single-handedly turn this local’s favourite bar into a fixture for food.

Pratt also gets a ringing endorsement for his sides: a salad of pickled kipfler potato and kale given zing with a green goddess dressing and a simple mixed leaf salad with a tarragon dressing worth trademarking.

Finish with a triangle of chocolate and passionfruit tart, which Kendall was rightly enthusiastic about. As well as being visually stunning, it’s perfectly composed.

While it may be over Rover for The Wild Rover, every aspect of this newly reimagined dining and drinking den contributes to polishing up the precinct where it presides. Bonus points for being above one of the city’s best boozers. And for those handbag hooks on the downstairs bar.

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