Tag: salad

Categories
Café

The Garden Berry – Berry NSW Restaurant Review

Il Locale’s extremely limited business hours meant that we ate at Berry’s The Garden Berry (apparently their official name) for lunch instead.

This scone ($7) with cream and jam was quite expensive, but actually really very delicious, better, in my opinion, than some cafes that might do scones as a main attraction. The scone was warm and fresh and soft, and the jam was just out of this world. Just take a look at those chunks of berry. The value proposition is better if you order two scones for $10 (with an appropriate increase in the quantity of cream and jam), and it is a regret that I will have to live with because I really wanted another one.

I can’t say that I loved this Chicken Cotoletta ($26), self-described by the restaurant as “a fancy chicken schnitzel”. Though the sourdough breading is clearly and visually greened up by garlic, parmesan and parsley, I couldn’t really taste a huge difference in quality compared to just a normal schnitzel. The meat of the chicken itself was also not exactly top tier in terms of moistness, and I know it’s going to sound like I have a complaint about every element of this dish, but for some reason the chips just didn’t hit right – perhaps undersalted? (Recognising there was salt on the table for us to add ourselves)

Back to a happier state, this trout salad ($25.50) was excellent. My resident at work (JDK – seriously a great guy and a great future doctor for the local area) had recently made me a hot smoked salmon salad, and I wanted to replicate that experience at The Garden Berry. This house smoked Tasmanian ocean trout was equally wonderful, moist and appropriately oily and smoky, with a generous serving to boot. I loved the crispy capers and roasted leak which added textural and taste interest to the underlying greenery. I didn’t love the random tiny potatoes, which I felt didn’t really have any flavour do them, but my partner did and was happy that she got to eat more than her fair share of them. The dill and horseradish dressing was not particularly perceptible, but did add to the flavour of the potatoes. Overall and excellent salad.

COMMENTS

We chose to sit outside (in the garden, in Berry), so I guess I shouldn’t complain at the random spider that we saw climbing up the pole next to us. During our lunch we had no less than four groups of people rotate through the table next to us, including a couple who moved to an indoors table, and another couple who left without ordering. Their server was kind enough to offer them suggestions as to where else to eat in Berry. Super nice of him.

Get the scones.

The Garden Berry
103 Queen St, Berry NSW 2535
(02) 4464 1920

Categories
Café

Beans & Barrels – Parramatta NSW Restaurant Review

As a champion of the local Parramatta food scene and of all-day menus in general, I was excited to hear Beans & Barrels recommended online, and promptly took my sleep-deprived nocturnist crew comprising of CSJPH (and CSJPH’s SRMO), MJT, ES on a long 10 minute drive and 10 minute walk the next opportunity that I had.

Their all-day menu was quite extensive, with a number of highly customisable options that were available at any time of day.

I had the protein salad ($16), oddly named as it essentially featured all that you see above but without the actual protein components. It is a salad of beetroot humus, cherry tomatoes, spiced sweet potato, shaved fennel, dukkah, rocket, green apple, and lemon mustard dressing – completely inoffensive, relatively fresh, but not quite what comes to mind when “protein” is in the headline. To address this deficiency I added to it some very nice and juicy grilled chicken ($6) and two poached egg ($4) making it a good but $26 salad. I did end up leaving some of the greenery on my plate even having finished my additional proteins, which may either be testament to how much greenery there was (a good thing) or how much more protein was needed to balance it out.

I don’t know that I’ll come back, while good it was just a bit difficult to get to after a twelve and a half hour long night shift, but perhaps it will make its way into the rotation alongside our Parramatta favourites.

Beans & Barrels
Shop 6/180 George St, Parramatta NSW 2150
(02) 9635 3877

Categories
Café Middle Eastern

3 Tomatoes – Ashbury NSW Restaurant Review

3 Tomatoes is an unusually bustling cafe on an otherwise quiet suburban Ashbury street, a provider of a wide an interesting range of food options on their all-day menu as well as a selection of artisan groceries at their counter up front.

The Syrian falafel bowl ($17) with additional poached egg ($3.50) was a green and fresh bowl of sliced cucumbers, sliced tomatoes, sliced radish, unsliced salad leaves, unsliced pickled chilli, and four or five freshly cooked falafels, all drizzled in tahini and parsley. This bowl was an enjoyable and fresh treat, promoting a healthful feeling with each bite of its salad-like ingredients. The falafels were warm and fresh, with a good crunchy external layer and warm, moist, textured interior. The first bite of any fried food is always the best, and while my enjoyment of the falafels waned as they radiated heat into the surrounding environment they remained reasonably good by the end, especially when paired with the mildly sour and mildly spicy pickled chillis. While I was initially concerned by the number of falafel served, they proved to be in the perfect ratio to the salad, and we did not find ourselves wanting for more at the end of the meal. The poached egg, an addition onto the base bowl, was well done with mastery shown in timing. Overall quite good. Very sesame flavoured.

It’s a shame that I don’t have a proper photo of the beef brisket ($18) without it being covered in part by the gigantic extra handmade 3T hash brown ($7). I would have liked to be able to comment on them individually, but the layering of the hash brown within the beef brisket dish made this impossible. The beef brisket dish with date molasses, capsicum, tahini, cooked greens and a fried egg was warm and tasty, if less fresh and wholesome compared to the aforementioned salad. The meat was a particular highlight, given that we have had some relatively disappointing red meats in brunch meals of late (at other establishments). The fried egg, similar to the poached egg, was cooked to a high degree of runny perfection.

The handmade 3T hash brown ($7) was my partner’s compromise after I told her she shouldn’t order the shoestring fries. It was quite large, though I guess if it had been any smaller we would’ve been upset at the $7 asking price. It had an crispy exterior with a moist interior, and was strongly herbed for additional flavour.

