The Norfolk, Surry Hills

If life is marked by epiphanies, then this is one of mine. The deep-fried pickle. Oh god yes. It's the glorious combination of crunchy batter wrapped around a pickled gherkin. Ingenious. Why? Because even as an aficionado of all things deep-fried, there is only so much greasy batter my war-torn arteries can take. And that's when the pickle comes in - a sweet and acidic bullet that doubles as both a palate cleanser and digestive aide. Hello deep-fried pickle. I'll have more of you.


Deep-fried pickles with ranch dipping sauce $7.50

The deep-fried pickles are easily my favourite menu item of the night, although we reckon that a dash of chilli in the ranch dipping sauce would have made this even better.

We're at the Norfolk Hotel on a Monday night, here to check out their $4 mini burger bar. The specials don't start until 6pm, giving us a great excuse to 'research' more of their snack menu.


Mac n cheese poppers $11.50

The mac n cheese poppers are just what we expect - large red peppers stuffed with macaroni and cheese and then battered and deep-fried. There's a welcome chilli kick to these but the puddle of aioli only adds to the deep-fried richness, and the macaroni and cheese mix seems a little lacking in cheesiness and general seasoning too.


Avocado bomb $11.50
Fried avocado, corn salsa, sweet potato crisps, corn tostadas

On the other hand, I wasn't quite sure what to expect with the avocado bomb. How do you deep-fry avocado? You cut it in half, batter it, and deep-fry it of course.


Deep fried avocado

It's a hand-grenade of gluttonous excess, the creamy avocado retaining its shape despite the baptism in hot oil. The panfried corn salsa is a little oily, especially when you have deep-fried avocado, sweet potato strings and deep-fried tostadas to contend with, and I'm left wanting for a squeeze of lime, some fresh pico de gallo salsa or hey there deep-fried pickle, you'll do!


$4 mini burgers on Mondays 6pm-10pm

There are seven mini burgers on the Monday $4 menu, and we spend a little time narrowing down our options.


When burgers attack

Who are we kidding. We order them all!


Mac n cheese burger $4

The mac n cheese makes an encore appearance in a burger, a patty of pasta and cheese sauce crumbed and deep-fried to create Suze's clear favourite. This is pure carb-on-carb action, with a little extra cheese for good measure. It's not as heavy as you'd think, but I am pining for extra salt.


Fried chicken burger $4

The fried chicken burger looks eerily similar to the version at The Abercrombie, combining fried chicken with a red cabbage slaw. There's quite a bit of spice in the batter here, and a slice of gooey cheese doesn't go astray.



Clockwise from top left: Feelin o fish burger $4; Beef cheeseburger $4;
Pork belly burger $4 and El Nino burger $4

The burger parade continues thick and fast as we make our way through the remaining cavalcade. We plough our way through the cheeseburger with pickles, the pork belly burger with hidden bits of crackling, the El Nino burger with shredded slow-cooked beef, and the cutely named Feelin o fish burger.


Chicken katsu burger $4

My pick of the lot is the chicken katsu burger, a fillet of crumbed chicken sandwiched with wasabi mayo, a little cheese and wispy shreds of nori seaweed sheets.

On tap they have Monteith's cider and Kosciuszko pale ale and they even have Patron XO Cafe behind the bar. But that's another story. Tequila later.





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The Norfolk on Cleveland
305 Cleveland Street, Surry Hills, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9699 3177

Opening hours:
Bistro open Monday to Sunday 12pm-10pm

Daily specials (as at 23 April 2012)
Monday $4 mini burger bar
Tuesday $3 tacos all night
Wednesday $10 steak
Thursday $12 rib night
Friday $10 margaritas and $5 tequila shots 6pm-8pm
Saturday free bar snack with every cocktail jug
Sunday $10 Bloody Marys


Related Grab Your Fork posts:
Surry Hills - The Carrington
Surry Hills - El Loco
Pub grub - The Abercrombie, Chippendale