Menu for Hope 2007: Call for Prize Donations

Could you help us feed the world's hungry?

It's almost December and that means it's time for our annual Menu for Hope fundraising campaign, originally devised by Chez Pim. In 2006 food bloggers and their readers raised a phenomenal US$62,925.12 in support of the United Nations World Food Programme.

How does it work?

This international campaign relies on the generosity of food bloggers sourcing or donating prizes that will be used to sell virtual raffle tickets. Over two weeks, the general public have the chance to buy virtual raffle tickets for the prize of their choice for US$10 each. At the end of this period, all prizes will be drawn and the results published on Chez Pim.

When will raffle tickets be available for sale?

You will be able to purchase tickets between December 10 - 21. Any donations after this date will not qualify for entry into a prize raffle.

Who will be collecting the money?

All donations will be collected by a third party, the online fundraising company First Giving.

How can I help?

Before December 10, 2007: Help us increase the prize pool by either donating a prize personally, or finding others who can (see more info below).

From December 10-21, 2007: Buy raffle tickets and help us publicise the campaign (on your blog or by word-of-mouth) to help us raise awareness, interest and most importantly, more money for a great cause.

I'm a food blogger. What type of prize could I donate?

You may wish to donate a cookbook, a restaurant guide or local, homemade or gourmet goodies. Prizes last year included knives, honey, handmade cherry vodka, Cambodian peppercorns, a chocolate sampler collection and assembled kits for making sushi, Japanese sweets and decorating cupcakes.

Limited funds? Perhaps you could donate your expertise or experience:

• a lesson in food-styling or food photography
• a gastronomic tour of your home city, favourite dining strip or shopping precinct
• a cooking class on making bread, pasta, pastries or dessert
• a lesson on understanding html or using Photoshop
• an offer to design a logo, banner or style template for someone's food blog or business website.

Get creative! Think laterally. Just try to keep it food-and-wine related and remember that ideally your prize should be tempting enough to raise at least twenty bids from readers. Please also remember that you will be responsible for posting out prizes to the winner - if you have postage restrictions (eg. Australia-only) please make this clear so it can be included with your prize description.

I'm involved with a food- or wine-related business. Can I donate a prize?

Absolutely. Dining vouchers are always popular and prize hampers work well too. Please remember that all prizes must be posted out by yourself to the winner.

I have my prize donation. Now what?

Contact the coordinator for your geographic region and email the details of your pledged prize. Please make sure you include:

1. a brief blurb about the prize (3-4 sentences)
   
2. the prize value (or rough estimate)
3. two pictures of your prize: 100x100pix and 250x250pix (if you're unsure, send the largest picture you can).
   

The regional coordinator will then provide you with a unique prize code. This code will enable raffle ticket purchasers to specifically request entry into your prize draw. If you have a food blog, you should also publish a post outlining the details of your prize, encouraging your readers to purchase raffle tickets (this can be published as soon as you have details of your prize code).

When is the prize donation deadline?

Please contact your regional coordinator with your prize details by Wednesday 5 December. Late submissions will be subject to approval.

Who are the regional coordinators?

Contact the host blogs below with details of your prize pledge. They will also be happy to answer any queries.

Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand: Helen of Grab Your Fork (grabyourfork AT yahoo com au)
UK: Johanna of The Passionate Cook and Jeanne of Cook Sister
Europe: Fanny of Food Beam
US, West Coast: Bee of Rasa Malaysia
US, Central: Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen
US, East Coast: Adam Kuban of Slice NY and Serious Eats
Canada: Jennifer of The Domestic Goddess
Wine Blog Host: Alder of Vinography

When will I find out what prizes have been donated?

On December 10, 2007 each regional host will publish a list of all the prizes collected for their area. Chez Pim will publish a central list of all prizes around the world. All food blogs should also publish posts spruiking their own donated prizes or pointing readers toward the regional and central lists of prizes.

When can I start buying raffle tickets?

Monday December 10, 2007. Start saving!

What now?

Start prize gathering and spread the word about the campaign on your blog, at work, to your family and to your friends!

