Kensington Street Social, Chippendale

When Kensington Street Social opened in Sydney in January 2016, it marked the arrival of Chef Jason Atherton's 19th restaurant. It joins an international network of restaurants that includes Pollen Street Social in London, The Clocktower in New York, Aberdeen Street Social in Hong Kong, Social Commune in Shanghai and Marina Social in Dubai. Atherton doesn't stop. Since then, he's opened a 20th restaurant, an izakaya-style restaurant, Sosharu, in London.

Kensington Street Social is his first foray into Australia, offering a menu that has been variously described as Modern British or British-Mediterranean. Atherton worked with Pierre Koffmann, Marco Pierre White and Ferran Adria before a 10-year stint with Gordon Ramsay that included opening five Maze restaurants.

This is the third - and biggest - restaurant to take up residence in the The Old Clare Hotel. The 120 seat venue is significantly larger than Automata and Silvereye next door.


Kensington Street Social dining room

Soaring ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows mean the entire dining room is bathed in light by day. It's a cleverly designed space that lines up group tables along the window and high stools for couples and single diners around the bar and and open kitchen.

A mix of concrete columns, metal fixtures, warm timbers and leather furnishings soften the industrial chic effect. I'm particularly enamoured by the little touches like green glass water tumblers and copper cutlery stands on every table. The water tumblers are actually made from the bottom half of wine bottles!


Cutlery stands on each table

Today we're dining during the Sunday brunch session, probably the best time if you're after choice. Brunch includes the full breakfast menu plus sub-sections of snacks / sourdough flatbreads / raw and cured / vegetables / and fish, shellfish and meat.


Grass fed veal tartare, egg yolk jam, radish salad, sourdough $19

Our group of five means we can make some headway through the menu but even then we barely cover a third of all dishes. We start with the grass fed veal tartare, mixed through with cornichons and capers and garnished with radish batons. Buried in the centre is a 65C egg yolk, sous vide for two hours so the yolk has a thick and sticky consistency.

We mix it all up and savour dollops on crisp toast. The hand-cut veal is sweet and soft yet still has some resistance to the teeth. The blanket of rich egg yolk is countered by acidic pops of cornichon.


Trout roe and cucumber with squid ink crackers $10

The trout roe and cucumber is a light-as-air dip of cucumber foam dusted with dehydrated cucumber and pearls of trout roe.


Squid ink crackers 

The colour contrast against the squid ink crackers is striking, wild curls of rice cracker tinted black with squid ink that look like they're blooming out of a wooden planter. The thin and fragile crackers tend to disintegrate easily but that only makes eating them more fun. Some of the crackers are a little on the oily side, but once they're piled generously the cucumber foam (with salty treats of trout roe), it's a ridiculously addictive snack.


Tongue 'n' cheek croquettes with piccalilli $15

Tongue 'n' cheek croquettes are a contrast of crunchy panko crumb surrounding tender shreds of cheek. We eat them with whisper thin slices of tongue and the most elegant assembly of piccalilli artfully strewn across the plate.


Tataki Hiramasa kingfish, dill, kale togarashi $19

Kale might feel ubiquitous these days, but I like the twist on togarashi here, converted to powder form and incorporated into a traditional Japanese pepper mix. It's sprinkled across plump slices of Hiramasa kingfish, seared tataki-style for what must have been the briefest of kisses on the grill. This turned out to be one of my favourite dishes of the meal.


Lightly smoked mackerel omelete, bacon, spring onion $17

From the breakfast menu we choose the lightly smoked mackerel omelette, an umami bomb of smoked mackerel bound up in a fluffy eiderdown of egg. Bonus finds of bacon add a smoky meatiness, tempered by a pile of crunchy beansprouts and finely shredded spring onion.


Mushrooms on rye, avocado, house Jersey milk ricotta $19

We also order the mushrooms on rye from the breakfast menu. It's a vegetarian-friendly mix of field and button mushrooms with a deliriously smooth puree of avocado on sturdy rye brad. But the real highlight of the dish are the smooth and creamy dollops of house Jersey milk ricotta.


