Bouche on Bridge serves tarte tatin, but not as you know it

Bouche on Bridge is a restaurant that operates on a number of different levels. The ground floor dining room is dramatically overlooked by a mezzanine kitchen, while steps at the front lead down to a subterranean bar. You can sit at a high marble counter, a low communal table, an individual table or, indeed, a chef's table upstairs on the kitchen counter.

But Bouche also operates on different emotional levels. On a Friday night, the long, high-ceilinged room is loud and buzzy and full of energy, and the only oldies in the room are on the play list – from Hendrix to Van Morrison to Nobel prize winner, Lord Bob of Dylan. Two women end the working week over Riedel glasses of red wine and choux pastry puffs filled with chicken liver parfait, while eight twentysomethings on a birthday table post their entrees on Instagram.

Co-owner Emma Darrouzet comes to the restaurant industry from a background in education, while British-born chef, Harry Stockdale-Powell has worked at Brass Bistro, Marque and Rockpool Bar & Grill. He keeps the food serious but the mood casual; using hand-made plates to link a diversity of thoughts. Dishes are listed under Farm, Earth and Sea, with little distinction between the levels of entree, main course or side dish. 

There's a starter of raw Hiramasa kingfish with beetroot puree, pickled beetroot and pomelo ($18) that's a little dry.

A beautifully burnished shallot "tarte tatin" ($21) is a tribute to that great member of the onion family, the banana shallot; split in half lengthwise to retain its long, torpedo-like shape and caramelised to heighten its natural sweetness.

I like the idea, the bitter-sweetness, the rich pastry, and even the size, which engulfs the original devised by Savoy chef Anton Edelman in the 1980s. This thing is big enough to split into six for a snack with a drink, into four as an entree, or into two as a main course. 

More modestly proportioned is a main course of pink snapper ($34) served on a barely-smoked white bean puree with green olive cheeks and a spoonful or two of tiny olive oil gel spheres ($34) that seem gratuitous.

Then again, "Chicken, hay, white soy" ($29) is half a big bird, the silky flesh brined, smoked with hay and hickory, and slow-roasted, served simply on a pool of ye olde English bread sauce seasoned with white soy.

There is a number of tall, slender young gentlemen on the floor who know their stuff, from manager Zoltan Magyar (Marque, Cafe Paci) and sommelier, Seamus Brandt (Rockpool), to Matt Linklater (Bulletin Place) in the bar.

Brandt's wine list is categorised by grape variety and not by "fresh and bright" or "smoky and cloudy", which is both refreshing and helpful. A soft, silky 2015 Journey Wines pinot noir ($75) from the Yarra Valley bridges the gap nicely between meat and fish.

Desserts are highly mannered; a crisp beetroot and goat's milk curd tuile tube is served with fast-melting beetroot ice-cream and chunks of a slightly strange licorice sponge.

While the basics are done well – the house loaf, the charcuterie, the major proteins – it's not immediately clear where the kitchen is coming from with its varying statements and tick-a-box flourishes. Here's hoping it settles down and finds its own level.

THE LOWDOWN

Best bit: Well-mannered, engaging service.
Worst bit: Counter seating is hard for staff to serve.

Terry Durack is chief restaurant critic for The Sydney Morning Herald and senior reviewer for the Good Food Guide. This rating is based on the Good Food Guide scoring system.