Chat Thai, Haymarket Chinatown

Mu Bhing $1.50 each
Skewered and chargrilled lean pork
marinaded in galangal, lemongrass and garlic
served with a dressing of nam jim jeaw

You know you're getting old when you start getting cagey around your birthday. How old are you? everyone asks. How old do I look? I reply, instead.

But birthdays do bring a whole week's worth of dinner outings with family friends, even if the joy is always tempered by the obligatory Happy Birthday torture singing ritual. At Chat Thai it's an all-in event, the restaurant lights dimming and the entire kitchen brigade coming out to clap-clap a Thai version of Happy Birthday To You.

The new outlet on Campbell Street is the fourth for the burgeoning Chat Thai empire. Every lunchtime and dinner it appears to be packed solid. The open kitchen at the front is bustling, and the queue of waiting diners jams the corridor and spills out the door.



I like the silver drinking cups for water the best. Pressed with intricate patterns, the cups are a little battered but bring them to your lips and the metal is cool and soothing.

I also love the varied drinks menu. The Loot Shong coconut milk drink is of palest green, mixed with pandan noodles and slivers of jackfruit. The pandan noodles are springy to the point of almost being crunchy. I finish mine in about two minutes and immediately order another.


L-R: Loot Shong coconut milk drink with pandan noodles $3.50
Yakult blended with ice $4.00
Thai red tea $3.00

We start with the Mu Bhing pork [top], sweet and caramelised skewers that remind me a little of Vietnamese nem nuong but meatier. The dressing on the side is a fiery little number of roasted chillies, palm sugar, tamarind, tomatoes and ground rice.


Bpla Muek Yang $12.00
Chargrilled squid with fresh chilli relish
made with fresh birds eye chillies, garlic, coriander, lime juice and fish sauce

The Bpla Muek Yang chargrilled squid is probably my favourite of the night. The squid is soft and tender, and I adore the accompanying chilli relish which is a sublime balance of sweet, sour, salty and hot. The flavours are pure and crisp, a perfect accompaniment to the simplicity of chargrilled squid.


Pad Siew Tofu $10.00
Stir fry of thick rice noodles, Chinese broccoli and eggs

The lone vegetarian has the Pad Siew Tofu all to herself, a stir-fry of soft rice noodles mixed with tofu, omelette, carrots and Chinese broccoli.


Gang Som Cha-Om $14.90
Orange soup with omelette and prawns
(not on the menu - just ask)

Gang Som Cha-Om is a bright orange soup that booms with the flavour of genuine prawn stock. Prawns, beans and soft pillows of omelette nestle within, the omelette especially soaks up the flavours of the soup particularly well.


Gai Tort $12.00
Crisp fried chicken marinated in coconut milk, coriander roots and garlic

Gai Tort fried chicken is not the Colonel's recipe I was expecting, but more like Chinese crispy skin chicken, flavoured with coconut milk, coriander and garlic. The chicken is juicy and tender, and the accompanying dish of chilli dressing is thick and fiery.


Bpla Choo Chee $24.00
Fried snapper in rich red curry

Bpla Choo Chee snapper is deep-fried whole then coated with an aromatic red curry, heady with kaffir lime, galangal, lemongrass, garlic and palm sugar. The fish is cooked perfectly, flaking off in buttery chunks.

I tell a colleague I had Chat Thai for dinner the other night and he gives me a funny look. After some clarification he explains that the kids on the street use "chat" to describe anything that is lacking, insufficient or "lame". I confess I've never heard the expression.

It's mainly young people who use it, says Mr 21.

Natch. Of course.




View Larger Map

Chat Thai
20 Campbell Street, Haymarket Chinatown, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9211 1808

Open seven days
Lunch: 10am-5pm
Dinner: 5pm-10pm
Supper: 9.30pm-2am

Also at
Sydney City
Shop 5 Food Court, Galeries Victoria Food Court, Sydney
Tel +61 (02) 9264 7109

Randwick
222a Carrington Road, Randwick, Sydney
Tel +61 (02) 9399 5610

Manly
Shop 10, Manly Wharf East Esplanade, Manly, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9976 2939

This has been included on Grab Your Fork's Top 10 Sydney Eats for Tourists. Read the entire list here.

