Categories
Café French

The Hardware Société – Melbourne VIC Restaurant Review

I managed to avoid eating at Hardware Société in my six years as a Melbourne local, but as fate would have it broke my streak on a recent visit back.

This Twice Baked Cheese Souffle ($23) didn’t really live up to expectations, though not more so than any other menu item that we had at Hardware Société. What I would consider the focal components of this dish – the cheese souffle and poached eggs – were actually quite good. I enjoyed the cheesy taste and the airy but somehow still creamy and dense (is this an oxymoron?) texture of the souffle, as well as the perfect runniness of the masterfully poached eggs. What didn’t quite appeal to me was the multigrain bread doused in an oil, pickled grapes, and nuts that my partner thought tasted a bit stale, and the salad whose limited freshness I felt was inadequate to counter this.

Some restaurants excel on taste and presentation but fail on their portion sizes. Hardware Société does more or less the opposite with their gigantic Confit Free Range Chicken ($26.50), with a truly larger than normal chicken maryland, pulled from some monster of a bird. Though I was in awe of the size of this chook, I was not so inspired by the actual flavour of the meat, which I found to be bland despite the better-than-usual texture of both the meat and the crispy skin covering it. The herby potato salad was much enjoyed as are most potato dishes by my partner, though I felt that there was a lot of room for some additional heat to be added to the system. The swirl of green tangy sauce was perhaps the only thing I truly enjoyed on this plate.

This hot chocolate ($7.50), served deconstructed in classic Melbourne fashion, was quite good, if a bit sweet. Note the addition of a miniature Easter egg, as if it were a little apology for the 15% public holiday surcharge across the menu.

The soy latte ($5.30) was truly quite small, expensive, and unspectacular.

THOUGHTS
I had quite a few good and special meals on my recent trip to Melbourne, but my trip to Hardware Société wasn’t one of them. It’s possible that we simply chose the wrong items on their menu, but I don’t think I’d give them a second chance to find out.

The Hardware Société
10 Katherine Pl, Melbourne VIC 3000
(03) 9621 2100

Categories
British Café

Mad Spuds Cafe – Surry Hills NSW Restaurant Review

UPDATE: Now permanently closed (prior to publication)

My partner is one of Sydney’s foremost potato fanatics, and Mad Spuds Cafe in Surry Hills had been on our hitlist for a while. Unfortunately, despite the potato heavy menu, we were disappointed.

One thing to note about the food at Mad Spuds Cafe is that the menu options by themselves feel a bit half cooked – that is, they feel incomplete and are lacking essential components. We had the Mad Spud Stack, a signature dish of the restaurant, which was a stacked dish consisting of a mashed potato patty, haloumi, avocado, spud skins, sweet potato, caramerlised onion, and sprouds, decorated with a solitary cherry tomato and yoghurt/balsamic glaze. While props had to be given to the plating and delicate balancing act of keeping all of these ingredients vertical, I found the taste to be quite bland. It was only with the addition of a sausage ($4) that we were able to turn this subtle tasting vegetarian dish into something more tasty, but even then I had my reservations.

My partner enjoyed the Sunny Salmon Rosti ($15.50) more than me. Again I thought that the flavour of t he rosti was too mild, however this time it was helped along by the smoked salmon. I will also take this opportunity to say that an extra $3 for a single poached egg is too much, even if it was poached to a perfect amount of runniness.

My partner paid $6.50 for a choose-your-own-adventure green juice. She liked it, but it would’ve been no one’s fault but her own if she hadn’t.

Verdict
Don’t let the fun, casual name fool you. Mad Spuds Cafe plays it safe with its mild flavours, with no madness or spirit of exploration in sight. I would hesitate to bring a colleague here, especially considering the smorgasbord of yummy foods available elsewhere on Crown St.

Mad Spuds Cafe
479 Crown St, Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 9698 8108

Categories
Asian Fusion Café Japanese Korean

Mint & Aoshiso – Sydney Olympic Park NSW Restaurant Review

Mint & Aoshiso is a Korean/Japanese-fusion cafe and pizzeria, set in Sydney Olympic Park’s high-rise residential district, surrounded by 5, 30, and 60 minute street parking spots. We visited on a quiet morning in February 2021, patting ourselves on our backs for having found a coveted 1 hour parking spot. Our meal that day was served no less than 39 minutes after our receipt was printed reflecting payment made for our order, just as I had left in dismay to move my car. Despite this, I will review the food served in an objective fashion.

This yakiniku beef pizza ($24), part of Mint & Aoshisho’s specialty fusion pizza range, was quite the disappointment. Though being differentiated from Korean BBQ marinated pizza offerings on their menu, I would characterise the taste of the sauces and meats on this pizza as more Korean BBQ than Japanese BBQ in flavour. Though allegedly woodfired, the base on this pizza was too moist and bready, and considering that $24 is enough to get very good pizzas from very good pizza restaurants anywhere in Sydney, I can’t anti-recommend this particular pizza enough.

