the milk bar by cafe ish - redfern

Nothing brings back memories of childhood like slurping an after school milk shake. When else in our lives are we able to stomach so much milk, sugar and artificial strawberry flavouring without paying for it all the next day? Well, The Milk Bar by Café Ish has cried out a defiant “nah-ni-nah!” in the face of indigestion and brought the big kids of Sydney a reason to salivate when the afternoon bell rings.

The Café Ish team have grown up and moved out of their old Surry Hills playground and into a new hard-to-find outfit near Redfern Station. The décor is all vintage arcade games and sweets in jars, deliberately evoking the good old days when games were in 2D and red frogs cost five cents.

On my first visit, heeding the song of the eyes-bigger-than-stomach gluttony to which I’m too often a willing victim, I order the breakfast platter ($21). The wooden serving board (no longer an original food vessel but nonetheless pretty) is piled with gratuitous slates of thick-cut ham, glistening segments of salmon, a well-boiled egg, a potato and ham frittata, pikes of grilled asparagus, toast and (breath) home-made tomato chutney. As can often be the case, the condiment is the main contender - it’s deliciously sweet and conveniently spreadable. I want to buy a jar of it and put it on everything. Sadly, the frittata is less impressive chunks of not-too tasty potato stuffed into a baking paper wrapping.

Breakfast Platter ($21)

Poached free-range eggs ($8) on home-made toast with house-made butter is a basic breakfast option executed well, as is the bacon and egg roll ($6), served on crusty Panini bread with an appropriate fountain of BBQ sauce.

Poached eggs ($8) with side of snags

At lunchtime, the Milk Bar's focus turns to custom made burgers. Cheeseburger ($5), double cheeseburger ($9) and triple cheeseburger ($13) are variations on a theme. The noteworthy offering of a triple-decker convinces me that the patties must be on the smaller side. But don't be fooled. These particular patties are well sized, meaty and delicious. The cheeseburgers all come with cheese, pickles, ketchup and grilled onion. From there you’re encouraged to add curiously themed toppings. I go with Japanese style ($3) which includes pickled daikon, carrot, cabbage and wasabi mayo. I have my doubts as to how the distinctly Asian ingredients will marry with the American flavours, but this episode of East meets West is a success! The shredded cabbage and less grease than expected tricks you into thinking this is a relatively healthy meal.. My dining partners go for the Italian toppings ($3) of rocket, tomato, aioli, balsamic and softly melted parmesan. Judging by their guilty grins and empty plates, I’m guessing they’re as satisfied as me.

Double cheeseburger ($9) with Italian topping ($3)

All right, shake time. The long list of wacky shake options (all $7) have Willy Wonka written all over them, making the experience of sucking down a stupefyingly indulgent drink seem all the more fantastic. I take a step towards the absurd with the Miso caramel shake, again exploiting the cafe's asian flare. The sweetness of caramel, combined with the salty miso is a transcendent take on salted caramel making this a successful trip down the rabbit hole. For those looking for a more traditional taste, you can't go past the PBJ shake. It's a glass of nostalgia. Raspberry and blueberry jam are stencilled onto the inside of the glass filled with a rich, milky mixture of salted peanut butter ice-cream and crunchy peanut butter. If only all meals came in shake form.

Miso caramel shake ($7)

The sole set back of The Milk Bar, is the positioning, on a painfully noise-polluted corner of Regent Street. But then, maybe that’s just another excuse to get lost in a tall glass of flavoured milk and schoolyard memories.

The Milk Bar by Cafe Ish
105 Regent Street, Redfern
t: 9699 8828


Photos by Hayley Peterson-Connor

claude's - woollahra

Sliders. They're more prolific in Sydney bars and diners than grit-your-teeth moments on The Shire. Countless restaurants are jumping on the US-copycat bandwagon - which is fine in theory, but when the execution involves serving overdone meat, slathered in flavoured mayo and squished between bulk-bought brioche buns, the baby-burgers shift from “updated American classics” to “reminiscent of Micky D’s”.

Luckily, the sliders at Claude’s Bar are more likely to have you sliding off your seat than side-stepping for the exit. The sweet, one-bite buns carry the most delectable filling - slices of pork topped with a layer of incredibly tasty black fungus relish. At two for $12 these ain't cheap eats, but the price pinch doesn't detract from the flavour, and with a fine dining digs upstairs, it seems to fit the bill.

Pig's face, black fungus relish sandwiches ($12)

 Whilst the downstairs of Claude's is now labelled as the bar, the decor instantly reveals to the diner that this is not your local drinking hole. The bar clings to the formal, sophisticated atmosphere present in the upstairs of the establishment and expected in a space with so many years of Woollahra fine-dining history (ex-owner, Claude Corne, first opened the restaurant’s doors on Oxford Street in 1976). The food is also marketed to the upper crust. Spanner crab salad ($22) is a classy tangle of shaved fennel, white crab meat and brown butter crumbs. It’s tantalising, but a little light, even for an entree. Owner Chui Lee Luk lends Asian flare to head chef Ben Sear's  dish of chili and tamarind mussels ($22). It’s a masterful reinvigoration of moules marinère in Luk’s distinctly Franco-Singaporean style. For those looking for a more hefty stomach-liner, gruyere souffle ($22) is an easy win, but make sure not to count the calories.

Spanner crab salad ($22)

   

Chili and tamarind mussels ($22)

Suffolk lamb belly ($33) is a quality cut. It’s a refreshing relaxation of the apparent obligation to always serve pork belly, still with sweet layers of fat, sandwiched between the tender pieces of lamb blanketed in a crisp veneer of skin. Accompanying the lamb is a smothering of Jerusalem artichoke puree, rich lamb jus and broad bean leaf garnish. 

Suffolk lamb belly ($33)

By now we’re feeling deeply in restaurant territory, despite the fact that we’re perched metres from the bar. Desserts do nothing to deviate from the trend. Burnt honey soufflé ($12) comes proudly puffed up above the walls of a kitsch copper tin. We're instructed to excavate an enclave in the centre of the soufflé to make room for a pouring of white rum cream, administered by our waiter. The audience participation taunts us into believing that our magic touch is vital to the heavenly taste of the dessert. Whatever. It’s freakin’ delicious.

The lemon custard dessert ($15) is definitively a gift from above. Peppered on top of the gorgeous sweet custard are teensy coffee meringues, cubed Averna jellies, crumbles of lemon shortbread and a coating of milk granita. It only takes one bite to have the choir singing its praises. The interplay of flavours and textures is enough to make you skip church.

Stripping down the formality of service and slapping an alternate label on the menu has not corresponded with a radical step down in the standard of food at Claude's Bar. Rather it's created a dramatic disparity between people's expectations and the dishes laid down in front of them. The menu reads like any mid-range Sydney restaurant rather than a list of bar snacks and munchies. It’s confusing, but at least the surprise is an exceedingly pleasant one. Claude’s Bar makes a midweek boozer not only feel legitimate but special. It seems almost a shame to fill up on beer.

claude's
10 oxford street, woollahra
t: 9331 2325
e: reservations@claudes.com.au
http://claudes.com.au/