Breakfast rice, slow cooked hen's egg, oyster mushroom, smoked bacon, bacon dashi $18

Breakfast rice is the most luxe version of congee you can imagine. A bed of rice porridge is laden with oyster mushrooms, a 65C egg and thick slices of intensely smoky bacon. Bacon dashi is poured at the table enveloping everything in an umami smokiness. I hadn't expected to be so taken by this dish but it just goes to show the power of bacon. It's so flavourful yet masterfully balanced.


Rangers Valley Black Angus rib eye, fried egg, chips, tarragon bearnaise $36

There's no such thing as a humble steak and chips here. Instead we get Rangers Valley Black Angus rib eye cooked to a textbook shade of medium rare pink. The meat is succulent and tender, flooding our mouth with fat and juices with each chew. We pierce the fried egg on top and mop up the oozing yolk.

A tumbler of chips are every bit as crunchy as we could hope for. Need more fat? We dip those chips into the tarragon bearnaise for extra goodness. The grilled tomato offers acidic salvation.


Sourdough flatbread with pulled lamb, basil pesto, baby zucchini, Jersey milk ricotta and pecorino $17

There are three different fillings to choose on the sourdough flatbreads. We go with the pulled lamb, smothered in grated pecorino and dotted with Jersey milk ricotta clouds.


Jersey milk ricotta and pecorino on the pulled lamb sourdough flatbread

The flatbread eats much like a pizza but has none of that heavy doughy consistency. I like how the richness of lamb is lightened by the inclusion of basil pesto and grated baby zucchini.


Counter seating overlooking the open kitchen


Yoghurt mousse, lemon curd, malt meringue, basil $16

There are five desserts on the menu and there's a moment of glee when we tell our waitress "We'll have one of each".

The yoghurt mousse is the lightest dessert, a snowball of whipped yoghurt mousse hiding a core of lemon curd, basil and malt meringue. The sweet spiciness of basil is a little strange to get used to at first, but it makes for a terrific palate refresher once your brain catches up with your tastebuds.


Chocolate and peanut bar, caramel and banana ice cream $16

The chocolate and peanut bar, on the other hand, is much more familiar territory. There's some clever nuancing here that saves this dessert from being the usual sickly sweet overload. Bitter chocolate, salted peanut and caramel work so well together. A quenelle of creamy banana ice cream is soothing.


Buffalo ricotta, lemon thyme peaches and honeycomb $16

Our buffalo ricotta dessert is completely hidden by a huge sheet of golden honeycomb.


Cracking the honeycomb sheet to reveal the buffalo ricotta and lemon thyme peaches beneath

One vigorous thwack later and the broken shards reveal the dessert beneath. We take a dab of peach sorbet here, a dab of buffalo ricotta there. Thin slices of lemon thyme peaches are a last echo of summer, and every now and then we nibble on the sweet honeycomb, as pretty as sunlight streaming through a stained glass window.


East Rydge Grove arbequina olive oil cake, coconut sorbet, spiced mango and passionfruit ice $16

The East Rydge Grove arbquina olive oil cake is a celebration of yellow, spanning multiple shades of sunshine in mango cubes, passionfruit and cake itself. The olive oil cake is particularly fragrant, and noticeably tasting of olive oil, as though it had been drenched with an olive oil syrup.

Meringue shards and a coconut sorbet add contrasting shades of white. It's like a collision of the Mediterranean and the tropics - in the best way possible.


Baked caramelised apple puff pastry, cider vinegar ice cream and pickled apple $17

We finish with the baked caramelised apple puff pastry, served upside down with the most tantalising crust of golden toffee. We break through the toffee to reveal buttery layers of pastry and soft cooked apples. Adding multiple layers of apple applications - a zingy cider vinegar ice cream and paper-thin scrolls of pickled apple - is both delicious and palate-cleansing.

There's plenty to like about Kensington Street Social. I may have have devastated that the English breakfast tea and toast wasn't available when we visited but I've just noticed it's back on the menu again. Bone marrow butter on toast... I'm coming back for you.






