Something for Jess, Chippendale (28 June 2015)

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Something for Jess. An alluring chalkboard menu with seasonal produce and highly regarded by bloggers. Christine, Nick and baby Linc are back from a cameo brunch down in Bondi. The risk is if this under delivers, a chubby baby is my second course.

Massive menu descriptions highlighting local sourcing; owner gives no sympathy to the poor slave that updates the board by hand when pumpkin price rises above $1/kg (today).




2015 trend of Sydney Inner West ... pay $15 for a garden-bed-on-toast best suited to veterans of sustained cabbage-soup dieting.

'Forboding' is defined as walking in to see three petite waitresses and equally skinny diners eating muesli. We have a carbon copy of Cornersmith. The non-toast, non-muesli option is mine to try.

Roasted pumpkin, quinoa salad with pesto dressing and a poached egg - $15 + $3
3 nuts, 3 pieces of pumpkin and 8 forkfuls before the plate is snatched away. An assault on a customer's physiological need to consume enough calories to walk back to the car.



I had the foresight to add a poached egg. The sole enjoyment of my meal.

'Chorizo' ... the lonesome word in my expectant lady's vocabulary.

Housemade chorizo baked eggs on baguette - $16.50
'Disappointment' is defined as a baked eggs in a mug resulting in the need to fill up on bread.



'Catastrophe' is defined as a mild-flavoured watery base with no chunkiness. Too thin for the bread to absorb, no spoon offered to scoop the broth up. This was an egg and sausage broth. Similar to a Korean hotpot without the spice and 1/10th the value. I miss proper baked eggs in a tomato base.

Dish #3 and #4 were the jumble-on-toast style offers.

Smoked silverside wagyu bruschetta - $17
The most impressive looking dish goes to Nick. Menu name is as incredible as the asking price. Dish translation? Processed meat and garden salad on a slither of toast. Feedback was OK, but the guy had to indulge in a muffin on the sidewalk just 5 minutes later...

Raspberry muffin - $4
Now comes the rainbow trout to the benefit of Christine.



Pretty similar to the beef in composition and construction. The protein was under-represented and the smokiness too understated. My mind was depicting more epic visuals of a 'rainbow' fish.

OK to show my face as I won't return. Can't speak for the others. 
Score summary:

- Food - 6/10 - hit and miss with over reliance on veggie munching to deliver flavour.
- Value - 5/10 - tiny servings, mid teens pricing and particularly stingy on any proteins.
- Other - 6/10 - quaint set-up, good service, order to first bite 20 minutes.
- Overall - 5.5/10 - I can't excuse post-meal hunger and a watery baked eggs.

At a minimum the 'sourcing' concept differentiates from Subway and the offer is OK for a healthy snack. If you want a hearty winter brunch, avoid. My fingers have gnaw marks from the trip home.

Will I be returning?
No

Produce of the week - aka whose garden can the chef's  raid

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