linda 22 August 2008 Dessert, Japanese, Modern Australian 6 Comments  Print This Post  Email This Post

Modern organic Aussie with a Japanese twist

Today's Specials

 H : I have a tendency to spend hours on Google and various forums searching for places to eat. My love affair with Cafe Ish initially began as I was compiling a list of cafe’s around the Surry Hills area. Word on the street was that there are a few gems serving great coffee and unique twists on the traditional breakfast. During my wanderings through the interwebs, I stumbled upon Cafe Ish on eatability. The rating of 9.2 had me a bit skeptical at first due to the limited number of reviews. My curiosity led me to put my thinking cap on and call on my partner in crime, Google. After reading Lee’s thoughts on Cafe Ish, I was immediately hooked and coudln’t wait to endure the Sunday morning drive to Surry Hill’s. Besides, if this joint turned out to be another run of the mill cafe we always had Ferrogosto to look forward to later in the day.

At first glance, Cafe ish is a smallish joint located in a quiet area of Surry Hills. It serves Japanese/Australian fusion cuisine. However what differentiates this place from every other Modern fusion restaurant is that the chef attempts to recapture the past and incorporate it into “now” dishes, creating a more traditional Australian/Japanese fusion. Proof of Cafe-ish’s propensity towards traditonal Australian cuisine is depicted in Josh’s (chef) choice of utilising archaic but abundant ingredients, such as Kangaroo, Crocodile, and native bush berries and herbs.

As you step foot into the cafe which houses appropriately 20 patrons, you’re immediately greeted by the friendly waitress, this time Claire, who guided us to our seats. H and I have the tendency to tirelessly research the menu of a restaurant before we order, to the point of embarrassingly being able to recite it. Once seated on our comfortable cushiony chair, which doubles as a storage space once the cushion has been lifted, we couldn’t help but feel intimidated by the fact that almost all the patrons knew the chef, Josh, on a first name basis. Like the guy who turns up as Spiderman at a supposedly fancy dress party while everyone else was in their casual attire. However Claire’s friendly and easygoing nature set our mind at ease. What really intrigued us was that Josh, being the only chef confined to his 1m x 2m (approximately) kitchen reciprocated by referring to each of his patrons by name, AND also knew what a few patrons wanted before they were even seated.

Wattle Macaccino- the signature coffee. Wattleseed's roasty flavour and macadamia's sweet mellow flavours are in a cup $4.30 (Large)

The cheery chattering of nearby patrons in conjunction with the sun’s ray gleaming into the cafe created a relaxing ambience, which was momentarily disrupted as Claire handed us our large mug of Coffee. I’m not an expert on coffee, but like everyone else, I would like to believe that I know a good thing when it’s in front of me. The barrister, Ai’s expertise was evident through her ability inject her flare for creating artistic designs in to each mug of coffee. Visually appealing? Tick. The aroma of the coffee with a hint of macadamia was tickling our olfactory receptors, so much so that we sat there for a couple of seconds just drowning in the haze.

H is a religious drinker of Campos coffee and he was adament that to date, no other coffee has come close to it. Everytime we go out for a coffee, he always compares it to Campos. It was to my surprise when I noticed him giving me a wrise smile and a nod of approval of the coffee at Cafe Ish. He was so impressed, he is adament that perhaps after a few more cups of Maccacino’s he might retire his religious affiliation with Campos and migrate to Cafe Ish as long as Ai is making his coffee. Olfactorily appealing? Tick.

Glancing around the room, hearing the mingling between patrons and cafe staff, indicated an appreciative relationship. Auditorily appealing? Tick.

Often when I purchase capuccino, I find myself adding two teaspooons of sugar, to ensure that it accomodated my tastebuds, however in this instance, neither H nor I needed to add anything. The ratio of foam to coffee was 1:3, so you’re ensured a velvety texture at each sip. Gustationally appealing? Tick.

Finally, the temperature of the coffee was warm enough to gulp it all in one go, this temperature was maintained throughout the majority of our meal, possibly by the design of the mug and of course the expertise of Ai the barrista. Tactitionally appealing? Tick.

Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick, Hands down one of the best coffee I’ve had the pleasure of having.

Chilli salt, Murray River salt with cracked pepper, Volcano salt and Citrus salt

H : Usually, I am quite impressed if I see sea salt on my table at any restaurant. You can imagine my curiosity when I see four different salts at my reach. This unique concept brings an extra dimension to each of your dishes as each different salt brings a new flavour. A simple yet fantastic twist on the traditional salt and pepper seasoning.

Egg ish- Croc in a Roc ($6.50)

Croc in a Roc dissected

We couldn’t wait for our senses to be awarded again as we waited patiently for our orders. The best way to describe Croc in a Roc is a gourmet toasted sandwich. You were given the option of selecting one of three types of bread available, we chose the organic white sourdough. A thick slice of the freshly baked bread had the majority of it’s fluffy internals removed, the void was then filled with generous amounts of crocodile sausages, which tasted like a mix between chicken and pork, bathed in a creamy mixture of organic feta cheese, eggs and shallots. The slice was then toasted on both sides, served slightly crunchy. Josh had the ingenuity to serve the slightly salty egg-ish dish with his secret recipe of a slightly sweet tomato relish.