Kensington Street Social
3 Kensington Street, Chippendale, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 8277 8533

Opening hours
Breakfast (no reservations)
Monday to Friday 7am-10.30am
Saturday and Sunday 8am-10.30am

Lunch
Monday to Saturday 12pm-2.30pm
Sunday 11am-2.30pm (reservations from 12pm only)

Dinner
Monday to Saturday 6pm-10pm
Sunday 6pm-8pm


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Yang & Co, Castlecrag

Chicken skin crackers. It's like an even better version of pork crackling. Chef Lex Wong takes the skin off the chicken bones he uses for stock and transforms it into thin sheets of crunch, pressed flat between cast iron sheet pans and cooked in the oven until crisp. They're sometimes added as a bonus to the confit chicken lettuce cups but Wong admits that half the time they get eaten as chef's treats. Who can blame them? I would too.

If you've ever wondered what happened to Yang's food truck, here's the good news: Wong and team have set up permanent digs at a bricks and mortar restaurant. Yang & Co opened in Castlecrag in November 2015. And yes, you can order the truck's signature Singapore chilli soft shell crab - and sit down with proper cutlery to eat it too.


Yang & Co dining room

The menu at Yang & Co is like a mix tape of Wong's favourite Asian dishes. That means a whirlwind trip through Vietnam, China and Malaysia with stops that include deconstructed banh mi pork rolls, General Tso's popcorn chicken and roti paratha with dahl. Home is still his anchor - Wong spent his early years in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - and a larger than life mural of his grandmother on one wall of the restaurant is a touching tribute.

On a Tuesday night, the place is heaving. Castlecrag locals have taken to this pan-Asian eatery like ducks to water. Glass windows onto Edinburgh Road don't offer much of a view but there's still a calming vibe in the dining room, accented by the warm professionalism of restaurant manager Tina Nguyen on the floor.


Chicken skin crackers

Disclaimer: We're all friends with Wong and Nguyen, first watching them realise their dream of Yang's food truck and now, finally, a restaurant of their own. It's a friendship that provides a glimpse into life on the other side of the pass. And tonight it comes with the best surprise of all - a whole bowl of those chicken skin crackers served with a side of sriracha chilli sauce. We crunch through the brittle paper thin shards and can barely hide our grins.


Twice cooked masterstock lamb ribs with nahm pla dressing $17

The twice cooked masterstock lamb ribs are a huge portion. The ribs are first cooked in masterstock and then deep fried, creating a sweet and salty contrast between the crisp skin and the fatty succulent flesh beneath. Nahm pla dressing on the side provides an acidic foil to the richness of the lamb. They're meaty ribs, sourced from local butcher Castlecrag Meats, supplier for most of the meat on the menu.


Singapore chilli soft shell crab with man tao $17

It's a pleasant change to eat their food truck favourite, Singapore chilli soft shell crab, off a plate and not out of a bamboo takeaway container. The soft shell crab is packed with sweet flesh, fried to a satisfying crunch and served on a lake of that wickedly addictive Singapore chilli sauce. Four mantou buns, deep fried until golden brown, are perfect for ripping apart and dipping into the sweet and spicy sauce.


Roti paratha with chilli caramel pork belly and kimchi $16

Roti paratha acts as sauce-soaking vessel for chilli caramel pork belly. There's no shortage of fatty goodness running through the pork belly cubes, glazed in a sticky chilli sauce. Kimchi offers some palate-cleansing respite but it's still a heavy artery-clogging dish.


Picked spanner crab with bone marrow and spicy Hennessy sauce $29

We order one of the blackboard specials too - picked spanner crab with bone marrow and spicy Hennessy sauce. "I knew you guys would order that dish as soon as I put the word bone marrow in there," Lex tells us later with a laugh.

The dish is much saucier than I expect but there's a generosity of spanner crab meat dotted with fatty discs of bone marrow. The spicy Hennessy sauce includes soy, chilli and sugar. Watercress and rosettes of daikon are a pretty touch.


Crab and bone marrow on buttered baguette

As if the globules of fatty bone marrow aren't intense enough, we're given heavily buttered baguettes on the side. That burst of bone marrow plus melted butter is enough to make my arteries shudder. If there's anything Wong is guilty of, it's giving you a good thing and then doubling it. Restraint does not appear to be in his vocabulary.


