Merivale Winter Feasts, Ash St Cellar Sydney
Hidden away in Ash St
Merivale has launched another promotion involving it’s highly regarded range of restaurants. One of them which seems to be attracting quite a healthy urban and chic crowd is Ash St Cellar. It is the brain child of Lauren Murdoch, serving up Spanish tapas in an outdoor street style setting with an extensive wine list. I decided to give it a go after being impressed with what they had to offer at the launch night.
I feel that Sydney has been lacking an outdoor food scene. Even during summer, we often have to host our bbq’s at home to enjoy eating out doors. Ash St Cellar’s outdoor seating has the potential to address this issue, if you don’t mind the smokers. Hidden inside a lane way called Ash St, it is a decent spot away from the hustle and bustle of George St. But how about the food ?
The current winter feast promotion involves 3 courses for $35 with a glass of wine or beer , prices vary between different Merivale restaurants. We end up trying everything on the menu. The weather was shocking on Friday night, it was freezing cold and raining but the waiter did a great job in accommodating us and moved us under an umbrella with a heater. I’m not sure how the evening would have panned out if it was pouring rain all night as seating inside was a bit cosy.
If you ever visit Ash St Cellar, keep in mind that it is best enjoyed by sharing all your plates. Order a few dishes and share them over a beer or glass of wine while sitting outside and watching The Ivy crowd roll in with bling bling, cleavage and botox included.
Entrees
crisp raw vegetables with salsa verde
The first of our selection of entrees was a plate of sliced fresh vegetables. I’m not sure what it was about the vegetables, but it tasted different from ones I get from the fruit markets, I suspect these were of the organic variety. Dipped in a beautiful herb mixture, a clean and crisp way to start off our meal.
herb crumbed anchovies with caper mayonnaise
A welcoming crunch is what you can expect with each bite of these anchovies. The batter was a tad overwhelming but it was light enough for the true anchovy flavour to strut it’s stuff. The caper mayonnaise lacked the salty punch you would expect from capers, but I sense that if it was any stronger it would of over powered the anchovies.
snapper broth with prawn dumplings
I was a bit dissapointed with this. At the Merivale Winter feast launch I had the most amazing broth I’ve tasted in a while, so naturally I was expecting something similar on the winter feast menu because it had the word ‘snapper’ in it. Instead we were given something resembling more of a mixed vegetable soup with prawn dumplings. Since it was freezing cold, there was not much left of the warm snapper broth despite it’s shortcomings.
edit : My bad, it turns out that I had a spanner soup at the Merivale Winter Feast launch party and not a spanner broth. Thanks to grabyourfork for pointing it out 
Mains
pan fried chicken livers with thyme croutons
Liver is a bit like licorice, you either love it or hate it. The chicken liver dominates everything in the dish, it is the dish. It is strong and leaves a harsh after taste, but the thick sauce and crunchy thyme croutons do a good job in masking some of the strong flavours of the liver. This is a dish which definitely needs to be shared and perhaps eaten with some crusty bread. I love it and had no trouble finishing it.
front : grilled cuttlefsh with aioli , back : greek salad
The most simple dish of the night was perhaps the highlight. The cuttlefish was simply grilled, but perhaps the natural sweetness and tenderness of it was why it was such a winner. A squeeze of lemon, cracked pepper and a dollop of aioli was all that was needed to bring a smile to our faces on this rainy night. The greek salad on the otherhand was nothing spectacular, more of your run of the mill salad which you would expect at a cafe.
Desserts
fresh pear, walnuts and parmesan
Hard, sharp and dry … yes it’s the parmesan I’m referring to. The flavour was very rich which made the walnuts and pears a welcoming addition. All the elements of good contrasting textures are here, with the crunch of the biscotti balancing with the hardness and strength of the cheese. The pear adds sweetness whereas the walnuts help dilute the strong flavours of the parmesan.
spiced cream with chocolate biscotti
I’ve tasted Lauren Murdoch’s desserts before at the Merivale Gala Dinner so I know what she is capable of. The spiced cream was nothing short of amazing, with subtle hints of spices hiding within the fresh creaminess of the cream (worst description ever I know). Honey also added a bit of sweetness to the cream. They could have been a bit more generous with the biscotti though, 2 pieces is no where near enough.
shaved gruyere with apple jam
In contrast to the parmesan provided in the previous cheese platter, the gruyere was much smoother and creamier. Taking this into account, an accompaniment of mild apple jam with slices of soft fruit loaf easily balanced the saltyness of the cheese.
