Hartsyard - Newtown

Hartsyard is a place I've wanted to visit for AGES but for fear of long lines and waits, I had held off. I had seen lots of yummy photos from this place so anticipation was high. Their menu consists of "seed" (entree sized) and "feed" (main sized) all meant for sharing. For the four of us, the waitress recommended 2 seeds and 3 feeds.

The Oyster Po' Boy was recommended to us by our waitress. Crunchy deep fried oysters with mayo and coleslaw enveloped between two English muffin buns. Sliders in size, it was tasty but definitely not worth it's price tag ($24 for two). For $12 a pop, I can think of many many tasty burgers from elsewheres.

We also got their smoked trout from their 'seed' (entree size) menu. The trout was perfectly cooked with a subtle hint of smokiness. Loved the mix of cauliflower, carrot, pickled mix. Also really enjoyed the crispy fish skin. The 'everything bagel' was my favourite type of bagel in NYC and these everything bagel crisps were likewise quite tasty. I thought that the dish worked and was pretty awesome.

Hubby and I like the 'smokiness' of food. One of our friends did not and so I think his enjoyment of the meal went downhill from here. The sweet potato came as pretty as a picture. Really soft and sweetly glazed with smoked honey, and topped with hazelnuts, goats curd and bbq mushrooms, it was a delight to see. I'm not a huge fan of sweet potato, but hubby and our other friend seemed to approve.

The smokiness continued on into our pulled pork. I quite liked it. It was soft and tender. Some people would say mush? The really thick slice of maple bacon was also pretty good. And who can say no to crackling? It was served with some fresh green apple and yoghurt.

Hartsyard is also famous for their fried chicken - so we knew we had to order it. It was a good 4 pieces of chicken. Crunchy outside and juicy meat. Served with a buttermilk biscuit (damper like thing) that none of us really appreciated, and gravy. What can I say? It was good but not $33 worth of good? We can get pretty damn amazing Korean fried chicken for that price!

Last but not least - dessert. We knew that we had to get their famous soft serve however reluctant we were to pay $12 for a soft serve. It better be bloody amazing! As I don't actually even remember the flavour of the soft serve... cinnamon? with a choc doughnut on the side? ... I don't know... you can probably ascertain how much we enjoyed and savoured it....

All up, the food was OK but I was quite disappointed with the experience. This is American bar food cooked reasonably but with a close to fine dining type price tag. Not cool.

Ratings:
Food - 7/10
Service - 6.5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 5/10
Overall - 25.5/40

Hartsyard 
33 Enmore Road
Newtown, NSW 2042
Tel: (02) 8068 1473

Rosso Antico Pizza Bar - Newtown

A colleague of mine had been raving on about an amazingly tasty new pizza joint in Newtown so when we needed to get takeaway in the area, we made a beeline for pizza. We didn't know how long it would take for them to make our pizzas so we decided to call ahead. My darling hubby called without even consulting their menu and ordered based on faith "just give me 3 of the most popular pizzas". What really shocked me was when they said that the order would be ready in 5 mins. We were not 5 mins away - floored on the accelerator!

On our way there, we rationalised that there was no way our pizzas could be done in 5 mins... maybe we just misheard 50 mins? But nope - lo and behold, pizza was waiting patiently for us as we pulled into the store 15 mins later. The pizzas that our kind waitress ordered for us was the Tartufo, the Napoli and the Prosciutto.

You could smell the Tartufo pizza before even opening the box - rich truffle smells just wafted out. This was an amazing pizza with italian sausage, porcini, fior di latte (cheese) and truffle paste. These toppings were a heavenly match, all sitting atop an amazing thin yet chewy base. YUM! Definitely dreaming of this pizza!

The Napoli was slightly less interesting. Loads of san marzano tomato paste with olives, anchovy, garlic and oregano. Quite tasty still... but I would have loved double the cheese! I guess this pizza is showcasing the tomato.