The pastel de nata ($4.50) from Tuga Pastries will be reviewed individually in a separate post if I ever make it to one of Tuga’s stores, but suffice it to say it was good, and I didn’t even have to wait thirty minutes in line to eat it.

Sticky Chai ($5.50), Soy Latte ($4.50). Coffee by Will & Co. Good foam on the latte.

THOUGHTS
It’s a very nice, doggy cafe in a very nice and doggy neighbourhood. I’d like to come back. I will admit that I looked online at real estate in the area after I got home. I am in the right age and stage chronologically but not financially. Pegfeeds is why.

A human, in double denim, petting a dog, not in denim.

3 Tomatoes
121 Holden St, Ashbury NSW 2193
(02) 8065 1288

Categories
Australian

Porterhouse Bistro Wiseman Park Bowling Club – Gywnneville NSW Restaurant Review

We spent Saturday lunch at the local lawn bowls club in Wollongong with a number of my partner’s colleagues just before the holiday season. It was my first time lawn bowling in a few years, the first being during my first week of internship in a similarly-vibed orientation event.

The salt and pepper squid ($13) was a nice, reasonably priced dish with a light batter, served with a side salad of “young leaves” and a plentiful pot of aioli which found more purpose with some hot chips than the squid they came with.

The half rack of pork ribs with chips and salad ($24) featured the return of the young leaf salad, which remained fresh from its first outing with the squid. The pork ribs were unfortunately a bit dry and underwhelming, and not improved in my opinion by the pot of BBQ sauce. I enjoyed these fresh chips, and even more so with the aioli pictured above.

The roasted cauliflower salad ($17) with chicken ($5) was actually very good. A number of my partner’s colleagues ordered it just by itself, but I for one could not resist the addition of some juicy meat to bite into. The roasted cauliflower was sweet, with a texture that avoided mushiness. Tahini, hummus and roasted cauliflower are a synergistic trio that ticks all the right boxes every time they’re together, and this salad was no exception. Cauliflower aside I enjoyed the fresh and tangy addition of pomegranate arils and the juicy cherry tomatoes, though I was less impressed by the rest of the salad being essentially the same side salad that gets served the Porterhouse Bistro’s other dishes.

COMMENTS
The food at Wiseman Park is not what it’s is famous for, but honestly you could do much worse. I wouldn’t take a bus to Wollongong just for this meal, but if you’re there enjoying a quick game of bowls why not?

Porterhouse Bistro Wiseman Park Bowling Club
1 Foley St, Gwynneville NSW 2500
(02) 4229 4132

Categories
Australian British

Fish Butchery – Waterloo NSW Restaurant Review

We were excited to eat at Fish Butchery after reading some pretty glowing reviews online and glowing feedback from our friends about related restaurants Saint Peter and Charcoal Fish. Despite such expectations our moderately-long drive to Waterloo was sadly not met with as much joy as we had hoped.

While I’m not usually one to complain loudly about service, preferring to focus on the food, I think that the ultra-premium prices paid at Fish Butchery does invite greater reflection into what exactly one is paying for. The first red flag of our visit, apart from the prices of the familiar raw fish (Murray cod and Clhinook salmon) in the fishmonger’s display that were easily 50-100% greater than what you’d expect to pay from your favourite internet-based fish market delivery service, was that the staff seemed to be too busy to wipe the crumbs off the tables between customers until the new customer’s food was ready to be served. This meant that we sat with crumbs in front of us, not really seeing a staff member venture outside for about half an hour as we waited to be served.

Though Fish Butchery styles itself as a takeaway joint the reality of it is that it’s a restaurant, complete with both indoor and outdoor seating. There are just normal expectations around the cleanliness of tables when you’re spending $80 between two for lunch, and these weren’t fulfilled.

The Al Pastor Swordfish Tacos (2 pieces for $24) were not what I was looking for. Though grilled, they were not as grilled as I had hoped, and arrived to us lukewarm at best. The internal fish meat was on the raw to rare spectrum, which is not what I was expecting but did not cause any physical bodily harm. The flavours of this taco were highly mild, though the sweetness and juiciness of the grilled pineapple was a very welcome addition to what was otherwise a barren and expensive half moon.

The fish sausage roll ($22 with chips and a Strange Love soda) was the highlight of the situation. The sausage roll, filled with a mixture of Murray Cod, Mt Cook Alpine Salmon, and cured Murry Cod fat had a very good depth of flavour and fatty moistness inside. The pastry was a crust above your average sausage roll, but to be expected given the asking price. The potato chips were unfortunately actually not very good, and even my potato fiend partner was unable and unwilling to finish them. The tomato sauce was rich and good. Unlike the rest of the things we had at Fish Butchery I could actually give a positive recommendation for this sausage roll, though by itself ($14) rather than with the chips.

I didn’t love this hyped up Yellowfin Tuna Cheeseburger Double ($20). I don’t think there was anything special about it apart from the use of fish over mammal, and I don’t think the flavour or texture really lived up to a burger made of methane-producing cow. The inside of these tuna patties was a bit rare, but I think that’s probably OK because we literally eat sashimi and these guys are the fish experts.

The regular salad ($14), half cauliflower and half eggplant was actually pretty good, if oily. A non-fish product that was not weighed down by fishy expectations.

THOUGHTS

I really wanted to like Fish Butchery, but outside of the single sausage roll nothing else that I had really wowed me, especially at its price point but even if they were more reasonably priced. I expected better from a guy who charges $150 for a piece of stainless steel specifically to weigh down cooking fish.

Fish Butchery Waterloo
965 Bourke St, Waterloo NSW 2017
02 8960 0903