Special of the day- Japanese style omelette with soft shell crab, avocado salsa , garlic, chilli, soy and ginger sauce $21.50

Japanese Omelette dissected

As previously mentioned, besides chocolate, one thing that I cannot live without is Seafood. As I was browsing around the room, I noted a list of specials for the day scribbled on the windows. I was exhilirated when I zoomed in to one of my favourite words etched onto the glass, CRAB. Needless to say, the omelette was the next dish to tango with our tastebuds. I was made to believe just by looking at the exterior of the dish and past experiences with omelette that the interior would be an inconsiderate mush of different ingredients. Boy was I pleasantly suprised. The crispy exterior of the omelette shielded the delicate interiors. I felt like a pirate who has just come across a secret treasure chest. With the lid open, the internal precious jewels swimming in a bed of soft egg mixture and avocado salsa lay bare for everyone to see. The soft shell crab encoated with a light batter and seasoning, unlike most places actually look like a crab as opposed to the usual fried crispy bits. The crab was large enough, so that you can actually taste each strand of it’s sweet pearly white meat. Accompanied by the piquant japanese inspired soy sauce, making the Japanese/Australian fusion theme blatanly obvious. The omelette was far from ok-ish, it was bloody fantastic.

Kangaroo Meat Pie

Kangaroo Meat Pie inside

H : This was surprisingly tasty. I have not had kangaroo meat before, yet I found the meat suprisingly tender and perfect for an open faced pie. The ‘pot’ contained generous portions of kangaroo, celery, carrots, onions, bacon, delicious gravy like sauce and topped with a flaky and crisp pastry. It was smartly accompanied with fresh bread and butter which was perfect for lapping up the juices of the pot of pie contents.

Just when you think that was all that we could handle, we went one step further. For the sake of our beloved readers, we sacrificed our bodies to be tortured, and managed to stuff in two desserts. No need to re-read the sentence again, your eyes are not decieving you, we really did order two more dishes (this was during brunch mind you). Having a sweet tooth means I am inclined to be biased therefore rate anything with chocolate rather highly, thus to provide a more objective perspective, we ordered Pumpkin Pie and an Apple tart.

Pumpkin Pie with toasted honey and walnut ice cream $10.00

The slice consisted of a smooth pumpkin mash nestled atop and into the crooks of the buttery short crust pastry. Initially, I thought that the pumpkin filling was a little bland on its own, however when combined with the honeyed walnut ice cream, the dessert just raised the bar. Not to be outdone by the ice cream, the molten chocolate decorating the plate decided to be Lindt. At that precise moment, I lifted my arms in defeat and just enjoyed the unavoidable.

Caramelised apple and muntari tart with Gundowrie creek french Vanilla ice cream $10.00

Like the pumpkin pie, slices (not pieces) of the apple poached with muntari berries (native bushberry) in a light caramel syrup, sat perfectly atop the short crust pastry. Poaching the mundane slightly acidulous apple with the raisin like muntari berries, gave the apple tart a whole new dimension, keeping the tartness of the apple at bay. Accompanied by the creamy cooling Vanilla ice cream, this was the absolute first time that I actually wanted to finish a whole piece of apple pie. While enjoying the tart, you cannot help but be engulfed by the vanilla infused cream circling the tart. Tempted to find out whether the taste lived upto the standards and expectations of it’s scent, we decided to dip pieces of apple into the cream. Unbeknownst to us, we have just created a new dessert, apple (substitting strawberries) and cream.

Overall, our experience at Cafe Ish lived upto and beyond our expectations. We were rightly so in anticipating to try this place throughout the week. Never in my entire exsitience have I contemplated having a three course meal for brunch. However Josh, in his small-ish kitchen lured me out of my hole, introducing me to a world of gluttony. This was absolutley gluttony in its finest form. Triumpheting by the end of the dessert, my only one regret was that I was not born with a bottomless pit of a stomach.

There’s nothing like being in the presence of people who are passionate about the things they do, their aspiration to bring together their knowledge, through researching new ingredients shows through in the quality of their products. Talking to Josh and tasting the delights of his experimentations, I could only imagine is comparable to being one of the Romans accompanying Michelangelo in the 1500s as he sets about painting one of his masterpieces at the Sistine Chapel. Rarely do you get to know a chef who’s so down to earth and approachable, let alone being able to chat to one while he is busy in his kitchen.

It saddens me to come to the realisation that in the near future, Cafe Ish will be a bustling joint and no longer a secret to the Surry Hills faithful. One which I will unfortunately join the queue for, because it’s just worth it-ish.

Update 18/01/09 : We went again a few months ago and ordered a few other things on the menu.

'Big ish' breakfast

Soft shell crab with egg and spinach on toast

Snapper omelette

I think this was butterscotch pudding with Macadamia ice cream

Update : Find out what Fig&cherry and NotquiteNigella thought of Cafe ish

Cafe Ish

Shop 2, 102 Albion Street
Surry Hills NSW, 2010
Ph: (02) 9281 1688

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