Salmon & Bear

There is much salmon on the menu at Salmon & Bear but let's be clear about this: there is no bear. Its presence in the name and the logo of this new Zetland eatery is confined strictly to the restaurant's Alaskan theme. In those North American parts, they hunt bear and they eat it, turning it into the likes of corned black bear roast, black bear cheeseburger, and polar bear with amaretto almond liquor.

Sydney has been spared these ursine dishes. Instead, Salmon & Bear focuses on fish and brew, mate, in a log cabin ambience, its blokey, bearded staff wearing caps, jeans and T-shirts as though they might be about to go snare a bear themselves, once they've finished prepping the herbs and vegies behind the bar.

At the street level of an apartment block, surrounded by other high-rise blocks in a densely populated part of the city's inner-east, Salmon & Bear rather optimistically describes itself as a celebration of adventure and the great outdoors.

Its pride is a charcoal Mibrasa oven imported from Spain. Into this flaming beast goes your sustainably sourced fish fillet – choose between the New Zealand Ora king salmon, barramundi, snapper, tuna or Spanish mackerel – with the resulting flavours intended to "transport you to a campfire supper under the stars".

At lunchtime in the eatery's alfresco area, on a sunny spring day, this requires some imagination, but no matter.

From the fish burger selection, the salmon bearger​ is a luscious affair, the combined juices of the smoked patty, salsa verde and aioli dripping onto the plate as my old comrade tackles the tower in a toasted bun. He is exceptionally pleased with it, except when it drips all over his shirt.

I can't go past the tacos. They come in three types – sticky soy-glazed salmon, crispy fish, and crispy prawn and fennel. Buggered if I can taste the fennel, but they all come with plenty of cabbage, pickled pink onions and sriracha mayo.

The tacos look fantastic, busy with ingredients and colour and served on a wooden board. They taste fine, too. The salmon is my favourite. And sriracha mayo, where have you been all my life?

A snapper fillet is on the dry side, but I failed to order a sauce from the choice of five, including lemon herb butter, peri peri and tartare. Add any two of the salads (the slaw is fresh and creamy) and sides (come on down, you fat and crispy sweet potato fries) and you have yourself a mix-and-match Grizzly Plate, Salmon & Bear's signature offering.

The ethos of the men behind the business – Joe Ward, Joel Katz and chef Mark Jensen (formerly of Red Lantern on Riley) – is about taking food back to basics: this is an anti-jus, anti-foam, very straightforward and casual affair, and it strikes its own distinct note in Sydney's packed dining scene.

Kids will like it, too. They can tuck into the cubs menu of fish fingers, tacos and salmon sliders while the grown-ups enjoy a local craft brew – Willie the Boatman's Old Salty, for instance, or The Rocks Brewing Company's Convict Lager. As there is no coffee or dessert to speak of, you may be tempted to have another.