Related GrabYourFork posts:
Chat Thai, Haymarket (Nov10) and (Sep09)

Thai - At Bangkok, Haymarket
Thai - Cafe Kasturi, Haymarket
Thai - Saap Thai, Sydney
Thai - Satang Thai, Haymarket
Thai - Selina, Fairfield
Thai - Spice I Am, Surry Hills (Aug09), (Aug07) and (Nov05)
Thai - Sumalee Thai, Bank Hotel, Newtown
Thai - Thainatown, Sydney (Mar07) and (Jan07)
Thai - Uni Thai, Glebe

Danks Street Depot, Waterloo

It was my birthday last weekend, and amidst a whirlwind of errands and celebratory dinners, there was a much welcomed moment of respite at Danks Street Depot.

We only take a few steps inside the converted warehouse before our ears are overwhelmed by the clatter of cutlery and the relentless amplification of chatter. We sit in remarkable peace
outside instead, although the aluminium tables could be a little bigger to accommodate the super large plates that our lunch arrives on.





Iced chocolate $5.50

The iced chocolate doesn't look particularly impressive, but appearances can be quite deceiving. A tall glass of milk is rich with real chocolate shavings and topped with large chunks of ice. The bigger bits of chocolate tend to get stuck in your straw but it's a small hardship to bear for the taste of chocolatey goodness.


Bowl of coffee $5.00

I'm equally impressed with my bowl of coffee. Sure there's always a sense of Parisian novelty when sipping from a vessel so large it requires two hands to steady it, but this coffee (Allpress Espresso) is strong and robust with a smooth aftertaste.


Organic chicken liver parfait $18.50
served with caramelised eschalot and sourdough toast

The organic chicken liver parfait is the size of a giant doorstop. Encased in rich creamy butter, the pate is smooth and elegant with a hint of brandy. The caramelised eschalots are the perfect pairing, especially if you manage to get some of the sweet sticky syrup onto your sourdough toast.

The pate portion is so ridiculously large it requires another serve of sourdough to do it justice. Even then we have to slather it on an inch thick to make sure we enjoy every last mouthful.


Sourdough bread $3.00 ($1.50 per slice)


Toasted Rueben sandwich $13.50
Corned Wagyu beef braised in balsamic, sugar and spices
served in a rustic loaf with Heidi Farms tilsit cheese and sauerkraut

We also share the Toasted Rueben sandwich, a culinary delight I first made acquaintances with at Tom's Diner in New York. This is more in the style of a gourmet jaffle with thin slices of tender corned beef (Wagyu, apparently), a smattering of sauerkraut and a squidgy mass of molten Heidi Farms tilsit cheese. The dollop of wholegrain mustard is used almost all up, but I'm secretly wishing for more sauerkraut, and perhaps a pile of chips as well.

Congrats also to Jarod Ingersoll for winning the Le Cordon Bleu World Food Media Award for Best Hardcover Recipe Book under US$30 with his first cook book, Danks Street Depot.





View Larger Map

Danks Street Depot
1/2 Danks Street (corner Young St), Waterloo, Sydney

Monday to Wednesday 7.30am - 4.00pm
Thursday to Friday 7.30am - 11.00pm
Saturday 8.00am - 11.00pm
Sunday 9.00am - 4.00pm

Related GrabYourFork posts:
Cafe Sopra and Fratelli Fresh, Waterloo
Danks Street Festival 2006

Sumalee Thai at the Bank Hotel, Newtown

There's something very relaxed and casual about the outdoor courtyard at Newtown's Bank Hotel. I think its the abundance of wood; large picnic tables, bench seating, a raised wooden deck and timber columns that surround the courtyard. All this is offset by hanging pot plants, burgeoning palms and big terracotta pots filled with water and floating flowers.

It wasn't always like this. It's taken a multi-million dollar makeover to create the sense you've just arrived for a barbecue in someone's [landscaped] backyard.


