hartsyard - newtown

some time ago, in my twitter-verse, a tweet found its way into my orbit: sydney's best fried chicken had been found! it was in the inner west galaxy, on the planet of newtown, at a place called hartsyard.


i made my way to the website where i discovered a charming story about chef, gregory llewellyn, fresh off the new york stoves, opening an american-spun neighbourhood restaurant in his wife, naomi hart's native sydney. hart runs front of house and also keeps the restaurant's blog, which includes a graphic recount of the misdemeanours of the staff during the messy celebration of their opening week. the candid tales of hook ups and hangovers is all too familiar and endearing in its frankness.


hartsyard stands as an enclave for those seeking culinary satisfaction, rather than the $3 schooners and 2-4-1 cocktails served at surrounding establishments. here the cocktails are served in the singular but with twice the love. the bacon-infused jack daniels in the hartsyard manhattan ($17.5) is not distinctly unkosher enough to ruin a seder, but the extravagantly served bloody caesar ($17.5) is satisfyingly spiced and boozy.

bloody caesar ($17.5)

our waiter oscillates from attentive host to sharp-tongued larrikin. i can't tell if it's an overstepping of a deliberately casual attitude or a belief that the usual formality of restaurant service is wasted on a table of twenty-somethings.


with whistles whetted we move on to "seeds"(entrees). the two members of our party who on ordering had nobly opted out of the oyster po' boy ($16), deny ever having done so when they glimpse the two home-made english muffins, housing crisp fried oysters lathered in creamy 'slaw and coated with seafood-infused mayo. cripsy pigs tails ($18) are served as rotund croquettes and are accompanied by a jar of hartsyard's hot sauce. the sauce is great with almost everything, so even if you don't order the pigs tail make a special request for the sauce. with our tummy's swelling with batter, radishes ($14) are a welcomed interruption. the dish is crazy beautiful. the radishes are served in numerous ways (6? or 7?!), creating a plethora of tastes and textures. 

oyster po' boy ($16)

the dishes keep coming and coming. and coming! it gets to the point where we're told that we need to finish the dishes in front of us otherwise they will be taken away to create table space. having been told the menu is designed for sharing, these sorts of directives make doing so a chore. whilst all the food tastes amazing the speed at which we're required to consume it detracts from our enjoyment. any opportunity to savour and discuss the food, or the moment, is hurried away and lost.

poutine ($19) is candian chips and gravy. but in a good way. the fried potatoes are packed into a bowl of viscous oxtail gravy and crowned with cheddar, a paprika red-ale sauce and strips of ox-tail. the strips are chewier than old jerky, but they can’t taint an otherwise dangerously delicious dish. smoked beef short-rib ($32) is smoked over hickory with chilli, ginger and red-ale once again (hartsyard's home brew), though these intensely sounding flavours don’t quite permeate the meat the way i wish they did. a humbly named dish of winter vegetables ($21) is a radiating tribute to the hartsyard greenhouse. the arrangement of chestnut, porcini, walnut and cookin' juices is a still life of winter goodness. 

the one dessert which has us all salivating like chubby children is the peanut butter and banana sundae ($16). the attractive mess of peanut butter, ice-cream, chocolate, banana and nuts is everything a fat kid’s dreams can conjure. the aftermath of indigestion is worth it. a deconstructed key lime pie ($16) also excels in both presentation and flavour. i wonder if all classics would taste this wonderful crumbled and liquefied.

key lime pie ($16)

hartsyard's husband and wife team certainly know how to serve up modern rethinks of finger lickin’ american classics. in keeping with the dude food milieu there’s no dainty attempt to count calories, however, the individual flavours of quality ingredients manage to make themselves heard through sauces both thick and spicy. a few tweaks to the pace of expedition and staff's attitude would bring the total restaurant experience on par with the food. 

hartsyard restaurant

33 enmore rd, newtown

p: 8068 1473

e: hello@hartsyard.com.au
website: http://hartsyard.com.au/