This cutely named restaurant, it is at 414 Bourke St., is one of Colin Fassnidge's creations. It occupies a great barn of a place, a former bakery, with the simplest of decoration.
There is a central bar, a large open kitchen in one corner of the room
and a variety of seating for about 80 spread around the room. The menu is unusual featuring a lot of offal and even has an offal degustation menu ($75)
I turned up late and was delighted to find Colin Fassnidge wandering around the restaurant chatting to patrons. He has come to some prominence lately both as a guest judge on the popular cooking contest program My Kitchen Rules and for the publication of his first book "Four Kitchens" ($45)
He kindly offered to organize a dinner for me an offer I was glad to accept.
The first course was called CJ’s Chips and Dips, Chard and Crackling, ($10) which I loved. Crisp and crunchy, I would happily have it any time.
Among the small plates Chargrilled LambTongue, Sweet Pickled Cucumber, Cos, Mint ($21) was a pleasure for my palate, the cucmber contrasting well with the tongue.
If there was a problem with the dish it was that I wanted more!
Tripe ‘Hot Pot’Chorizo, Tomato ($18)
was accompanied by barbecued bread,
an idea I will incorporate in some home cooking. It was hard to resist any thing here.
Stuffed to the gills I still wanted one more dish and gave in to Glazed Lamb Ribs Pickled Cabbage ($11) This was extremely rich and would have been hard to take but for the cabbage which cut through the fat. It was falling off the bone, actually it had already fallen off as there was no bone there. Take an extra lipitor and indulgence yourself. I'm sure it's as good as chocolate!
Colin, a very friendly guy,
insisted I have a 'small' ice cream sandwich to finish the meal, described as White Chocolate Sandwich Dulce de Leche ($16) on the menu this was a king size slab of creamy moorish ice cream between sheets of brandy snaps with a nutty sauce for company.
I would have loved to have been able to try the rest of the menu which included such things as Grilled Spicy Chorizo Pickled Chilli, Capers and Cornichons, Miso Smoked Salmon Lemon Curd, Fennel Lavosh, Seared Bonito Ginger Beer Jelly, Apple among the small plates and Herb Crusted Bone Marrow Chimichurri, Grilled Bread. Other plates were a little more traditional, Roast Quail, Mussels, Corned Silverside, Whole Roast Chicken, but then there are more surprises, for example Pan Fried Duck Egg, Black Pudding, Ham Hock, Red Pepper!!
This is an adventurous restaurant with a fun menu. I loved it.
Score: 16/20
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