Overview
For so long, rotisserie chickens and their ilk have been associated with grim supermarkets and thought of as last-minute dinner options when you just can’t be bothered to adult. Well, not any more. The latest in a cornucopia of recent openings, from whisky bars to pool club revamps, Merivale has just announced the opening of The Paddington — a dining establishment focusing on rotisserie-style fare.
The venue will be headed by Ben Greeno and sits next door to his other rotisserie chicken venture, The Chicken Shop (the man loves his slowly rotating chooks, it seems). The menu at the Paddington is a little more expansive however, venturing so far as lamb rump with red peppers and almonds, wagyu beef with artichokes, pickled mustard seed and watercress, whole fish stuffed with olives, lemon and time. Of course, Greeno's signature roast chicken and French fries will be the cornerstone of the whole thing. It seems that if you can stick it on a spit and stuff it with something tasty, you’ll find it on this menu. And if anyone can bring world class flavour to the humble rotisserie chook, it’s Greeno. His resume includes Momofuku Seiobo, Sat Bans and Noma, so you can rest assured he’ll do rotisserie justice.
The booze (because what is a rotisserie chicken without booze?) is being supplied in bulk by Sam Edgerton and Toby Marshall of Palmer & Co, who are setting up a cocktail bar within the pub, boasting a specially curated cocktail list. They blind taste-tested over 600 cocktails to craft the final menu, which is really not a bad job if you ask us but we certainly appreciate their effort.
The Paddington opens on November 24 at 384 Oxford Street, Paddington. Open Sunday to Thursday 12pm - 12am, Fri and Sat 12pm - 3am.