Tagged: NAKED BRUSCHETTA
DELIGHTFUL DEVON
Energy Smoothie & Merry Berry Smoothie
Pork Belly Roll – Pork belly, cracking, Asian slaw, nam jim dressing topped with fried onion on brioche
Breakfast with the Sakuma’s – Miso grilled King Salmon, smoked eel croquette, 63C egg, radish salad with kewpie mayo
Little Lost Bread – Brioche French Toast with strawberries, strawberry cheesecake ice cream, arnotts biscuit crumble and balsamic glaze
Naked Bruschetta – Roasted pumpkin, pea and goat’s curd mousse, edamame beans, pea tendrils, focaccia and a 63C egg topped with sage and konbu crunch,
Eggs Blini – Buckwheat blini, cured King Salmon, salmon caviar, asparagus, Mikado sauce & poached eggs
Last week I finally made it to the renowned Devon Cafe in Surry Hills. Luckily I had Monday off from work so I could avoid the throngs of weekender foodies, flocking to try the food from the Good Food Guides “Food Cafe of the Year” 2014.
We made our way out to the back of the restaurant, which i have to say is cool in atmosphere but not in temperature. With a tin roof, they really need to invest in some major AC power, especially this Summer!
We situated ourselves with the menu and began to laboriously ponder over what to order. The menu changes with seasonality so even though I had read about a few of the dishes from other bloggers, some of it had since changed. Trying to decide on your order at Devon is like playing a table tennis match with yourself. Only the ball is 3 delicious sounding dishes, the paddle is your poor, hungry irrational brain and the table is… well it’s a table.
We placed our orders and waited patiently for our meals. WARNING – don’t read this next part if it’s late at night, you’re hungry and there’s no possible way for you get to Devon cafe in the immediate future. I have to say, writing this post at 10:30pm after having a very light dinner was not the most sensible decision.
Pork Belly Roll
This was a player straight out of left field. Not written about that much and definitely out shone on other blogs by some of the other favourites. I have to say it was actually one of my favourite dishes that I tried. Soft, melt in your mouth pork belly with crackling on a bed of refreshing asian slaw. It was perfectly paired with a kick of spice, sweetness and acidity from the Nam Jim dressing and the fried onions on top. Put it all on a brioche bun and you have one mouth watering roll I would keep coming back for.
Breakfast with the Sakuma’s
Miso grilled King Salmon, smoked eel croquette, 63C egg, radish salad with kewpie mayo. Probably the most talked about dish from Devon Cafe so far, this substantial plate of amazing flavours is a great option if you want to try something different. Each flavour is intense in it’s own merit but at the same time, work in complete harmony together. The only slightly negative comment i have is that the croquette is more of an Arancini ball. I assumed inside its crunchy crumb coating, it would be a delicious fluffy cloud of mash, mixed through with smoked eel, but instead I was slightly disappointed to be met with rice instead. Overall an amazing flavour sensation.
Little Lost Bread
I was pretty sad when we realised that the flavour of the french toast had changed and we never got to try the Peanut Butter and Nutella version. However, we were met with its slightly less intense cousin, Strawberry Shortcake aka Brioche French Toast with strawberries, strawberry cheesecake ice cream, arnotts biscuit crumble and balsamic glaze. Really when you mix french toast with brioche bread you’re pretty much on to a winner. Combine it with 4 types of strawberries (fresh, dehydrated, coulis and ice creamed), cheesecake and biscuit crumble? What could go wrong? Nothing, that’s what. It was delicious.
Naked Bruschetta
When this dish arrived at the table, it looked fresh. That bright green pea puree against the bright orange pumpkin was just ripe for a photo. However, against the other dishes at the table it was slightly underwhelming. Until I tasted it… Roasted pumpkin, pea and goat’s curd mousse, edamame beans, pea tendrils, focaccia and a 63C egg topped with sage and konbu crunch. Flavours were spot on and so fresh you could eat every single last drop on this plate and be at a very comfortable level of full. It was a refreshing change to the other heavier dishes.
Eggs Blini
I was so excited to try this dish. I’m an Eggs Benedict girl all the way and this was next level. Buckwheat blini, cured King Salmon, salmon caviar, asparagus, Mikado sauce & poached eggs. The eggs were poached to absolute perfection. No gooey whites but with perfectly oozy yolks. The salmon melted in your mouth, the caviar were delightful pops of salty goodness and the asparagus was refreshing and crunchy. Underneath was a cloud-like blini that was light as air, bringing together an almost perfect dish. Almost. For me the Mikado sauce was a little on the sweet side, which I’m never a huge fan off. A great dish but it definitely needed something, whether it be more caviar or some other element of salt or acidity to round it off.
Devon Cafe is definitely your one stop shop for experimental flavour combinations. Every element of each dish has been carefully thought of, cooked to perfection and well seasoned. Now the only thing left to do is to try Devon Cafes newest sibling, Devon on Danks, purchase a salted caramel soft serve and chips combo and my life is complete. With higher cholesterol levels.
76 Devonshire St Surry Hills, NSW 2010