The first thing you should know about these Takoyaki Chips ($9) is that there is absolutely no Tako, nor is there any Yaki. Lacking any actual octopus, these chips are merely inspired by takoyaki – essentially normal potato chips that have been loaded with bonito flakes, mayonnaise, and a sweet okonomoyaki sauce. We ate these chips out of hunger and sadness at our wait. I would not order these again, even if I somehow found myself stranded in Olympic Park in a thunderstorm.

The Smoked Chicken Poke ($22) was the last to come, and the best of the lot. It was served under cling wrap which when removed released a small amount of smoke. The chicken was very tender and along with the rice, edamame and cabbage had a strong smoke flavour. Whilst I wasn’t the biggest fan of the smoke flavour and worry sometimes about the health implications, each component of this poke bowl was otherwise delicious.

A microdose of freshly-squeezed sugarcane juice did not make up for the experience.

A large latte, at $4.30, was sharply priced.

VERDICT
The smoked chicken bowl was the one good thing that we had at Mint & Aoshiso, and unfortunately in this case I don’t think one good thing makes up for the rest of the visit.

Mint & Aoshisho
Shop 2/1 Brushbox St, Sydney Olympic Park NSW 2127
0452 438 807

Categories
Asian Fusion Bakery Café Korean

10000 LAB (TENTHOUSAND) – Silverwater NSW Restaurant Review

2022 EDIT: It is possible that at the time of publishing they are no longer open at this location, but still have a location in Eastwood NSW.

I was first introduced to the concept of the eggified Korean toastie through Toastiesmith’s launch on social media in mid 2020. Living on the wrong side of the bridge to their Chatswood store, I watched and I waited and I watched and I waited for their September opening in Darling Square, only to find that this particular outpost would only be open Monday-Friday, breakfast and lunch (read: inaccessible from a parking perspective alone, even though I was working a week-on, week-off roster at the time).

It’s been almost a full year and I still haven’t made it to Toastiesmith. My move to Western Sydney has meant that it’s not so simple to make a quick trip into the city for a feed, even if their Darling Square store is now open 7 days and into the evening. Where I have been able to eat is 10,000 LAB, a kind-of similar cake, coffee, and Korean toastie establishment based in Silverwater and Eastwood.

I had the Egg, Cheese, and Spicy Chicken Toastie ($10), as well as the Egg, Cheese, Avocado and Sausage Toastie ($10). The guy working there double checked to make sure that I wanted both, and in retrospect this should’ve been a sign that one toastie would be enough for one man.

Both toasties shared the same fluffy and sweet bread, lightly toasted on the outside. They had excellent filling to breading ratios, each absolutely stuffed with ingredients. The scrambled egg in each toastie was cooked well, and would be able to stand on its own as a non-toastie option if 10,000 were to ever want to branch out.

The egg, cheese, and spicy chicken toastie was the weaker of the two, with a strong spicy sauce taste that I felt overpowered the flavour of the delicate eggs. I had expected some kind of diced chicken breast or thigh filling, however reality did not match with my expectation as I found some kind of ham-like processed chicken protein inside instead. Unfortunate.

The egg, cheese, avocado and sausage toastie was quite a bit better. There was no overpowering sauce flavour, meaning that I could actually taste each of the toastie’s constituent ingredients. The mildness and slight sweetness of the cheese, egg, and avocado combined well and contrasted with the saltiness of the sausage to hit a good balance. This was definitely the better of the two.

This was actually a very good soy latte ($4.30).

VERDICT
Lured by the promises made by their (admittedly more expensive) competitor’s social media campaigns, I think I expected something a little bit more from 10 000 LAB. It’s not their fault.

10 000 LAB Silverwater
135/79-87 Beaconsfield St, Silverwater NSW 2128
0480287755

Categories
Chinese Dessert

Blackball – Eastwood NSW Restaurant Review

I thought my Qffle days were behind me, having had many a Qffle from the Blackball in 206 Bourke St back when I lived in Melbourne. It was only tonight, four years since my last Qffle, that I discovered that BlackBall does indeed have Sydney based stores. What a delight.

This is some milo soft serve. My girlfriend liked it. I didn’t care that much for it. It consists of milo soft serve, some sago balls, and quite a nice vanilla wafter biscuit. Honestly, just fine. Nothing like the Qffle.

This is the Qffle. Underground legend. It is a freshly made waffle with a very gooey centre. No too sweet and absolutely delicious. Great with ice cream, bubble tea, and also served with your choice of sweet or savoury topping. Also amazing on its own, which is how I like mine. Sleeper hit. No idea why it’s called what it is. Give it a try.

EDIT: After reading this entry my partner helped me to understand that the Qffle is clearly named after the gooey Q texture hidden just underneath the crispy outer layer.

Black Ball Eastwood
206 Rowe St, Eastwood NSW 2122
0406 588 133