The Union

Locating the Union can be tricky but don't worry, the staff here are used to mounting search missions for flustered punters led up the proverbial garden path by their GPS. Once safely inside, you'll be rewarded by some cracking mod-Med share-plate fare from food author-restaurateur Ross Dobson and his tight little team. A blackboard menu featuring 20-odd offerings is tweaked regularly, depending on what's best at the market. It's Dobson's Spanish-Moorish ode to locally sourced produce, with olive oil from Ryalston, beef from the Megalong Valley and cured meats crafted by Montecatini just down the road. Highlights range from classics such as sizzling garlic prawns and a silky, rich potato tortilla to a more inventive green bean and eggplant salad with sherry vinaigrette, and spiced lamb piled over coarsely textured hummus and strewn with coriander. Desserts are divine. Persevere with that GPS, then, because such good, rustic dining in a cheerful industrial space is always hard to find.