Eggplant and mushroom $17.00
with hot chilli and basil

According to the blurb at the bottom, the Sumalee Thai menu is designed for sharing. Light meals start at $16; mains run through from $17 (vegetarian for one to two people) to $34 (seafood dishes for two to three people).

The eggplant and mushroom stir fry with hot chilli and basil is always a favourite. Shiny strips of eggplant are soft, sweet and faintly sticky. The sauce is fragrant with garlic, fish sauce and wilted basil leaves. Its almost jammy in consistency, perfect for pairing with the sponginess of eggplant, and even better drizzled generously over bowls of steamed rice ($2 per serve).


Pad thai with king prawns $29.00

Pad thai with seafood is a little pricey but of more concern is the spectacle of chopsticks plunged deep into its heart. K, a Japanese ex-pat, is mortified and pulls them out within seconds. Japanese never put chopsticks standing up into a dish, as its appearance makes them resemble joss sticks which are placed into bowls of rice that are offered to the dead.

It's a generous portion of pad thai that is thankfully not too saucy (one of my big pet hates, particularly those that taste of tomato sauce). King prawns are scattered throughout the dish and there's a healthy bundle of crunchy bean sprouts, fried whole chillis (not particularly hot as I munch down two) and sprigs of coriander and flat chives for extra pep.


Red curry of barramundi fillets $34.00
with fresh king prawns

Our other must-order dish is the red curry of barramundi fillets. Thick, creamy and rich, the red curry sauce is a brilliant shade of golden yellow ochre. We bask in the scent of kaffir lime leaves and basil, the deep heavy bowl filled with fat chunks of barramundi and soft cooked wedges of Japanese pumpkin.

It's an enormous portion but it's delicious, and that means it doesn't take long for the serving spoon to hit the bottom.

Sumalee Thai at the Bank Hotel
324 King St, Newtown, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 8568 1900

Sun-Tue, 10am-midnight
Wed-Thu, 10am-2am
Fri-Sat, 10am-4am

Related GrabYourFork posts:
Bar menu at the Bank Hotel, Newtown

Newtown - Corelli's Cafe
Newtown--Gourmet Viking
Newtown--Guzman y Gomez
Newtown--Mickey's
Newtown--Oscillate Wildly (Feb 06)
Newtown--Oscillate Wildly (Oct 05)
Newtown--Oscillate Wildly (Jan 05)
Newtown--Rowda Ya Habibi (Mar07)
Newtown--Rowda Ya Habibi (Jul04)
Newtown--South

Mui Huong Goat Meat Restaurant, Marrickville

EDIT (Dec 2011): Mui Huong has closed. It has been replaced by Everest Kitchen.

Goat Meat Restaurant. I wonder what they serve in there.

I would be lying if I didn't admit my heart skipped a beat when I chanced upon this Vietnamese restaurant in Marrickville. I've had goat a few times over the years. I'm sure my mother even cooked us a goat casserole once. But an entire restaurant devoted to goat. Now that was definitely worth investigating...

Seven of us gather for a six-course degustation of goat. There are eleven dishes to choose from for dinner and every dish comes with goat. Leave the vegetarians and non-goat-lovers at home. Lunchgoers fare slightly better; non-goat options include wonton noodle soup, bbq pork noodle soup, fresh prawn rolls and fried spring rolls.


Goat meat salad $17.50
with green turnip, carrot, onion, coriander, peanuts and prawn crackers
Goi De

We kick things off with the Goi De goat meat salad. The surrounding discs of prawn crackers are thick and meaty in flavour, stronger in texture and crispness than the usual blue-and-yellow packet.

And hovering shyly behind the prawn cracker curtain is a densely packed jumble of sweet and sour crunch. Cool strips of cucumber, slivers of carrot and thin slices of goat go well with green turnip, red onion, peanut, chilli and coriander. It's zingy and refreshing with just my kind of flavour profile.


Goat meat steamed with shrimp sauce and basil leaves $20.00
De Luoc

De Luoc steamed goat meat is an opportunity to enjoy the true flavour of goat. The goat is firm yet still tender, the lean meat reminds some people of cooked tongue. We savour these slices dipped in a potent shrimp sauce that can only be described as feisty. The intense flavours are lightened with a splash of lemon and a few freshly torn Thai basil leaves.


