when my mum comes to sydney, she goes to the opera; this time round, she went to see “la bohème” (and as an afterthought, “my fair lady” *). a few days later, she found herself eating at la bohème too.

but it’s not a place where scruffy and starving students hang out. oh no, no chance of starving here: this is where you come for big serves of central european food. my pretty, scallop-edged platter was soon filled with a festive assortment of meats (smoked ribs, a schnitzel, a portion of roast duck and two kind of sausages), and two sorts of cabbage (sweet red and sauerkraut).

this was the feast platter for one — you should see the feast platter for two! — and in fact, the feast was too big to fit on one plate. close by on another dish sat a trio of dumplings (bread, potato and speck) and a gravy boat.

the highlights for me were the cabbages, natch, and the smoked ribs, infused with such great flavour that i gnawed at the bone long after the sweet meat was gone. the speck dumpling was also infused with porky charm. the schnitzel, if you must know, was merely pedestrian. perhaps on schnitzel night (tuesday and thursday) it makes more of an effort.

also at the table were half a roasted duck and a pork knuckle that had surely been cut from the leg of a monster pig; the carving knife was still embedded when it arrived at the table. there were complimentary apps in the form of warm bread rolls and what amounted to two little dishes of duck fat.

friday night, when we were there, there was also live music, which means a lone man and his amplified violin, playing such tunes as “all by myself” and “you light up my life” over a melodramatic backing tape. he gets there at 7, and we got there at 6, and were still only halfway through our meal when he wheeled his amp in the door.

next time, dinner’s at 5.30.

* for the record, my mother recommends “my fair lady” (“richard e grant has wonderful timing and expression”) over “la bohème” (“ordinary”), cab