The last is my usual favourite (only this time, it is outdone by the truffle). The Prosciutto pizza had rocket, Parmesan, cherry tomatoes and of course - prosciutto. Loads of topping. Definitely appreciated the abundance of rocket. Very tasty indeed.

So the pizza were delicious even though they were sitting for some time on the counter. Imagine how tasty they would be if we ate in store! Definitely need to go back for some more truffle pizza! :)

Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - ...?
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 22.5 + ? / 40

Rosso Antico Pizza Bar
Shop 2, 52-60 Enmore Road
Newtown
Tel: (02) 8065 4224

Brewtown - Newtown

For a lovely brunch catchup with awesome friends, we went to Brewtown in Newtown. On a Saturday at 11am, there was quite a crowd. That, coupled with the fact that we needed a table of 11, meant that we had to wait a bit. However, they accommodated us better than I thought possible.

Drinks first. My coffee was quite delish. Smooth and aromatic. Funnily enough, my coffee-addicted hubby went for the juice of the day - which I think had kale, ginger, apple and something else in it. It was a bit sour but refreshing. I just wish that freshly squeezed juices could be colder. After his juice, hubby succumbed to his caffeine addictions and ordered yet another pretty perfect coffee.

freshly squeezed juice

skim capp

We all ordered, but because we were all pretty hungry whilst waiting for our food, and because we eyed some freshly baked cronuts coming out from the kitchen, we decided to order a few to share. There was the cinnamon one, a glazed one and a jam-filled one. Cronuts remind me of a denser krispy kreme. I like it, but I'm not sure that I absolutely love it. My favourite of the three types was the glazed one :)

cronut variety

My brekkie of choice is the Mini egg benedict brioche roll ($8.50). I had it was a side of avocado smash. This was good and surprisingly heavy... I could barely finish it. Unfortunately, my egg (along with a lot of my friend's) was a bit over-cooked and didn't give that usual ooziness. I was glad I had the avocado to add to the flavours.

Mini egg benedict brioche roll $8.5

Hubby ordered the Corned beef hash with garden peas, poached egg and parmesan crumbs ($15). His meal came out quite a bit later than every one elses. But to reward him for his patience, his eggs were cooked to absolute perfection. The corned beef hash was also heaps tasty. There was a good balance to this meal.

Corned beef hash with garden peas, poached egg and parmesan crumbs $15

For the rest of my friends, they ordered a selection of different meals. I didn't get to sample, but I saw lots of full and satisfied looks around the table. The only critic coming from one of my friends is that their beetroot cured ocean trout was not cured enough and was more akin to sashimi... which he wasn't too huge of a fan of eating first thing in the morning.

meatball, tomato, basil sauce and mozzarella baguette $15

Beetroot cured ocean trout with goat’s cheese, caper berries and baby beats $16.5

poached eggs, sourdough, relish, avocado smash

Beetroot cured ocean trout, avocado smash, rye sour dough toast, dill, persian feta & beetroot relish $16.5

Baked polenta with mushrooms, grilled asparagus, poached egg & parmesan $15

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 29/40

Brewtown
6-8 O'Connell Street
Newtown
NSW 2042
Tel: (02) 9519 2920

Pie Tin - Newtown

I'd read about this amazing pie place in Newtown filled with a crazy range of sweet and savoury pies. Tucked away just off the main street, when we stepped into this humbly pie shop, the place was packed out! There was pretty much no way we could eat in. And so, we took the next best option - takeaway please!

The pies here can be served with two sides (salads, mushy peas) or fries for $11, or a pie by itself from $5.80-6.80. The sweet pies a little more dear ranging from $7.50-10.50. As we were just getting a snack for takeaway, we chose one sweet and one savoury.

The savoury pie we opted for was the slow roasted beef brisket, hickory smoke and mushrooms. This was crazily dense. A thick pie with TONS of super soft and tender beef brisket. It was zomg soooo filling! So much beef brisket was encased - really really tasty, just a bit smoky, and just bits of mushroom inside. The pastry was a bit thicker than I would have liked, but I guess that any less pasty and the pie would collapse due to having too much beef.