Salted plum drink $3.00
Nuoc Xi Muoi

Nuoc Xi Muoi is a drink I first discovered in Vietnam, and its salty sweetness is a perfect accompaniment to the meal. Bits of salted preserved plums are muddled with iced water and sweetened with sugar.


Braised goat meat with coconut milk and lemongrass $20.00
Cha De

Cha De braised goat meat is dressed in a sauce that is only slightly scented with coconut milk and lemongrass. The meat is extremely tender although the overall sweetness of the dish hides some of its flavour. A spray of coriander leaves, green onion shreds and toasted crushed peanuts add texture and bite.


Goat meat with lemon grass $20.00
De Xao Sa Ot

De Xao Sa Ot goat meat with lemongrass looks similar to our prior dish, but this one is more of a dry fry, the strips of goat generously bathed in strands of pounded lemongrass. The goat flesh is also tender in this dish.


Raw goat meat with lemon juice $20.00
De Tai Chanh

When we'd orderd the De Tai Chanh raw goat meat, our waiter's pen had paused mid-air. "Are you suuuuuurrrrree?" he'd asked, with a look of utter incredulity. We nod on in displays of enthusiasm. In fact, by the time the dish arrives, the goat meat is practically cooked, wallowing in its acid bath of lemon juice.

This dish is merely a goat version of Bo Tai Chanh, the traditional Vietnamese lemon beef salad. I quite enjoy this dish: the soft slices of goat go well with the crunch of peanuts, the lemon and fish sauce dressing, and the palate-cleansing mint leaves.



Our meal concludes with a simmering pot of mystery that is plonked onto our table along with a plate of cooked vermicelli noodles and a giant mountain of baby tong ho greens.


Goat meat with taro, dried mushroom, chestnut and salted bean curd $35.00
served with vermicelli and vegetables
De Nau Chao

Five minutes of simmering later and the lid is removed to reveal the De Nau Chao, a hot pot of goat meat cooked with taro, dried mushroom and chestnuts. This is how I'd imagined goat had to be cooked, stewed for hours in liquid until the meat falls off the bone. There's a bit more heartiness in this dish, and there's plenty of fighting that goes on for the giant mushrooms that lurk beneath the surface. The soup is wonderful over the accompanying noodles, and the tong ho mustard greens are cooked briefly in the liquid until barely wilted.

The accompanying sauce for this dish is made from fermented bean curd, cubes of chilli tofu that is usually enjoyed with rice. Most people opt out, but I enjoy the extra pungency of flavours.

It's an interesting journey through the many possibilities of goat. We finish the evening with dessert. No goat ice cream, alas, but a Pat and Stick's maple lace cookie icecream sandwich at Marrickville Road Cafe around the corner.



Mui Huong Goat Meat Restaurant (CLOSED)
EDIT (Dec 2011): Mui Huong has closed. It has been replaced by Everest Kitchen.
314 Victoria Road, Marrickville, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9569 7654
Open 7 days 10am-11pm

Marrickville Road Cafe
212 Marrickville Road, Marrickville, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9568 5485

Related GrabYourFork posts:
Marrickville--Hung Cheung (dinner)
Marrickville--Hung Cheung (yum cha)
Marrickville--Huong Huong
Marrickville--Nhat Tan
Marrickville--Old Thanh Huong
Marrickville--Post Cafe
Marrickville--Sydney Portugal Club

How to poach eggs 101: Poachpods vs old school

I am utterly hopeless at poaching eggs.

Runny fried eggs I can do. Soft velvety scrambled eggs a la Bills is easy. But I'd rather make a shark cake than be entrusted to make poached eggs for breakfast.

So when the kind folk at Kitchen Warehouse offered to send me some poachpods to try out, I had to the laugh at the appropriateness of the suggestion.


Product Road-Test: Poachpod

What is it: a silicone cup that can be used for poaching, baking or moulding.