Tea smoked duck with roti $39

The tea smoked duck is less fatty than the ones you'll find in Chinatown and although there's a charred look to the skin, there's not a strong flavour of smokiness. This is a fun and interactive dish though, presented with condiments that include fresh lime, hoisin, mustard, black vinegar, chilli sauce, cucumber spears and shallots. Panfried roti on the side can be used to wrap it all up. I probably would have preferred the traditional and lighter Peking duck pancake instead of the heavier and oilier roti, but if you're looking for a hearty main, this would be it.


Poached QLD banana prawn and corn wonton with ramen broth and onsen egg $17

We're already struggling with fullness by this stage but Wong still sends out the poached Queensland banana prawn and corn wontons in ramen soup on the house. It's a striking dish with three wontons bobbing in a fragrant ramen broth.


Breaking open the onsen egg

Piercing the onsen egg to release the sticky yolk only increases the richness. The prawn and corn wontons are delicate and sweet but the robust intensity ramen broth does tend to overwhelm. It's like Wong has relentlessly set the flavour dial on everything to maximum.


Lemongrass marinated T-bone with Vietnamese salad $37

Which is probably why I love the lemongrass marinated T-bone with Vietnamese salad so much. The steak is cooked masterfully - seared until caramelised on the outside but maintaining a juicy succulency in the middle. I relish the Vietnamese salad, just a simple medley of bean sprouts and Thai basil leaves, but the bean sprouts themselves are spectacularly plump and crunchy. The Thai basil leaves add a freshness, bathed in a sweet nuoc cham fish sauce dressing.


Sago, compressed rockmelon, poached peaches, honeycomb and rockmelon granita $12

We've ordered way too much so can only fit in one dessert between the three of us. We go with the lightest one - a rockmelon granita with sago, compressed rockmelon, poached peaches and honeycomb.


Coconut mousse and sago beneath rockmelon granita

Fine shavings of rockmelon granita melt instantly on the tongue. We pick at at treasure hunt of honeycomb shards, compressed rockmelon and poached peaches. A foundation of coconut mousse and sago pearls is cooling on the tongue.

The damage? $65 each including a beer each. We did score the chicken skin and the wonton soup on the house but we paid for everything else.

There were more dishes I wish we could've tried, including the goat curry and Yang's fried rice. It's only after we order that we notice the fried rice comes with Wong's own housemade pastrami. The fried rice is also garnished with crushed potato chips. I can't think of a crazier mash-up. Or a tastier one.






Yang & Co Restaurant and Bar
79 Edinburgh Road, Castlecrag, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9967 5913

Opening hours
Tuesday to Wednesday 6pm-10pm
Thursday to Saturday 4pm-10pm


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Bistrot Gavroche, Chippendale

Bistro Gavroche is the newest addition to Kensington Street's flourishing restaurant district. The construction hoarding downstairs might convince you otherwise but take the stairs to level one and it's like stepping into an old-fashioned French bistro straight out of the movies. There's the doorstep of mosaic tiles, an imposing wooden archway, a dark timber bar and banquette seating. Throw in a floor filled with French waitstaff and the Parisien picture is complete.


Bistrot Gavroche bar

The menu has every classic French dish you can think of: escargots snails in garlic butter, steak tartare, onion soup, tarte tatin and Crepes Suzette. The menu itself is a little unwieldy, presented in an A3 glass frame bordered with wood that's both heavy and awkward to position given that the table is already set with glasses.


Dining room seating

But the dining room offers plenty of stylised ambience, from the fresh sourdough breads stacked against one wall to the fully stocked bar to the glimpse through the pass into the kitchen. The place is packed out on a Saturday night, mostly filled with couples or small groups of friends. A few family gatherings dot the room.

As the sun sets, so does the light in the room. Mood lighting is ideal for intimacy but a small nightmare for photos.


Complimentary gougeres

Complimentary gougeres to start are a thoughtful welcoming gesture. The cheese puffs are room temperature but still soft and fluffy. A basket of housemade sourdough baguette and butter arrives soon afterwards. Its chewy crust is addictive and when the bread runs out, it's replenished wordlessly.


