Lavana opened at Walsh Bay to do one thing properly — cook the best of the coast over fire, and let the harbour do the rest.
The site had been a lot of things before it was Lavana. What it had always had was the view — the finger wharves, the working harbour, the bridge appearing between the sheds.
We took it on with a short list: a wood fire, a raw bar, and a menu you could eat from twice in a week. Everything else followed from that — the shared plates, the long tables, the pace that lets a lunch run into the afternoon.
Today the room is run by the same people who opened it. If you book a function, one of them will answer.
Fire first. Junee lamb ribs and Riverine ribeye over coals; whole fish and Yamba prawns from the morning's catch; ravioli, focaccia and pasta made in-house each day.
Mediterranean in method, Australian in produce. Nothing on the plate that isn't doing work.
We built the room around the windows. Every table sees water.
Tapas to the middle, platters to the table. Eating together is the point.
If a farm or fisher is on the plate, they're on the menu.
Curtain at 7:30? Tell us on arrival and we'll pace the whole table.
Shop 5 & 6, 17a Hickson Road
Walsh Bay NSW 2000
Tue–Sat 11:30am – 9:30pm
Sunday 11:30am – 4:30pm
Monday theatre bookings only