Instructions say to lightly oil the pod before cracking an egg into it and floating it in a saucepan of simmering water. You are then instructed to cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and cook for about 4-6 minutes.

My saucepan doesn't have a tight-fitting lid so my makeshift version was a bit too big and hence the steaming effect was not quite as efficient. Cooking time was about 7 minutes which felt like an eon when it comes to breakfast.

The pod was removed and a spoon was used around the edge of the cooked egg. It slid out beautifully and was perfect in form.


Old School Method

Okay, surely the old school method is a lot faster and cheaper too? Buoyed with confidence I added a splash of vinegar to the saucepan, created a whirlpool and dropped in another free-range egg for poaching. Cooking time was significantly faster but the result was nowhere near as pretty.



The Taste Test

The poachpod egg was stronger in flavour since no water had come on contact with the egg. However it was also much firmer in texture since it cooks slowly from the outside in.

The old school method was quite soft in texture, but also a bit more watery - however I'd been lazy and not bothered with the whole blotting with kitchen towel palaver. The egg was a lot smaller since I lost a lot of egg white in the wispy trails that refused to come to the party in the middle. The egg yolk was lovely and runny though, which is how I tend to prefer my eggs.

The Verdict

- Takes longer to cook your eggs than direct immersion
- Harder to make runny poached eggs, unless you cooked the whites partway then added the egg yolk later
- It's one more thing you have to wash up
+ You can throw it in the dishwasher
+ Guaranteed uniformity and prettiness in appearance
+ No need to use kitchen towel for blotting
+ Ideal for people who like firm poached eggs
+ Great idea for poachaphobics

What else can you do with it?

The poachpod is non-stick, dishwasher safe, microwave safe and heat resistant to 675ºF / 357ºC.

Suggestions include using it to bake custards, frittata and creme caramels. You could also bake mini cakes or muffins, or use it to mould chocolate or puddings.

How much does it cost?

The recommended retail price is AU$19.95 but Kitchen Warehouse is selling it online for AU$15.95 (P+H AU$7.50)

Would I buy one?

Probably. My poaching technique still requires some work. I envision I'll poach using both methods until I had mastered the proper immersion technique.

Restaurant Nadwislanska at the Polish Club, Ashfield

Cwikla z chrzanem beetroot and horseradish sauce $3.80

The smell of garlic and smoked smallgoods is enough to make you weak at the knees.

We'd arrived early for dinner at the Polish Club in Ashfield, and I'd forgotten all about the deli with local treats downstairs. It doesn't take long for us to step across the threshold. To my left are baskets of bread rolls, sticky jam donuts and squares of cheesecake embedded with fragrant poppy seeds. Surrounding shelves are laden with jars of cherry jam, packets of instant borscht, parcels of buckwheat, hefty servings of sauerkraut... there are crinkly bars of chocolate, cartons of cherry juice and rainbow bags of childrens sweets.

But we're more immediately drawn to the glass deli counter on our right. Fat fingers of wiejska garlic sausage ($14.90/kg) languish with serdelki thick frankfruits ($11.90/kg) alongside fat ribboned wedzonka ham speck ($15.90/kg). Zeberka wedzone wieprzowe smoked ribs ($13.90/kg) nestle with golonka wedzona smoked trotters ($9.90/kg). The samples are generous and free-flowing, so too is their attentiveness and advice.


Konfitura z wisni whole fruit cherry jam $4.00

A Paczki Polish donut, round and golden, and encrusted with a sugary glaze, cannot be resisted as a pre-dinner snack. The donut is soft and airy, light on any sense of grease, and filled with a small sweet splodge of dark cherry jam.


Paczki Polish donut $2.00

Upstairs is where you will find the modest dining room, along with two community halls and a bar that serves ridiculously cheap wine and beer. The decor is straight out of the 1970s, probably quite literally, with orange seated metal chairs, lace tablecloths with scalloped edges in finest plastic, and even a branch decorated like a Christmas tree in the corner - very early and very late - it's quite hard to tell.