Bone marrow on sourdough bread with garlic confit and parsley $20

Our table of five is unanimous about ordering one dish. The bone marrow on sourdough causes clamours of excitement when it lands on our table. One slice of toasted sourdough is covered in slices of bone marrow, cooked enough so it wobbles lusciously but not so far that the fat has started to dissolve. Whole confit garlic cloves are gently sweet. There's not a huge amount of parsley on top, but a side of crisp salads helps offset the richness.


Grandpa Henri's baked pork terrine $18

Head chef Frederic Colin's grandfather is the inspiration for a lot of the dishes on the menu. Colins started his own restaurant career at Grandpa Henri's bistro, cooking in the kitchen from age ten. Grandpa Henri's baked pork terrine is a flashback to simpler times, a slab of chunky pork terrine encased in buttery pastry that's well-seasoned and assembled masterfully.


Grandpa Henri's traditional onion soup $16

Grandpa Henri's traditional onion soup is another winner, thick and hearty with a bonanza of onion slices cooked until fantastically sweet. On top are rafts of melted cheese on toast. It's comfort food with every spoonful.

We also order the shredded duck confit ($32) covered in a gratin of bacon and mashed potato. The duck is a little on the salty side but the potato gratin offers carb satisfaction.


Hand cut Angus beef tartare with condiments $32 main size
with french fries $8

We order the main sized hand cut Angus beef tartare, reinforcing the toasted baguette slices with a side order of french fries. The tartare is already mixed in with the egg yolk but you can reinforce its piquancy with tabasco, salt and pickles on the side. The miniature La Creuset pot holds whole pickled onions and cornichons although they feel a little chunky compared to the delicacy of the tartare.

The bucket of french fries feels neverending. The shoestring fries are deliciously crunchy. We dab them into everything, including the onion soup.


Grandpa Henri's pike fish quenelles with crayfish sauce $36

Grandpa Henri's pike fish quenelles look plain in the dish, topped with halved prawns. The quenelles themselves are quite plain on their own but the crayfish sauce is incredible. It's like an intense bisque - I could happily drink it with a spoon. I grab a baguette slice instead and dunk it in to soak up the sauce. It's the highlight of the night.


Cauliflower gratin $8
with complimentary sourdough basket in the background

We also order the Rangers Valley 270 days hanger steak ($38) cooked to a tender medium rare as requested. It's a terrifically flavoursome cut, liberally doused in a red wine and shallot jus that is silky smooth. The accompanying Lyonnaise potatoes, sauteed with onions in butter and parsley, are gratifyingly rich.

Our sides include a cauliflower gratin smothered in a cheese sauce and proving you can never have too many potatoes we also dive into a bowl of buttery mashed potato.


Crepes Suzette flambee $15

There are seven desserts on the menu including profiteroles, lemon meringue tart and dark chocolate mousse. Ordering the crepes Suzette is mandatory, especially when it comes with the spectacle of a table side flambee.


Flambee crepes Suzette with Grand Marnier sauce

A copper pot of Grand Marnier is set alight and then poured across the plate of thin crepes. It flames briefly but there's enough alcoholic residue to provide a decent kick. Fresh segmented orange provide some fresh acidity but the syrup is a little on the heavy side with sweetness.


Tarte tatin $15

We finish with the tarte tatin, stacked high with chunks of apple although much of the toffee has dissolved. The pastry is also a little underdone in parts but the vanilla ice cream is a surprise trump card.


Complimentary madeleines

As our dessert plates are cleared, we're surprised to find the waiter heading towards us again with a madeleine tray. We feel like kids being given a secret treat from the kitchen as we pluck out a madeleine each. The madeleines are fragrant with orange, lightly crusted on the edges with a softness in the middle.

It's a sweet finish to the night. Service was a little sketchy at times - cutlery dropped on the floor several times and some difficulty in catching the attentions of waiters when needed - but it's a pleasant venue for anyone seeking a throwback to old skool French dining. Rum fans should definitely hit the dedicated rum trolley!






Bistrot Gavroche
1/2-10 Kensington Street, Chippendale, Sydney
+61 (02) 9281 6668

Opening hours:
Monday to Saturday 11.30am-2.30pm, 6pm-10pm
Sunday 11.30am-3pm, 6pm-9.30pm


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