I went for the gooey caramel and choc ganache pie for the sweet finish. Zomg it was intense! The choc ganache was super smooth and really quite chocolatey. The gooey caramel was also deliciousness! Perfect marriage between the chocolate biscuity/brownie ish base, sweet sweet caramel, and smooth chocolate ganache. Amazing! but definitely way too rich to eat it by oneself.

I think we'll have to definitely return. There were tons more sweet and savoury options that I really really wanted to try!

Ratings:
Food - 9/10
Service - 6.5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 29.5/40

Pie Tin
1 Brown Street
Newtown
NSW 2042
Tel: (02) 9519 788040

Mary's - Newtown

The humble burger and fried chicken. Perfect combo no?

Mary's is a new ish hip bar in Newtown. It's slightly hidden with no sign on the entrance. It's hidden on Mary St and the entrance looks like you're entering some dingy place. And when you walk in, it's cool, it's dark, and it's grungy. People are chilling out, drinking beer and eating fried chicken from super early in the morning.

But the main reason why we came here was for the burgers - although the fried chicken and potato & gravy look super duper tempting (note to self: must come back to try). We were looking for a burger that emulated Shake Shack burgers from NYC - so after being seated, we got the cheeseburger ($14) and the Mary burger ($14)

Hubby decided to get 'trashcan bacon' in his cheeseburger. The name 'trashcan bacon' is meant to be derived from the way the bacon is smoked and prepared. The bun of the burger was soft, and the meat juicy. Apparently, for the patty, they use 2 parts chuck to 1 part brisket and 1 part rump - which results in flavoursome, tender and juicy beef. Slathered with bbq sauce and with a melty cheese slice chucked in the mix, the burger was small but really tasty.

I actually preferred my Marys Burger more. It was essentially the same except with lettuce and tomato in it. Also, instead of bbq sauce, it had their "special sauce". All up - it was succulent, juicy and awesomely tasty. Mmm... YUM. The fries which came with the burgers were golden and crisp. Salted well and super crunchy. Even better than freshly cooked Maccas fries (and I have a soft spot for Maccas fries).

So all up, this place is pretty cool.I guess the all-stars team behind the good food (and bar) helps - with Jake Smyth (ex-Bodega), Kenny Graham (ex-Porteno's bar), and Luke Powell (ex-head Tetsuya chef). Next time I come, I think I'll drag along a few more people so that we can have the burger AND the delicious-looking fried chicken and super smooth potato and gravy :) Mind you, leave a little more time - service is quite slow (I imagine they'll try and smooth that out as time goes along).




Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 6/10
Ambiance - 7.5/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 29/40

Mary's
6 Mary Street
Newtown
NSW 2042

Deans Diner - Newtown

Hubby and I have been on a crusade to find our old school corner store memories. We both remember going to the corner shop after school and getting a big batch of hot yummy chips wrapped in butchers paper and yet, after going to corner shop after corner shop, the butchers paper-wrapped chips appear to no longer exist. That is, until we randomly mentioned our vendetta to a friend who instantly replied "oh - we just went somewhere that served this!". So on Saturday, we went to check it out - Deans Diner.

Deans Diner

Deans Diner is like an old-school tuck shop. The blackboard menu is filled with burgers on a variation. It was definitely rocking retro style.

blackboard menu

Ofcourse, we had to order the chips! Out of the many versions of the burger, I opted for the 'Fantasy' ($6.50), which really, is just a cheeseburger, whereas hubby opted for the 'Original Sin' ($6)(ie. hamburger) and added beetroot (50c). All these things came in neat little takeaway packages. Nice, hot, toasty and waiting to be opened!