Ash St Cellar is a hip and happening restaurant which is a nice place to relax after work, sharing a few dishes of tapas with a nice glass of wine. But if the Merivale Winter feast menu was meant to give me a taste of what Ash St Cellar has to offer then I think it fell a bit short.Simon Thomsen said the same thing in his review on SMH, Lauren Murdoch is capable of punching above her weight and churning out more impressive food. I’ve seen it in her desserts and I’ve seen it with her creations at the Merivale launch parties which left me constantly wanting second servings. Perhaps it was just the selection on the winter feast menu which was lacking ? But for $35 for 3 courses and a glass of wine or beer, the value for money is very impressive.
I’m keen in trying the rest of the menu as it looks pretty good, the restaurant is filled with potential and oozing with urban chic and there were people lining up to get in despite the rain. I’m no Matt Preston when it comes to judging food, so give this place a try and let me know what you think ?
Ash St Cellar
1 Ash Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Phone (02) 9240 3000
Web : http://www.merivale.com/#/ivy/ashstreetcellar
3 courses for $35 including a glass of wine or a James Squire
crisp raw vegetables with salsa verde
snapper broth with prawn dumplings
herb crumbed anchovies with caper mayonnaise
greek style salad
grilled cuttlefsh with aioli
pan fried chicken livers with thyme croutons
fresh pear, walnuts and parmesan
shaved gruyere with apple jam
spiced cream with chocolate biscotti
Author
By Howard
We started eatshowandtell in 2008, it was meant to be just a journal of where we ate. The first thing I usually do when I'm looking for a restaurant is check out eatability and the restaurant website. But what is usually missing is pictures of the food, how do I know I'm getting what I expect? This blog hopefully plugs that gap.
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This article was written on 26 Jun 2009, and is filed under Dinner, Lunch, Spanish, Sydney, CBD.
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the snapper soup does look very different to what we tried although i note yours was called a broth, not a soup, so presumably (and sadly) it’s not supposed to be the same? but oh, those chicken livers! they look amazing!
.-= Helen´s last blog ..Sydney Winter Festival, Cook and Phillip Park, Sydney =-.
hmm food certainly looks great! I can certainly imagine munching on the herb crumbled anchovies with glass of wine. But i guess I’m sugar requiring kind of person when it comes down to dessert.
.-= Yas´s last blog ..boys and girls, dinner is ready! =-.
Yes, it’s disappointing that some of the dishes aren’t the same as the ones at the launch. But that’s not going to stop me going to Ash St Cellar to try them anyway. Thanks for trying everything for us first – the chicken livers look great.
.-= Belle@OohLook´s last blog ..Winter Zumbo cakes revisited and named =-.
I noticed that when I looked at the menu as well. The offerings at Ash St Cellar don’t appear to really reflect the kind of dishes Lauren Murdoch can (and has) made at the two launches and the gala dinner. Which is a pity, because if I knew she was going to make that kind of food, I’d be there in a heartbeat instead of umm-ing & ahh-ing like I am now.
.-= shez´s last blog ..cream cheese & morello cherry teacakes =-.
The cream with honey and spices sounds so simple, but your description makes it sound pretty special. It looks like a good deal, and it’s nice that you can share the dishes too.
I’m excited to try out the winter feasts menus, they seem pretty good value. A glass of wine or beer too? Exxxcellent. Pity about the snapper broth, and that the menu doesn’t quite show Lauren Murdoch off as much as it should.
@Helen : your right, I got mixed up with the names, thanks! I guess I was just dissapointed I couldn’t try the amazing soup again.
@Yas : This is the type of place for copious amounts of dishes and wine, bring on summer!
@Belle : Chicken liver was one of my favs, I hope it’s part of the regular menu when the winter feast is over.
@Shez : Yeah, there is no doubt Lauren is extremely talented. Like I said, perhaps the regular menu is amazing so I will have to go back and try it.
@Arwen : It’s a good deal indeed, highly recommended trying 1 or 2 of the Merivale restaurants atleast.
@Steph : Superb value, the wine or beer is a nice touch as well. I can’t wait to try the other menus!