Crocodile Farm Hotel, Ashfield

$10 rump steak special
with mushroom sauce, salad and chips

You wouldn't expect to find a swanky bar in downtown Ashfield, but here we are at the Crocodile Farm Hotel and the recent revamp is obvious. Upstairs there's a flood of natural light, a balcony with giant plasma screen, booth seating and sleek white tables and chairs. It seems a world away from Shanghai Night across the road, but that's part of the fun of the inner west - a constantly changing chaos of old and new.

Whilst the dining room isn't particularly busy, service is painstakingly slow tonight. The kitchen team of two is on the ball but it takes the multi-tasking waiter (determinedly attending to the floor and the bar) a full five minutes to attend to the "ding" of our meals ready and waiting on the counter. A couple next to us wait five minutes just to get a menu.


$10 rump steak special
with Dianne sauce, salad and chips

Thankfully the food is affordable and quite delicious. Veruca Salt and Speedy both order the rump steak special, char-grilled to a pleasing hue, the flesh juicy and moist in the middle. Consistency is a little wanting though. B1 arrives a little while later and whilst her steak is fine, B2's is an extremely thick fillet that is more rare than medium well.

The sauces are a little thin, but the chips more than make up for it. They're crisp and golden, almost crumbed or lightly floured on the outside, giving them a resounding satisfying crunch.


Roast lamb loin $15.50
with rosemary potato and Mediterranean vegetables

I'd toyed with ordering the Beef and Guinness Pie ($12.50), a behemoth of puff pastry over a dish of beef stew. The salt and pepper calamari ($12.00) , the pan-fried salmon fillet ($15.50) and the beer-battered fish and chips ($12.50) also beckoned, but in the end I order the roast lamb loin.

The lamb is well-rested, reassuringly pink and tender, if a little understated in flavour. Mediterranean vegetables are a mix of beans, eggplant, tomato and onion, and the potatoes have been roasted with plenty of rosemary.

Never smile at a crocodile? You could probably afford to give a little grin at this one.




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Crocodile Farm Hotel
Level 1, 262 Liverpool Road, Ashfield, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9799 6010

Restaurant open Monday to Saturday 12pm-3pm and 6pm-10pm

Related GrabYourFork posts:
Ashfield - Ashfield Hotel
Ashfield - Polish Club
Ashfield - Shanghai Night (Jul08) and (Mar06)