So sure - the chips weren't the best chips in town. No where near the awesomeness taste that we remembered as kids... but - it came in Butchers paper!!!! The burger, on the other hand, was simply superb. Definitely old school Aussie-style burger. The patty was juicy and succulent and absolutely delicious. The lettuce was just the perfect amount and balanced the burger out really well - with the dallop of bbq sauce and my melting cheese. It was amazingly yum! Hubby agreed that this is the place to go the next time we want that true Aussie burger~

hot chips

Fantasy - $6.50

Original Sin (with beetroot) - $6 + 50c

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 7.5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7.5/10
Overall - 30/40

Deans Diner
385 King Street
Newtown
NSW 2042
Tel: (02) 9557 6085

MOO Gourmet Burgers - Newtown

Not knowing what to eat on an Aussie public holiday Monday, hubby and I ventured into Newtown. Walking around, we decided on grabbing a burger. Though there were lots of burger joints on King Street, we opted for MOO burgers.

Drink-wise, we were wowed by their milkshake range. Being Malteaser fans, the MOOteaser was chosen. This was a milkshake with crushed malteasers, chocolate syrup and malt in it. It was sweet, milky, chocolatey and malty. If only it was a touch thicker, it would be perfect~

Mooteaser - $7

Hubby's 'Big MOO' burger ($16.50) was already smaller than the Deluxe MOO (which had like 2 patties and looked twice the size) but was still MASSIVE!!! He had no idea how to eat it, and I don't blame him. It was like the size of his head! well... almost. It had a thick beef pattie (100% Aussie angus beef), slice of cheddar cheese, free range bacon, free range egg (just the right runniness), slice of pineapple, beetroot, tomato and a salad of mixed leaf lettuce. It was quite crazy. The burger was sauced with home-made mayo on the bottom and tomato relish on the top. Needless to say, it was an EPIC burger.

Big MOO - $16.50

I got a Black & White Burger ($15). This was also a whopping big burger comprised of a thick beef pattie, super large slice of mozzarella, perfectly runny free range egg, thick slice of tomato, and mixed leaf lettuce. Again, sauced with mayo and heaps of tomato relish. OK, so the bun isn't the best burger bun I've had and the pattie is a touch on the dry side... but all up, when you just look at the size of the thing, it automatically brings a smile to my face :)

Black & White Burger - $15

Last but not least, there was the cheesy bacon chips ($8.95). In retrospect, this was a bad idea. Cheesy bacon chips came topped with melted Egmont cheese and loads of crispy bacon. The reason why it was a bad idea was that the chips was absolutely AWESOME by themselves. Seasoned well, crispy crunchy outside and soft inside. Not too burnt, not undercooked. The chips were great!!! And because they were so great, it really didn't need the cheese and the bacon - the two ingredients were almost redundant. On top of that, we really didn't need so many chips... we could hardly stomach the burger... So next time we'll know. Just need a side of chips... and maybe only on one of the burgers LOL.

cheesy bacon chips - $8.95

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 29/40

MOO Gourmet Burgers

232 King Street
Newtown NSW
Tel: (02) 9565 4001

Ice + Slice - Newtown

After dinnering at Selah and finding it difficult to decide on an appetising dessert, our crew of four took ourselves to Ice + Slice in Newtown.

I had originally wanted to eat a Nutella Pizza ($9.80) but unfortunately, the oven was broken for the night. Hence, the dude was able to substitue a belgian waffle for my pizza. As they were the first to change thing, I felt as though I could change something too. Instead of bananas, I requested strawberries. As a result, this is what I ended up with - warm belgian waffle topped with nutella, covered with strawberries and finished with a vanilla bean gelato. The waffle wasn't quite warm or crunchy enough - but it did quench those dessert cravings.

Nutella Waffle

My friend ordered the Cinnamon Belgian Waffle ($9.80) with an added scoop of gelato ($2). It turned out to be a waffle swimming in maple syrup. A scoop of white chocolate and a scoop of strawberry and balsamic gelato was sitting ontop of the waffle and the whole thing was finished with whipped cream. My friends said that the gelato was pretty good. However, the maple syrup was all too much for them - way way way too sweet.

Cinnamon Belgian Waffle

Ratings:
Food - 6.5/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 6.5/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 27/40

Ice + Slice
135 King Street
Newtown
NSW 2042
Tel: (02) 9516 4595