Pierogi ruskie cheese and potato dumplings $10.00

We are a group of nine tonight and share a selection of entrees to start. The pierogi are up first, small filled dumplings that are more delicate than I'd expected. We sample the pork version as well as the cheese and potato ones. They're also listed as available with blueberry, a dessert version we presume.


Pierogi z miesem meat dumplings $10.00


Golabki z ziemniakanti cabbage rolls with potatoes $14.00

Cabbage rolls are thick solid parcels packed with a meat and onion concoction that reminds me of mushy meatloaf.


Placki ziemniaczane potato pancakes $7.00

The crowd favourite is the potato pancake, a honey-coloured disc of golden fried potato shreds, impossibly crunchy and perfect with the smoothness of sour cream.


Watrobka z kurczaka chicken liver $13.00

But I'm also taken with the chicken liver, delicately seared and generously portioned with sides of bean salad, coleslaw, garden salad and two mounds of potato.


Borsecz w filizance beetroot soup in a cup $3.00

The borsecz beetroot soup is warm and sweet. Alarmingly it's compared to the heated dregs of a tin of beetrot slices. Disturbingly, I can see their point. The Christmas-patterned serviette adds a festive touch though.


Sznycei po widensku vienna schnitzel $15.00

Vienna schnitzel is a rather unwieldy slab of crumb-encrusted veal. A squeeze of lemon helps, but the meat is a little dry and chewy in texture.


Sznycei po widensku vienna schnitzel no egg, with gravy $15.00


Kurczak devollate chicken devollate $20.00

Chicken devollate is also a little dry but the pork cutlet is moist and juicy.


Kotlet schabowy pork cutlet $14.00


Pieczeri z sosem pieczarkowym roast pork with mushrooms $15.00

Roast pork arrives in a slather of mushroom gravy, with slices of meat that are reasonably tender.


Golonka pork knuckle $21.00

Four of us had ordered the pork knuckle under a promise of crackling, however a communication barrier fails us, despite our best intentions. Our friendly but often distracted waitress nods at the mention of "crackling" and "hard", but the huge joint of pork that approaches our table has a distinct wobble when it arrives.

The pork is luscious with fatty moistness, rich and decadent in its shiny pinkness. It's a beast of a portion size, seemingly unconquerable, and the sense of overwhelment is not helped by the sagging flaps of fat-laden skin.

Only one person manages to eat the whole knuckle, the rest of us take home half in takeaway containers. The meat is lovely and sweet, but a mound of tart sauerkraut or pickles would have helped cut through the richness.


Okocim Polish beer


Ciasto tortowe chocolate torte $3.50

There's not much dessert available by the time we finish mains. The restaurant had been one-third full at 6pm, but by 7pm only a table of two arrive during our stay. At 7pm there are two slices of cheese and poppyseed cake and five slices of chocolate torte.

The chocolate torte is a little dry, the top half of the cheese and poppyseed cake is mostly eaten. We've had much better coffees before too (stick to the tea which comes with a slice of lemon).


Sero-makowiec cheese and poppy seed cake $3.50

This isn't supposed to be high class dining or fancy fare. For the Polish community that seeks homestyle comfort cooking, this is reasonably priced and generously portioned. I'd definitely return for the potato pancakes and the chicken livers. I'd also been keen to try the tripe soup with bread rolls ($9.00) and roast duck ($22.00), which was unavailable the night we dined.

The deli was indeed a highlight, and I thoroughly recommend the garlic sausages and speck. We've already finished the sauerkraut ($4.50). A kilo of cabbage is easy to polish.




View Larger Map

Restaurant Nadwislanska at the Polish Club
73-75 Norton Street, Ashfield, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9798 7469

Wednesday to Friday 4.00pm-9.00pm
Saturday 4.00pm-10.00pm
Sunday 12.00pm-9.00pm

Polonez smallgoods deli downstairs open
Wednesday 5.00pm-8.00pm
Thursday 5.00pm-8.00pm
Sunday 1.00pm-5.00pm

Related GrabYourFork posts:
Ashfield - Ashfield Hotel
Ashfield - Crocodile Farm Hotel
Ashfield - Shanghai Night (Jul08) and (Mar06)