potato rosti Archives - PEGFeeds

Baby Finger – Camperdown NSW Restaurant Review

I like to eat food first and foremost, and I’ve always thought that an all-day menu is a key component of success to the operation of a good cafe. There’s only so many different ways you can do avocadoes on toast or an eggs benedict, and I’ve spent far too many breakfasts being sad about not being able to order from the lunch menu. Luckily, Cafe Baby Finger’s all-day menu gives visitors the option of both breakfast food and – let’s be honest – real food, all day long.

Much of Baby Finger’s all-day menu is quite potato forward, and the two dishes that we picked were no exception. The salmon potato cake ($26) was a umami combination of potato and cured (though it seemed cooked, or at least hot cured?) salmon, nicely seasoned with dill, topped with caramelised onion and watercress, and served with two poached eggs.

Though not much to look at, the starchy potato texture, light but umami flavours, and luxurious aoili made for quite a yummy dish.

The other dish we had was the ‘nduja smoky beans ($25) from their specials board, basically a potato hash with speck, ‘nduja, caramelised onion, a single excellently poached egg, all in a beany tomatoey sauce, topped with manchego and served with two pieces of focaccia. I enjoyed all the different textures and flavours that were present in this dish, even the unexpected pops of saltiness in some bites and the sweetness of the tomato base that came out in others.

The speck was portioned generously and cut to quite large pieces to provide a quite meaty chew, balancing out the otherwise meatless meal (the ‘nduja being mixed into the sauce and difficult to macroscopically identify).

The size of the dish was quite large (the photos don’t do it justice) , which meant that I found that two pieces of focaccia were insufficient to eat all of the saucy goodness with. A third piece would’ve been great.

Overall we enjoyed both things we had here, and can recommend it to a friend or colleague. The food kind of reminded me of Circa’s greatest hits. More like this!

Baby Finger
Unit 27/12 Layton St, Camperdown NSW 2050

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